The Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management held its 15th Annual General Meeting in New York City on June 12, 2017. During the meeting, Global Alliance Chair Gregor Halff presented the 2016 Annual Report, providing an overview of the key activities and initiatives conducted by the Global Alliance in 2016.
A new board of directors was also elected at the AGM, taking office from July 1 2017. The incoming board includes leading practitioners, academics and industry association leaders, with representation from every continent.
Position Name & Member Affiliation
Chair José Manuel Velasco, Dircom (Spain)
Immediate Past-Chair Gregor Halff, IPRS (Singapore)
Treasurer Joe Truncale, PRSA (USA)
Secretary Therese Manus, NCA (Norway)
Chief Administrative Officer Mateus Furlanetto (Non-voting), GA
Delegate-at-Large Fiona Cassidy, PRINZ (New Zealand)
Delegate-at-Large Cecilia Schon-Jansson, SACP (Sweden)
Delegate-at-Large Alastair McCapra, CIPR (UK)
Delegate-at-Large Alex Malouf, MEPRA (UAE)
Delegate-at-Large Paula Portugal Mendes, APCE (Portugal)
Delegate Justin Green, PRII (Ireland)
Delegate-at-Large Tina McCorkindale, Institute for Public Relations (USA)
Regional Delegate (Latin America) Tato Carbonaro, ABERJE (Brazil)
Regional Delegate (Asia) Prita Kemal Gani, APRN (Indonesia)
Regional Delegate (Africa) Joseph Allotey Pappoe, IPR,G(Ghana)
The members of the GA expressed their gratitude to the outgoing board under the chairmanship of Gregor Halff, whose achievements include the first regional GA conference (in Nairobi, November 2015), the 9th World Public Relations Forum (in Toronto, May 2016), the launch of the Global Communications Report, the launch of the Global Capabilities Project, the launch of the Learning Management System for all members, while rebalancing the Global Alliance’s budget and achieving the largest and most diverse membership in its history.
The incoming Chair, Jose Manuel Velasco, congratulated his predecessor, Gregor Halff, and all board members and said “I´m very proud to serve together with very reputable and experienced colleagues to raise the standards of our profession”. He added: “The digital era has brought us lots of challenges, all with ethical implications. Answers should come from independent professional organizations like the GA. I support the GA mission because my purpose is to help PR managers to be better professionals and better citizens”.
Jose Manuel Velasco welcomed the new board members Justin Green (PRII, Ireland), Alastair McCapra (CIPR, UK), Alex Malouf (MEPRA, UAE) and Joseph Allotey Pappoe (IPR, G, Ghana) and encouraged them to participate actively in helping to promote the association on a global scale and creating value for national members.
The board has also approved the appointment of a new CAO – Chief Administrative Officer, Mateus Furlanetto, who is going to support the GA Board and the GA Members with the executive activities of the association.
The 2017 Annual Meeting was hosted in New York City on Monday June 12 by The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).
