ICA Staff

Director-General

Charles "Chuck" Gould (American) 
Chuck Gould took office as ICA Director-General on 1 September 2010. Prior to his appointment with the ICA he served as Chief Executive Officer of Volunteers of America, a health care, housing and human services organisation in the United States. Headquartered in Washington D.C., he provided leadership to its 16,000 staff and oversaw an annual budget of USD 1 billion. In each of the last five years of his administration he was recognised as one of the fifty most influential leaders in the United States non-profit sector. He served as a member of the board of the American Society of Association Executives, and of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aged. Before joining Volunteers of America, Mr. Gould practised as an attorney-at-law with Arnold & Porter and with Hogan & Hartson US law firms in Washington D.C. He has a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the University of Minnesota Law School (USA), and a Master of Studies (MSt) in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University (United Kingdom).
email: gould@ica.coop | phone: +41 22 929 88 33 | skype: ica_gould 

Director of Policy

Elizabeth "Betsy" Dribben (American)
Betsy Dribben joined the ICA on July 1, 2011 as the Director of Policy and is based in Washington DC.  Ms. Dribben has extensive political experience both in the US and internationally.  For more than eighteen years she ran the Humane Society of the US European office (which she created) and in that capacity lobbied the European Union and member states on environmental issues. She played a direct role in the EU’s establishment of a comprehensive ban on large scale driftnets in EU waters.  During her tenure as EU director, she also served as the organization’s chief United Nations representative at ECOSOC for more than a decade lobbying throughout the United Nations system and worked on Agenda 21  issues.  Her experience also includes five years on both the US House and Senate sides as a press and legislative aide as well as having served as a federal counsel for the American Bankers Association (ABA) where she worked on consumer regulatory issues and focused on Federal Reserve decisions.  Ms. Dribben is an attorney with a BA degree from Wheaton College in Norton Mass and a Juris Doctor degree from George Mason University in Northern Virginia. She is fluent in French.  
email: dribben@ica.coop | phone: +1 202-442-2308 | skype: edribbe1

Director of Communications

Nicola Kelly (British) 
Nicola Kelly was appointed as Director of Communications in September 2011, having joined the ICA in February that year as a secondee from The Co-operative Group to the post of International Year of Co-operatives Co-ordinator. Based in the UK, Nicola is responsible for developing the ICA's global communications strategy her remit includes managing the ICA's web presence and overseeing the co-ordination of the International Year of Co-operatives as the opportunity to re-launch the global co-operative brand. Prior to joining the co-operative movement in June 2010, Nicola had been Chief Executive of three UK tourism organisations, leading up to 100 staff with budgets of c . £7 million. Her destination marketing and event management career spans over twenty five years. Nicola has a BA in Economics (Birmingham City University, England) and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Management.
email: kelly@ica.coop | phone: +44 20 3286 8212 | skype: ica_kelly1

Director of Membership

Gretchen Warner (American)
Gretchen Warner joined the ICA in 2006 and is currently the Director of Membership and coordinator for the ICA Youth Network.   Ms. Warner comes from the US co-operative movement and was a youth representative to the ICA.  For five years, she was Legislative Director of the U.S. Overseas Co-operative Development Council (OCDC) where she represented co-operative members with various domestic and international government bodies.  She also worked for NRECA International Foundation and Land O`Lakes International Development Programmes.  Ms. Warner has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Montana State University (USA); and a Masters degree in International Affairs from American University’s School of International Service (USA). 
email: warner@ica.coop | phone: +41 22 929 88 30 | skype: ica_warner

Agricultural Advisor & Sectoral Information Manager

Gwangseog Hong (Korean)
Gwangseog Hong worked for the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF) in Seoul, Korea since 1996. He was seconded to the ICA in February 2011 for a two-year period as Agricultural Adviser and sectoral Information Manager. Mr. Hong most recently worked with the NACF international co-operative office, but has also held positions at NACF in finance and research. Prior to joining NACF he was a journalist for the Korean Farmers Newspaper and a researcher with the World Agriculture Policy Institute in Korea. He holds a master's degrees in agricultural economics from the Ohio State University (USA) and Seoul National University (Korea). 
email: hong@ica.coop | phone: +41 22 929 88 12 | skype: nacfhong

