Who We Are
Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors and the standing committees which report to the Board provide strategic direction and oversight for our program and operations. Board members bring experience in management, agriculture, radio broadcasting, development communications, finance, legal counsel and – last but certainly not least – fundraising.
The committees provide specific direction and also help staff to implement some of the activities directed by the Board.
Officials:
Directors-at-Large:
- Glenn B. Powell
- Helen Hambly Odame
- Heather Hudson
- Janette McDonald
- Graham McLeod
- Charles Marfull
- Bernard Pelletier
- John Morriss
- Anthony Anyia
- Sarah Andrewes
- John van Mossel
- William Stunt
- Neil Ford
Doug Ward, President
Doug worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for 28 years as a radio producer, station manager, regional director and vice president. He was on the team of producers that started CBC Radio's long-standing program "As It Happens". Later, he directed CBC's northern operations, emphasizing the recruitment and training of native northerners. Since 1988 he has served on the board of Inter Pares, a Canadian international social justice organization. He joined the board of Farm Radio International in 2001, and has been President of the board since September 2002.
Nancy Brown-Andison, Treasurer
Nancy Brown-Andison is a management consultant for IBM in Toronto, and specializes in change management, program design and evaluation, and agriculture and agri-food industry programs and policies. Nancy has a family farming background and remains active in her parents' family farm business. She holds a B.Sc. (Agriculture) from University of Guelph, and a MBA from Queen's University.
Glenn B. Powell
Glenn grew up on a small farm near Paris, Ontario where the family raised Jersey cattle, laying hens, and turkeys for the year-end festive market. He graduated from the Ontario Agricultural College, B.Sc.A.(Animal Science)) in 1962 and was employed as a provincial government agricultural extension agent. Glenn later joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as a farm commentator and there began a career in journalism and communications that was very much influenced by the founder of FRI, George Atkins. Glenn and George worked together for many years and remained lifetime close friends. As a National Reporter for CBC Radio News, Glenn travelled extensively throughout Canada, the United States, Mexico and Western Europe - including one assignment to Western Samoa where he served as lead trainer for rural broadcasters of the South Pacific. Today, Glenn continues to work as a freelance writer and communications consultant.
Helen Hambly Odame
Helen Hambly Odame is a specialist in local institutional development with thirteen years of experience in international research and development programs in Africa, North Africa and Latin America. Helen has recently joined the Faculty of the School of Environmental Design & Rural Development at the University of Guelph, after many years as a Research Officer with the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR). Helen teaches in the area of rural extension and communications. Her research interests and publications include various topics in agricultural and rural innovation, often with a perspective informed by gender analysis. Helen holds a Ph.D. from the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University, Toronto. She has also worked with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the non-governmental sector in Kenya.
Heather Hudson
Heather Hudson is professor of telecommunications policy and management at the University of San Francisco School of Business Administration, and has been the Director of the Telecommunications Program since 1987. Issues that she addresses in her work include the relevance of information available globally, and the need for appropriate information technologies and policies. She has received numerous honours and awards for her work, including the Fulbright Asia-Pacific Distinguished Lectureship (1996, 1997), and the McLaren School of Business Distinguished Research Award (1990, 1993, 1995, 1997). Heather holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University, J.D. from the University of Texas in Austin, M.A. from Stanford, and a B.A. from the University of British Columbia.
Janette McDonald, Vice-President
Janette McDonald works with the soil conservation group in Alberta, Reduced Tillage LINKAGES. There she is working on a project to define and select production practices in Alberta that reflect sustainable practices in the global marketplace. Most recently, Janette was the Executive Director of Alberta Pulse Growers, where she worked since 1995 to develop the pulse industry in Alberta and Canada, and provide integrated research and technology information for farmers. After graduating from the University of Manitoba in 1979 with a B.Sc. in Agriculture, Janette was a District Agriculturalist at the Alberta Department of Agriculture for ten years, serving the information needs of farm families.
Graham McLeod
Graham McLeod is a practising lawyer at Infrastructure Ontario, a crown corporation playing a leading role in one of the most robust infrastructure development programs in the country. Prior to joining Infrastructure Ontario, Graham practised law at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP where he was involved in healthcare and infrastructure projects in Canada and internationally, including a number of projects to improve the quality of, and access to, potable drinking water in developing countries. With other experience in the area of commercial and corporate law, Graham brings valuable access to legal resources and skills. He holds a B.A. (Political Science and History) from the University of Alberta, and a combined Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Civil Law from McGill University.
