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| 20-Feb-08 4:00 PM CST | ||
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Advance Announces New CEO and Farewells Founding CEO |
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MEDIA RELEASE: 11 February, 2008
Advance – Global Australians. Global Networks, today announced the appointment of Serafina Maiorano as its new Chief Executive Officer based in New York. Founding CEO, Elena Douglas, now based in Perth, will remain active in the organisation as a Director on the Advance Board. Christopher Aitken, President of Advance, announced the appointment after a global search of internationally minded Australians. “We welcome Serafina to the leadership of Advance. In many ways she presents as a snapshot of the organisation's mission: global experience and a global outlook, with deep roots in Australia but connections across the world.” Serafina brings to Advance a diverse and impressive professional skill base and an international reach. Her experience spans the public and private sectors, working from international consultancy to the arts, with expertise in business and strategy development as well as event management. Most recently she was General Manager of EFI International, a Dubai based management and HR consultancy for two and a half years. Prior to this she was awarded Australia Council funding to undertake international cultural partnership research in USA, Mexico, Finland and UK. In 2003 she was the Executive Producer of Experimenta, one of Australia’s leading media arts companies. She has held Board positions with the Adelaide Fringe Inc, Australia's largest multi art festival, and the Australian Network for Art and Technology. A full bio is available online at www.advance.org/en/cms/?24 Advance has aggressive goals for 2008 and beyond, including the second Advance 100 Global Australians summit, continued expansion of membership and talent return programs, and the opening of a new office in Asia. “Serafina’s strong operational, creative and marketing background, coupled with her experience in the non profit sector and with government are the perfect combination of skills to take Advance to the next level”, added Adrian Turner, Vice President of Advance. In farewelling Elena Douglas as CEO, Aitken paid tribute to Elena’s vitality, creativity and commitment to the organisation and its mission. “As the founding CEO of Advance, Elena has built and connected a global community of Australians – a fantastic achievement. She took the helm of Advance when it was a website with 500 members and has built it into a global community of more than 10,000 Australians, 10 Chapters worldwide, and offices in New York and London. Her relentless drive and great sense of purpose has ensured that Advance has had, and will continue to have, a real impact. “Elena chaired and produced the hugely successful inaugural Advance 100 Global Australians Summit in Sydney during 2006. We are grateful that Elena will remain with us on the Board of Directors and continue to provide value to Advance, the community of global Australians and to Australia.” About Advance Advance is a dynamic and diverse global community of Australian professionals overseas committed to advancing Australia. With our growing global membership, our extensive industry networks and our strong relationships with global business, government and academia, we galvanise our community for the economic, cultural and social advancement of Australia. Our global members not only represent valuable talent and expertise for individual businesses and industries, they also create extensive networks, spheres of influence and opportunities that benefit Australia as a whole. Advance is a not-for-profit organisation, founded in 2002 and headquartered in New York, with established networks and programmes in all major business centres across the USA (New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington DC). Our European office is based in London with activities to date in London, Dublin and Paris. Our geographic scope also includes Hong Kong, Singapore, Dublin and Toronto. We are currently expanding our footprint to key regions of Asia and the Middle East. www.advance.org FOR MORE INFORMATION: In Australia: Liz O’Connell – Advance Board Director Tel: +61 4437 032 964 Email: liz@southfwb.com In the USA: Serafina Maiorano – Advance CEO Tel: +1 212 682 2885 x15 Email: serafina@advance.org |
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