Who's who in IATEFL

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President
Aleksandra Popovski

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Vice President
Gabriel Diaz Maggioli

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Treasurer
Bethany Cagnol

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Secretary
Maria-Araxi Sachpazian

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Membership Committee Chair
Gerhard Erasmus

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Special Interest Group Representative
Judith Mader

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Digital Committee Chair
Shaun Wilden

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Associate Representative
Jean Theuma

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Sandy Millin is a freelance ELT consultant, teacher trainer, and materials writer, as well as an experienced presenter across a whole range of subjects. She is currently Deputy Tech Coordinator for     MaWSIG, and was previously part of the IATEFL Membership and Marketing Committee, where she helped to set up the IATEFL Voices blog. Sandy blogs at http://sandymillin.wordpress.com and tweets @sandymillin. She has self-published books focussed on teacher development (ELT Playbook 1 and ELT Playbook Teacher Training), and a book of ways to adapt speaking activities (Richer Speaking). 

Being a member of IATEFL has taught me so much, through the people I've met at conferences, the skills I've picked up on committees and in SIGs, the many talks I've attended and the feedback I've had on talks I've presented myself. Put simply, I wouldn't be the professional I am now without IATEFL. Becoming an IATEFL Ambassador is a wonderful opportunity to share the benefits of being part of such a diverse international organisation, and to help it continue to develop into the future.

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Evan Frendo is a freelance teacher, trainer and author, specializing in Business English and English for Specific Purposes. His expertise is on training individuals and groups to improve their English so that they can operate more effectively in an international business environment. Sometimes this involves running courses and seminars, but more and more of his time is spent providing consultancy services to international corporations, training business English teachers and writing training materials. He is currently based in Berlin, Germany, but his work takes him to different parts of Europe and Asia. Visit www.e4b.de to find out more about Evan and what he does.

I have been an active member of IATEFL since 1993, and have benefited enormously from my involvement, not only via stints as a Trustee, and as a SIG Coordinator, but also via the countless interactions with IATEFL members and affiliates over the years. I am particularly pleased to take on a role as ambassador because it will help me spread the word to the many thousands of English language teachers who work in contexts not traditionally associated with mainstream ELT (e.g. workplace learning and development, corporate communications, management training), and who may not know much about IATEFL and what it has to offer.

Sarah Mercer

Sarah Mercer is Professor of Foreign Language Teaching at Graz University, Austria. Her work focuses on the psychology of language learning and teaching. She has authored, co-authored and co-edited a number of books in this area and been principal investigator on several funded projects in this field.

IATEFL was the first professional association I joined and has been my home ever since. Although my work profile has changed over the years, my link to the association has remained strong and fulfilling. I cherish the friendships and work partnerships which have been formed through the association, and have very fond memories of my years as a SIG Coordinator. The conference is a key fixture in my academic year and I love meeting and learning from colleagues working in diverse contexts across the globe. I am absolutely thrilled to be invited to further the work of the association as an ambassador and hope I can help others connect to this wonderful community and reap the same benefits I have enjoyed for many years.

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George Pickering is a widely known educational coach, consultant and trainer, who has worked professionally in over 65 countries. He is currently a senior inspector for Accreditation UK and the academic course director of the English UK Diploma in ELT Management in the UK and China. He was a trustee and a director of IATEFL for a total 12 years, as both the treasurer and later as SIG representative. George was also the co-ordinator of LAMSIG and newsletter editor for many years. He helped establish the IATEFL projects scheme for IATEFL Associates, was the co-designer of the IATEFL leadership programme for IATEFL associates, and was the co-editor of the Best of SIGS publication. He is currently conducting research into alternatives to neoliberal capitalism (purpose-driven organisations, co-operatives) and staff wellbeing and engagement.

I am absolutely delighted to be an IATEFL ambassador. The association has played a major part in my own professional development and helped me to grow as a leader, researcher, writer and speaker. I see my role as not only encouraging individuals and institutions to join the association, but also to play as active a role as possible once they are in it. I would encourage everyone to move up the ladder of contribution and to go from listening to and reading the words of others, to writing your own articles and giving talks at IATEFL events. The association prides itself on helping first-time writers and speakers make their professional mark. SIGs and other parts of IATEFL are all on the lookout for people who want to become active in the association.

I believe that the more you contribute to the association, the more you will get out of it in terms of professional development, and creating your own sense of belonging to a professional community. My general advice would be: ‘Ask not what IATEFL can do for you, Ask what you can do for IATEFL’.

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Syke Annamma Kumaran is a teacher, presenter and an ELT consultant. He was a Fulbright Fellow at Claremont Graduate University, California. He has taught English for over 20 years in India and in the U.S. and he has been supporting teachers of English worldwide for over 15 years as a volunteer and mentor. His volunteering experience with IATEFL includes: member of the Membership Committee, curator of the IATEFL blog, moderator of IATEFL monthly webinars, moderator of the IATEFL Facebook group, member of the webinar proposals selection committee, member of Digital Committee, photographer-cum-reporter of three annual conferences and one of the hosts of IATEFL Virtual Conferences.

I’m thrilled to be an IATEFL ambassador. IATEFL definitely holds the key role in shaping me professionally, by giving me ample opportunities to work with different ELT communities in the world. I have been doing various volunteering activities in the past ten years for IATEFL, the leading organization in the world to support ELT professionals. As an ambassador, I hope I can help others to join with this wonderful bunch of ELT professionals for their professional and personal growth.

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Harry Kuchah Kuchah is a Past President of IATEFL.
Bio to follow.