This month, ChildFund Alliance says goodbye to one of our longest serving CEOs, Michael Kiely. Mick joined ChildFund Ireland 14 years ago, and has been a strong advocate for the Alliance. We will miss him greatly!

Mick recently spoke with some of the Alliance Secretariat staff and shared reflections on his years of international service, including his time at ChildFund Ireland, and involvement with ChildFund Alliance.

ChildFund Alliance is pleased to announce that Anna Svärd has been appointed new General Secretary of Barnfonden, the Swedish member of ChildFund Alliance. Anna begins her term on 15 May 2017.

Anna Svärd joined Barnfonden as Secretary General in May 2017.

Anna has broad experience from the business world. She has worked in business development, sales, marketing and branding in various positions in different companies. For five years before joining Barnfonden, she was responsible for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability at Trygg-Hansa, one of the largest insurance companies in Scandinavia. In this position, she was responsible for developing, implementing and communicating strategy. In 2016, she and her team received the prestigious “Communicator of the Year” award.

Anna has always focused on helping children and human rights in her previous work and worked closely with many NGOs, including volunteering work for the last seven years.

ChildFund Alliance is pleased to announce that Kevin Hyland has been appointed the new CEO of ChildFund Ireland, a member of ChildFund Alliance, effective July 30, 2018.

Kevin is a renowned international specialist in the fight against modern slavery and human trafficking. His expertise has been shaped by 30 years’ experience as an officer in London’s Metropolitan Police Service, notably as head of the Human Trafficking Unit.

In 2014, Kevin was named as the UK’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner by then-Secretary of State Theresa May. In 2015, Kevin was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of his outstanding service in combating human trafficking.

ChildFund Alliance is pleased to announce the appointment of Patrick Canagasingham to the position of Chief Executive Officer, Christian Children's Fund of Canada. Patrick comes to CCFC from Oxfam International. He previously worked with World Vision. Below is the press release issued by CCFC.

Florence Provendier started working as Chief Executive Officer of Un Enfant par la Main, France, in January 2012. Prior to Un Enfant par la Main, she has had extensive experience in management positions in international services companies, where she took care on one hand of business development as well as institutional communication and on the other hand of Social Responsibility.

Florence has a MBA in Management from Cornell/ESSEC University in Paris.

Her slogan for Un Enfant par la Main: "Make the organization grow, to enable a maximum of deprived children to build a better future."

Je Hoon received his Bachelor’s degree in history and Master’s degree in journalism from Seoul National University, and completed a Journalism Fellowship at the University of Michigan. He is the former president and publisher of JoongAng Ilbo, one of the three major daily newspapers in Korea. He also served as president of the Before Babel Brigade (BBB) Korea, which provides translation and interpretation services with the help of volunteers, and as chairman of Board of Directors of Gyeonggi Volunteer Centre.

He was recently called to serve as senior advisor for BBB Korea. He is president of Volunteering Korea, vice chairman of Korean Council of Children’s Organizations, Korea National Council on Social Welfare, and Korea NGO Council for Overseas Cooperation. He also serves as a member of the Presidential Committee on Social Cohesion. Je Hoon served on the board of ChildFund Korea from March 2001 to March 2008 and was chairman of Board of Directors from March 2008. He was appointed as President of ChildFund Korea in 2010.

Joelle Sicamois has a background in international development, with a particular expertise in education and children.

In 2011, she joined Enfants sans Frontières as administrative and financial manager and then general delegate until June 2017, when the association merged with Un Enfant par la Main. She is currently co-leading the organization.

Joelle has a degree in international economics from the University of Paris Dauphine, with a specialization in development.

