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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1Y 4M8

Tel: 613-761-3650
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Toll-Free: 1-888-773-7717
Email: info@farmradio.org
Web Site: http://farmradio.org/

Who We Are

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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:

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.

George S. Atkins, CM, Founding Director

Dr. Atkins owned and managed a small farm after graduating from the Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph, Ontario. His second career was as senior farm commentator at CBC radio. A trip to Zambia to work with African broadcasters sparked the idea for the Farm Radio International. Read more about George Atkins.

David Barrie

David Barrie has farmed in Ontario and in Africa for 50 years. After graduating from the Ontario Agriculture College (Guelph) in 1953, David managed the family farm with his brothers for ten years, and then ran his own farm (beef & asparagus) for thirty years. For most of this time, he was a Waterloo 4H club leader. From 1990 to 1992, David was a volunteer agricultural missionary to Malawi with the Presbyterian Church of Canada, and returned for three months each year until 2002 to continue developing the teaching farm. He has also served as a volunteer agriculture advisor in Russia (1993) and Cuba (2000). He now lives in Kincardine, Ontario.

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

Gilbert Heroux

Gilbert is the Director General of Vanier College, a 5700 student English-speaking CÉGEP in Montreal, Québec. Vanier College has the largest multi-ethnic student body of any CÉGEP, a characteristic also found in its 500 member teaching staff. Prior to joining Vanier Collage, Gilbert was the Director of Collège d'Alfred of the University of Guelph in Ontario. He was the Chief Administrative Officer and Clerk for the Town of Hawkesbury (Ontario) in the mid-1990s, and served as a member of the Ontario Municipal Board from 1992 to ‘96. He has traveled extensively through eastern Africa. Gilbert holds two masters degrees: an MA in Geography (Land Use Planning) and an MA in Environmental Studies.

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 Senior Vice President at communications consulting firm Fleishman Hillard Canada. She works with companies and organizations in the agribusiness sector to help them strategically manage public relations issues, engage the media and communicate with their stakeholders. Sarah has a decade of communications experience during which time she has worked with many leading Canadian companies in the professional services, financial services, food processing, 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 George Atkins, Sarah first learned about Farm Radio International watching her grandparents stuff scripts into envelopes destined for faraway places. More recently, she has volunteered her time to prepare awards submissions on behalf of the organization. Sarah also has a passion for travel. In 2006 she spent seven months exploring southeast Asia, India and southern China.

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.

Magdalena Burgess

Magdalena Burgess was a researcher and scriptwriter for Farm Radio International for six years. She has worked with small-scale farmers and extensionists in Africa and Latin America, and has also worked in rural northern Canada. She is currently a research associate at McGill University, with interests in soil and water management in forest and agricultural systems. She holds a B.Sc. (Honours) in Biology/Ecology, and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Natural Resource Sciences. She speaks and writes English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

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 Dakar, Senegeal, where he is the Regional Chief of Programme Communication for UNICEF.