Charles Marful
Charles is the Director of Human Resources for Ernst & Young's Tax Practice. As the leader of the Tax People Team, he oversees the design and implementation human resource development strategies and initiatives. In addition to a career in human resources management, Charles has significant international experience. He was AIESEC's Regional Development Officer for Africa in 1986/87, and a Working Group Chairperson for the International Conference on Sustainable Development in Tokyo. In 2002, he co-facilitated a workshop in Accra, Ghana, on Developing an Indigenous Leadership Model for Africa. He serves on two Boards in addition to Farm Radio International's: Youth APEEL, a development initiative for youth in the Peel Region of Ontario, and GLOKAM, an international NGO that provides medical and health assistance to African Countries
Bernard Pelletier
Bernard Pelletier is a faculty lecturer and research associate in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences at McGill University, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 2001. His research interests focus on the development of research methods (quantitative, participatory) for studying complex social-ecological systems. For his Ph.D. research, he studied the effect of smallholder farming practices on soil quality and maize yield in Malawi. Bernard was also involved in various community development projects in Africa (Ghana, Malawi) as a project supervisor with Canada World Youth and as a volunteer with WUSC. He also worked as a consultant for the CECI in Haiti.
John Morriss
John Morriss began his career as a researcher with the Biomass Energy Institute in Winnipeg. In 1975, he moved to the Canada Grains Council to manage a traveling display for the Justice Emmett Hall Commission on grain handling and transportation. He then worked as a freelance agricultural writer, serving as field editor for Grainews and writing for other farm publications. In 1977, he joined the Canadian Wheat Board as information officer, and became director of information in 1982. In 1989, he was appointed publisher and editor of the Manitoba Co-operator. In March 2002, John and eight other employees were terminated when United Grain Growers took over Agricore, the Co-operator's parent company. Six of that group then started the Farmers' Independent Weekly. In February 2007, the FIW merged with the Manitoba Co-operator under its new owner, Glacier Ventures, also owner of Farm Business Communications (FBC). All staff returned to the Co-operator or to new roles with FBC . John is now associate publisher and editorial director of FBC, Canada's largest agricultural publishing group, which produces Canadian Cattlemen, Country Guide, Grainews, Canola Guide, Alberta Express and the Manitoba Co-operator. Among John's writing awards was the Canadian Farm Writers Federation Gold Award in 1996 for best feature for a series on food aid projects in Ethiopia and Eritrea. In 2006, he received the Agri-Marketer of the Year Award from the Canadian Agri-Marketing Association.
Sarah Andrewes
Sarah Andrewes is a Vice President at Hill & Knowlton, Canada’s industry leader in public relations, public affairs and strategic communications. Sarah has over 12 years of communications experience during which time she has worked with many leading Canadian companies in the agriculture and food, professional services, financial services, technology and other sectors. Sarah holds a bachelor of arts degree from Carleton University and a public relations certificate from Humber College of Applied Arts and Technology. The eldest grandchild of Farm Radio International founder, Dr. George Atkins, Sarah first learned about the organization watching her grandparents stuff scripts into envelopes destined for fara way places.
Anthony Anyia
Anthony is a crop scientist with interest in environmental plant physiology and use of physiological traits in plant improvement. His focus is on physiological traits contributing to enhanced plant performance, water use efficiency and drought tolerance in C3 plants. He has over 14 years of experience in crops research and teaching. He is experienced in both tropical and temperate agriculture and has worked with different crops including small grains, legumes and tubers. He is currently the leader of the Sustainable Agriculture Production Technologies Program at the Alberta Research Council where he provides scientific and management direction to a team of scientists and technicians. From 1992–96, he was a lecturer in crop sciences at Edo State University in Nigeria. He holds a Ph.D. in crop sciences from Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany.
John van Mossel
John van Mossel has worked for over 30 years in international development and environmental program management. He has considerable Africa experience, including the last 13 years on governance and environmental projects in Nigeria. Currently he is a senior consultant for Marbek (Ottawa) managing a large multi-year climate change adaptation project in Nigeria funded by CIDA and executed jointly with CUSO-VSO. As a private consultant, John has worked for Commonwealth of Learning, Development and Peace, Development Workshop, One Sky and Greenpeace International. Earlier, John was a senior consultant with GCSI Inc, managing 2 multi-year CIDA-funded climate change adaptation projects (Nigeria, the Caribbean), some World Bank environmental projects (Asia, the Caribbean), and prepared environmental reports for Canadian clients. Prior to 1999 John worked for CUSO for 18 years, including 6+ years as Country Director (Botswana) and Regional Program Coordinator (Zambia). He has a bachelor of environmental studies (Waterloo) and a Masters in public administration (Carleton).
William Stunt
Bill Stunt has 25 years of broadcast experience with CBC Radio. He has produced many network programs over the years including a long association with "Global Village" CBC Radio's long running music and current affairs show. In that role Bill has worked with dozens of correspondents from the developing world helping them to craft documentaries and news items for broadcast. He's also a well-known music producer having worked on recordings for many major Canadian and international artists.
Neil Ford
Neil Ford has more than 25 years of professional experience in designing and delivering communication strategies for governments and international organizations, developing communication for social change strategies so that the voices of community members can be heard and considered within development programmes, and communicating key messages to the public as a national news reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He specializes in the design and delivery of social change strategies to help governments and organizations address survival and health, economic development, cultural identity and gender relations within sustainable development programmes. He is presently based in New York, where he is Chief of the Media and Communications Branch for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