Joern studied theology in Göttingen and Heidelberg. He started his professional career working in various roles for the International Society for Human Rights in Frankfurt (1981 - 1990). He continued as a fundraiser for World Vision in Germany (1991-1995) and then as director of social marketing with the Christliches Jugenddorfwerk Deutschlands (1996 - 2000). He joined ChildFund Deutschland in 2001 as managing director and was appointed CEO of the organization in 2007. He served as a director of the ChildFund Alliance from its foundation in 2001 until 2008, and was a member of the Alliance´s Executive Committee from 2005 to 2007.

Joern is married to Susanne; the couple has six children, including an adopted son from Afghanistan.

Jose holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Institut Químic de Sarriá (URL), a MBA from ESADE and a Master’s Degree in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Detroit (USA).

His professional career has been developed in diverse public and private sector enterprises, ranging from multinational companies to small family-run businesses, where he has been involved in several processes of change and expansion.

CEO of EDUCO since 2013, Jose works to help change children lives and contribute to their well-being in all countries where EDUCO works.

ChildFund Alliance is pleased to announce that Katsuhiko Takeda has been appointed as the new Executive Director of ChildFund Japan. ChildFund Japan is one of the 11 members of ChildFund Alliance.

Katsuhiko Takeda became Executive Director of ChildFund Japan in May 2017.

After working in commercial banking, Katsuhiko obtained an M.A. in Politics and International Relations in the United Kingdom.

For more than two decades he has been involved in humanitarian and developmental field work, including with AAR (Association for Aid and Relief, Japan) from 1996 to 2003 as director and in senior positions based in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Balkan region and Japan; World Vision from 2004 to 2006 as project manager based in Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Jordan (for Iraq); CARE International Japan from 2007 to 2016 as program director and national director (CEO).

He served as international board director of the Alliance of CARE International from 2010 to 2016, and sat on the finance and governance committees.

Kevin Hyland OBE is a renowned international specialist in the fight against modern slavery and human trafficking. In 2014, Kevin was appointed as the UK’s first Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner by Theresa May, serving with distinction, before stepping down to undertake his role as CEO with ChildFund Ireland in July 2018. 

Prior to his role as Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Kevin was head of the London Metropolitan Police’s Human Trafficking Unit, which was internationally recognized for developing best practice in anti-trafficking operations. He has over 30 years’ experience of investigating serious and organized crime and was successful in securing convictions of international organized crime groups behind some of the most challenging cases of slavery and trafficking.

In 2015, Kevin was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.), acknowledging his outstanding service in combating human trafficking. Kevin was also instrumental in the establishment of the Santa Marta Group, a high-level strategic partnership between international law enforcement agencies, the Catholic Church and civil society, which was launched by Pope Francis at the Vatican in April 2014.

Kevin is also Chairperson of "The Human Trafficking and Exploitation Project in Ireland," a project established to identify, collate, create and analyze databases relating to information on the scale and scope of human trafficking into and within the island of Ireland.

Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KevinHyland.jpg#filelinks:KevinHyland.jpg#filelinks

Patrick Canagasingham, a passionate human-rights advocate, has been championing the needs of vulnerable children and working globally to promote positive change since before he took the helm at Christian Children’s Fund of Canada in April 2017.

With extensive years of senior-level experience at World Vision Canada, Oxfam International and other international development non-profit organizations in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia, Patrick has a unique global perspective.

The motivated, strategic-thinker leads a people-focused organization united in a common goal to transform the lives of children, families and communities suffering through poverty and injustice.

Patrick holds a Master of Arts degree in Human Rights from the University of London in the U.K. and a Bachelor of Arts, Political Science from York University in Toronto.

Paul Brown joined ChildFund in 2004. He has always focused on helping children in need, including volunteering on Radio Lollipop at Starship Children’s Hospital for more than five years. Paul sponsors children in Kenya and Timor-Leste.

Paul oversees ChildFund New Zealand’s operation to ensure that it runs smoothly, is always focused on its main aim of putting children’s needs first and foremost, and that the funds it receives are put to the best possible use. He is responsible for setting and delivering the organization’s overall strategy – where and how it works.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering, and a Masters of Business Administration.