Dear Friends,
As you may have heard, Jim Harkness intends to step down as president of IATP at the end of this year, to work fulltime on China. I am writing to ask your help in finding IATP’s next leader.
But first, I want to say something about Jim.
Jim came to IATP in 2006, taking the reins from founding director Mark Ritchie. There is always a danger when a founding director leaves that an organization will stumble; instead, Jim has led us through the past seven years with intelligence, grace and courage, and IATP is the stronger for it. Under his leadership, we have deepened our commitment to our core values of justice, internationalism, and sustainable, decentralized food, farm and energy systems. Under his leadership, IATP brought rural communities and agriculture to the table, whether the discussion was climate, finance, trade agreements, food policy, public health or GMOs. Under his leadership, IATP’s board shifted to bring on seven new members while keeping three of the founding members and myself. In short, Jim leaves IATP a strong, vibrant organization and we are truly grateful for that.
We are also eager to find the next president of IATP, and here I need your help. I am heading the board-staff search team that is looking for a collaborative, values-driven, visionary leader who is internationalist in perspective, passionate about agriculture and food systems, and skilled at managing a complex, dynamic organization. Applicants should have stature in a relevant field, experience with other cultures, excellent communication skills and demonstrated leadership ability. The position is based in Minneapolis. You can read the full job announcement here.
I would ask you to share it widely. I am confident that together we can find an extraordinary leader for IATP as it approaches its fourth decade.
Harriet Barlow, Chair
on behalf of the IATP Board of Directors
Dr. Arie van den Brand, President, Groupe de Bruges, The Netherlands
Becky Glass, Deputy Director, Labor Network for Sustainability, U.S.A.
Dr. Sivan Kartha, Senior Scientist, Stockholm Environment Institute (U.S. Office), Tufts University, U.S.A.
Jane Kretzmann, Senior Fellow, University of Minnesota, U.S.A.
Hannes Lorenzen, Senior Adviser, Comm. on Agriculture and Rural Development, EU Parliament, Belgium
Firoze Manji, Director, Documentation and Research Centre, CODESRIA, Senegal
Estrella Penunia, Secretary General, Asian Farmers Association, Philippines
Pam Saunders, Quality and Industry Relations Manager, Organic Prairie, U.S.A.
Steven Shrybman, Law Partner, Sack Goldblatt Mitchell, Canada
Dr. Daniel De La Torre Ugarte, Associate Dir., Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, Univ. of Tennessee, U.S.A.
