Meet the Executive

Forum’s Executive members are:
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Deborah Snelson
Chair of FORUM, CEO of Volunteer Service Abroad

Debbie Snelson has been the CEO of Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) based in Aotearoa/New Zealand for over four years. She is a member of the FORUM board and in New Zealand is deputy-chair of the Council for International Development board. CID is the umbrella body for international development agencies and works on advocacy, improving good practice, sharing learning and training for its members.

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Dimity Fifer
CEO of Australian Volunteers International

Dimity Fifer is Chief Executive Officer of Australian Volunteers International, Australia’s largest and most experienced international volunteer cooperation organisation.

Dimity has been a Board member of the Australian Council for International Development since 2006 and also serves on the Board of FORUM, the international peak body of international volunteer cooperation agencies. She attended the Australia 2020 Summit earlier this year as part of the Foreign Policy stream, is a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (Victoria) and received a Centenary Medal in 2001 for leadership in social policy.

She has extensive experience in people and community development and social justice, previously serving as Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Council of Social Service and as a member of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation.

Deidre Murray
Director of Comhlámh

Deidre spent a number of years teaching at third level in France and then with VSO in China. She also spent 10 years working as Student Officer with the Irish Council for International Students in Ireland, managing fellowships, delivering cross cultural training, participating in fora on development, multiculturalism and racism. She has had a long engagement on a voluntary basis in development education, and recently returned from 6 years in Ethiopia with a number of different NGOs working in project management and as a gender advisor. She commenced working as the Director of Comhlámh in June, 2008.

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Peter Reicher
Chair of Hungarian Volunteer Sending Foundation

Peter Reicher has been the chairman of the HVSF since 2005. He is also a member of the steering group for CONCORD (Bruxelles). He has worked on the Hungarian Law of Volunteers, and has given seminars in several countries, including Sudan, South Africa, Germany, Mozambique and Japan.

Peter holds a post-graduate Degree in Law from the University of Eötvös Loránd, and a university certificate in Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Budapest.

Brian Rockliffe
Director of the VSO Federation

Brian Rockliffe is Director of the VSO Federation. Built on a British foundation, the VSO federation now includes 5 members: VSO UK, VSO Netherlands, VSO Bahaginan (Philippines), VSO Jitolee (Kenya) and CUSO-VSO (Canada), with associates in Australia, India and Ireland. As a director of VSO for the last 21 years, Brian has led the development of the federation. He has also done much to develop the concept of volunteering, through the development of the LINKS program, of initiatives in support of national volunteering and of distinctive VSO programs for young people, including Global Xchange. Brian worked as a volunteer in Tanzania and has also worked in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

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Takemichi Shirai
Senior Advisor to the Director General, JICA for Mr Takafumi Ito

Before joining in JICA, Takemichi worked for a private company for 7 years. He decided to join JICA after the 1992 the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, in order to dedicate his experience to the international cooperation. Since then he has served in several departments and overseas offices such as, Department of Training, France Office, Department of Finance and Senegal Office. As of October 2008, Takemichi has been working at Secretariat of JOCV as a Senior Advisor to the Director General.

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Jean Tan
Executive Director, Singapore International Foundation (SIF)

Jean Tan joined the Singapore International Foundation as its Executive Director on 1 October, 2008. Prior to this, she was Press Secretary to the Manpower Minister and Director of Communications at the ministry. Her earlier posts included Deputy Director, Media Division, Ministry of Information and the Arts and concurrently Deputy Director, Singapore Film Commission. She was First Secretary at the Singapore Embassy in Washington from 1996-1999 where she set up Singapore’s first overseas public affairs office. Jean was awarded the Singapore Government Merit Scholarship to pursue a Master of Science (Mass Communications) in the US. She also holds postgraduate qualifications in linguistics. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, travel, theatre and dance.