Mr Conley joined the Board as a director in February 2010 and has been very active over the past 17 months volunteering his time to completely redesign the AwF website, reaching out to other NGOs working in aquaculture/agriculture development, and managing the AwF communications programme.
He has also undertaken updating the volunteer database with the goal of better utilising this resource to expand the reach and effectiveness of the organisation.
We are extremely pleased with all the work that Dave has done since joining us, said AwF Founder and Patron, Michael New, OBE.
He has made numerous suggestions to help us become more efficient and has impressed me with his energy and dedication to achieving the mission of AwF.
At the same time, the Board of Directors has undertaken to re-organise the structure of the organisation. There will now be an Executive Committee composed of the chair, Dr M.C. Nandeesha, chair-elect, Dr Barry Costa-Pierce, executive director, Dave Conley, secretary, John Cooksey, treasurer, Roy Palmer, and executive committee member, David Little.
The Board has also been enlarged by six new directors: Dr Charles Bai, Pierre Erwes, Dr Jose Manuel Fernandez-Polanco, Kenny McCaffrey, Dr Patricia Moraes-Valenti, and Dr Shakuntala Thilsted.
This new structure reflects the desire for greater diversity in expertise and geographic location 11 countries are now represented on the AwF Board. Michael New has resigned from the Board in order to allow AwF to grow under younger leadership but will continue to provide his input as Founder and Patron.
With the new management team in place, AwF is embarking upon a major fundraising campaign to raise one million dollars over the next 18-24 months.
Due to our increased profile over the past 12 months, we are receiving many more project proposals, said Dr M.C. Nandeesha, AwF chairman.
This is placing a strain on our current financial resources so we are going to reach out to the aquaculture industry, funding agencies, foundations, and individuals to help us meet this challenge.
The scope of our work is expanding, as is the geographic range of the projects we are now considering, said Dr Barry Costa-Pierce, chair-elect. Project proposals have recently been received from Haiti, Kenya, Zambia, Mexico, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives, with more arriving every month. The need for our help is obvious, and we have a lot of work to do.
Aquaculture Without Frontiers Appoints New Director
US - Dave Conley has been appointed as executive director of Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF).
