GOVERNANCE

Initiatives of Change International is a voluntary association of independent national legal bodies of Initiatives of Change (IofC). It was founded in April, 2002, under the Presidency of Cornelio Sommaruga, former President of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Its current President is Indian journalist and author Rajmohan Gandhi.

Initiatives of Change International is headquartered in Caux, Switzerland, and governed under the civil code of Switzerland.

Members of Initiatives of Change International subscribe to the fundamental principles of IofC as summarized in the Preamble to the Articles of Association.

Membership is open to all Initiatives of Change national chapters and to individuals or other entities in countries where there is no formal legal body. The following are currently Members or Associates: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States. Others are expected to join.

Initiatives of Change International is governed by a General Assembly and an Executive Committee. The General Assembly is the supreme authority and is presided over by the President. It is constituted of the Members. At least one General Assembly must be held each year. The last one was held in August 2008, in Caux. The next one will take place in early August 2009, in Caux. The Executive Committee is composed of nine members, four of whom are elected for three-year terms by the General Assembly, and five of whom are selected by Initiatives of Change's International Council from its own members.

Executive Committee

Rajmohan Gandhi (President) Professor Rajmohan Gandhi is a journalist and author. His comprehensive biography of his grandfather, Gandhi – a true story of a man, his people and an empire, was published late 2006 to critical acclaim. He has also written several other biographies, including one of his maternal grandfather, C. Rajagopalachari, the first Governor of independent India.

Gandhi is currently a research professor in the United States at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has served as a visiting professor at other universities in the USA and Japan and has several honorary degrees. From 1964 to 1981 he edited Himmat, a national weekly magazine published in Mumbai. In the 1990s, he served in the upper house (Rajya Sabha) of India's parliament.

Dick Ruffin Dick Ruffin is Executive Vice President of Initiatives of Change International. He was for 23 years Executive Director of Initiatives of Change in the United States. He was educated at Yale and Oxford (where he was a Rhodes Scholar) and served for four years in the U.S. Navy before beginning his work with Initiatives of Change. Dick lives with his wife in McLean, Virginia, outside Washington, DC.

Lorne Braun Lorne Braun currently works as a consultant to Canadian NGOs doing humanitarian work throughout the world. His first career was in building technology, compliance and management. The past 24 years were spent in international development: working and consulting with NGOs, the private sector, and the Canadian Government. He also spent four recent years teaching international non-profit management at a college in North Vancouver. Lorne has an MA in Conflict Analysis and Management from Royal Roads University in Victoria, Canada. His research on the Eritrean-Ethiopian conflict has led to facilitated dialogue work in Canada and the UK. Lorne has been a member on various Boards including his local church, the Vancouver Airport multi-faith chaplaincy, and several Canadian and international NGO coalitions.He has travelled extensively, including three years working in Ethiopia with his wife Joyce and then infant daughter, Megan. In recent years Lorne has been involved with the IofC Canada Council on which he currently serves as Chair. 

Hennie de Pous-de Jonge After training to be a teacher Hennie de Pous-de Jonge worked for five years with MRA in Asia, Australia and New Zealand. On her return to the Netherlands she became editor of Nieuw Wereld Nieuws, later called Ander Nieuws, the Dutch MRA/IofC publication. She has with her husband organised programmes and conferences for families and youth both in the Netherlands and in IofC’s conference centre in Caux, Switzerland. From 1980 till 1990 she held different positions in the Christian Democratic Party (CDA) both national and local. From 1990 till 2000 she taught in a primary school in a multicultural area in the The Hague. Since 2000 she has been involved in intercultural and interreligious dialogue in the Netherlands resulting in several conferences in Caux on the Spiritual Factor in Secular Society and A Heart and A Soul for Europe. She is also involved in the programme for Peace and Trust Building Initiatives with IofC. She is author of Reiken naar een nieuwe wereld (Reaching out for a new world), which deals with the history of Oxford Group, Moral Rearmament and Initiatives of Change in the Netherlands since 1924. Published by the renowned Dutch publisher Kok in Kampen, the book takes an honest look at the development of the movement and its ideas against the historical background. In 2009 this book was published in English: Reaching for a new world - Initiatives of Change seen through a Dutch window. She is married to Johannes de Pous. They have three grown up children.

Antoine Jaulmes Antoine Jaulmes is an engineer with PSA Peugeot Citroën. He is currently vice-president of the French Initiatives of Change board and a member of the Council of the Swiss Foundation Caux-Initiatives of Change. His interests include inter-religious dialogue, reconciliation and the mechanisms of change in professional and personal life. His wife Johanna de Boer is Dutch; they have four children.

K Haridas K Haridas is a graduate in Law and Communication Studies and holds Post-Graduate Diplomas in Shariah Law, Accounting & Finance and Project Management. He is presently the Vice-Chair of MRA Malaysia and is also active with several NGO’s in Malaysia in the areas of Inter-faith and Justice issues. He is married to Tia who is a home maker and they have three daughters.

Andrew Lancaster Andrew Lancaster has worked with Initiatives of Change in Australia, New Zealand, India, North America and Britain. He has served on IofC’s Council of Management in Australia for over 25 years, including three years as National Coordinator. Based in Canberra, Andrew and his wife Margaret have three adult sons and two grandsons.

Jorulf B. Silde Jorulf Brøvig Silde works at the University of Oslo, Norway, as the Coordinator of Health, Environmental and Safety issues. His focus is largely on developing sustainable, cooperative strategies for improving working-place environments. He has been involved with IofC work in Norway for ten years and is Vice Chairman of IofC's Council there. He is married with three children.

Inese Voika Inese Voika is the founder of Transparency International-Latvia and has served on the international Board of TI, the international anti-corruption organization working in 85 countries. Inese has a degree in Public Administration from Harvard University and bachelors degree in Communications from University of Latvia. Currently Inese is engaged in leadership training and serves on the Board of Directors of TI Latvia. Inese has been active with IofC since 1992. She is married with three small children, the latest edition arriving whilst Inese has been serving on the IA.