August 31, 2010 (SSNA) — Founder and Executive Director Mangar Gordon Amerdid has been called to serve as the Secretary of the International Treaties and Agreements (a subcommittee on Post-referendum Arrangement Negotiations) in Juba, South Sudan. He had previously gone to Sudan in February of this year to work in a temporary capacity as the IT Director in the Presidential Campaign Team during the Sudanese general elections which took place in April 2010.
At the June’s meeting of the LIONS’ Board of Directors, it was agreed that Amerdid would step down as Executive Director while maintaining a position on the Board of Directors.
“I will always be part of LIONS and you will be part of me, said Amerdid. We have much more to accomplish and I believe in our goals even more firmly than the day we began.” Amerdid will continue to serve as a spokesperson for LIONS and to advise on government relations.
Ballard Pritchett was named Acting Executive Director and will fill this strategic post during the remainder of 2010. Pritchett served as the Program Director and faculty coordinator for the Pilot Leadership Course held at the University of Denver in December, 2009. Pritchett’s first priority will be to evaluate and reorganize the administrative structure of LIONS and secondly to plan the upcoming November course in Juba, Sudan.
Abraham Makher Reech (Phoenix, AZ) was elected the new President of the Board of Directors with Helen Achol Abyei (currently in Sudan) serving as Vice-president, Gideon Abraham (Denver, CO) has been serving as Treasurer and Anita Sanborn (Denver, CO) as Secretary. Isaac Gang (Hattiesburg, MS), a former LIONS Advisor on Community Affairs, has been appointed as Information/Communications Director. “No matter how much I am involved in the issues and affairs of the marginalized Sudanese – be they political or social, I have always felt the need to do more. I certainly consider this designation a privilege and recognition of sort, for it is coming from colleagues who have been in the forefront with me for a number of years, he continued.”
The administrative headquarters will remain in Denver, CO with plans underway to establish a permanent presence in Juba, Sudan.