IODA Newsletter April 2021

Dear IODA family,

How are you holding up? We trust you are all are safe and healthy.

There are a few silver linings these days as some parts of the world are emerging out of lockdowns and many are getting vaccinated. Travel then does not seem a distant dream!

We can’t wait to share with you more updates, more news and more benefits as members.

We are delighted to introduce you to the two new team members who will be supporting us, and would like to extend a very warm welcome to James & Sophie.

 James Eckley will lead operations, member interaction and administration. Silke (former Operations Manager) is ensuring that he is well inducted in the role. James is based in Cape Town, South Africa. He has a background in Social Development, Psychology, and Operations and has been running the operations for membership-based organizations in the field of OD since 2013. He was part of the team that hosted IODA at the International conference in Stellenbosch in 2017 and left feeling inspired by the abundance of spirit that IODA generates. James is looking forward to running the operations for IODA and strengthening the relationship with members. James loves cooking, camping, parenting his two boys, and travelling. James can be reached via iodahq@gmail.com

 Sophie Dazin promises to bring in innovative ideas to effectively communicate IODA’s activities to the world and will support the marketing, website, communications and social media. Sophie is based in Santiago, Chile. She was born and brought up in London from Argentine and French parents and to this day struggles to answer the typical ‘where are you from?’ question. Sophie loves music, dancing, camping, cakes and architecture. She has a passion for colours and strongly believes they play an immense role in overall wellbeing. She has been working in the Marketing and events world for over 13 years and is looking forward to helping IODA strengthen its digital presence. Sophie can be reached via sophiedazin@gmail.com

The Saul A. Silverman Endowment nomination and application process is open

The Saul A. Silverman Endowment Fund Committee is pleased to share with you that we are opening the 2021 Nomination and Application process.  This Award will be given out anually with the first edition being in 2021!  The award is designed to particularly appreciate and affirm new practitioner’s work on healing and conflict resolution.

For those who would like to be considered for this award, please visit IODA’s webpage to see if you or someone you know fits the criteria. Applications must be submitted by June 1st, 2021.

We invite you to watch the series of interviews with OD conflict resolution and healing practitioners that the Silverman Endowment Committee has been conducting on our YouTube channel

The latest inspirational and very timely video is with Nang Phyu Phyu Lin from Myanmar. She is both a PhD OD candidate from Assumption University, and National Advisor for Alliance for Gender Inclusion in the Peace Process. We send her and all our other IODA colleagues in Myanmar our support at this time. 

Climate resilience, ecosystem restoration and OD

Some of you may remember our webinar last year on Climate Change and OD.

If you are interested in being part of further conversations around what more we can do as OD practitioners to support climate resilience and ecosystem restoration, please contact Michelle at mdebruyn@kaiseredp.com 

3rd OD World Conference 2021 | 15 - 17 October

We are busy making our next World Summit rich in content and delivery.

Call for white papers has been announced and you all are requested to submit yours at the very earliest. Payment for the Conference is not a prerequisite for submitting your white papers; should you be selected, you will be required to make your payment.

Again, with the virtual option you can pay your Conference Fees now and closer to the Conference date you may pay for the balance amount should you decide to personally attend the Conference.

The World Summit still has a very attractive Early Bird rate to attend this special hybrid version. Please visit the website to register for the Virtual/Online Summit which has limited capacity, so don’t wait much longer!

Please do help us spread the word on the world summit and invite your colleagues and friends to become a part of IODA.