Administrative Manager

Soizick Menais (French)
Soizick Menais joined the ICA in September 2011 as Administrative Manager. Based in Brussels, Soizick provides overall administrative support to the ICA Global Office. Prior to this assignment she worked in international companies in Paris and Brussels.
email: menais@ica.coop | phone: T: +32 2 743 10 31 | skype: ica_menais

Project Administrator

Antonina Guarrella
Antonina Guarrella joined the ICA in November 2011 as Project Administrator.  She began working in the co-operative movement in 1982. In 1984, Antonina Guarrella joined the “European Confederation of Workers' Co-operatives, Social Co-operatives and Social and Participative Enterprises - CECOP” where she especially appreciated the broad range of activities and work she was involved in and the very dynamic professional environment.  After 22 years, in 2006, she left CECOP for the newly created “Cooperatives Europe”, the European Regional Office of the ICA. 
email: guarrella@ica.coop

Regional Director - ACI Americas

Manuel Mariño
Manuel Mariño joined ICA's family as ROAM's Regional Director in October 2001. Before joining ICA, he was the Director of the Swedish Co-operative Centre (SCC) Regional Office located in San José, Costa Rica for four years (1996-2000). This is a Swedish organisation constituted by the Swedish co-operative movement, which is focused in international co-operation and offers support to co-operatives in developing countries. Mr. Mariño has also worked at SCC Head Office in Stockholm, Sweden from 1984 to 1996. He was the Director of the Latin American Department and was also responsible for projects in Kenya and Zimbabwe and the relations with the European Union, Inter-American Development Bank, and UN among others. He has an expertise in project development and cooperation. Mr. Mariño has published two books ("Commercialisation of agricultural products in Mozambique, ASDI, and September 1984" and "International Co-operation and Co-operative Development") and has written various articles on many topics. He has also been invited as a speaker to seminars, conferences on co-operative issues in Europe and the Americas. 
email: direccion@aciamericas.coop 

Regional Director - ICA Africa

Dr Mutua Waema

Dr Mutua Waema joined ICA as Africa Regional Director in October 2010. Prior to this he was the Rabobank Foundation Representative in East Africa.  Mutua has previously worked at the ICA as a Banking Project Manager for East Central & Southern Africa.  He has also held positions at The Co-operative Bank of Kenya and taught co-operative and business courses at The Catholic University of Eastern Africa and Strathmore University. Dr Waema has a passion for the co-operative business model and strongly believes that effective co-operatives can enable equitable local and global human development. Looking at worldwide economic and social issues as well as re-setting economic dynamics Dr Waema has a feeling that we have a ‘co-operative opportunity’ but we need to organize to embrace the moment for humanity and the environment. 

email: waema@icaafrica.coop

Regional Director - ICA Asia & the Pacific

Dr Chan-Ho Choi (Korean)

Dr Chan-Ho Choi assumed his position as Regional Director for ICA Asia-Pacific on 1 January 2010. Dr Choi was formerly General Manager of the International Co-operation Office of the National Agricultural Co-operative Federation (NACF) of Korea, Secretary-general of the ICAO, ICA’s agricultural co-operative organisation, and Secretary General of the Korean Co-operative Council. He comes to the ICA with more than 30 years co-operative experience and strong academic background in agriculture. Dr Choi also spent three years at the ICA Central Office on secondment from NACF. He is therefore well acquainted with ICA. 
email: choi@icaroap.coop

Regional Director - Cooperatives Europe

Klaus Niederländer (German) 

Klaus Niederländer became the Director of Cooperatives Europe and the Regional Director for Europe on 15 November 2010. Mr. Niederländer comes to the ICA with a professional background in enterprise development via his experience as a financial analyst, management consultant and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) programme manager in Europe, Africa and the United States. He has hands-on experience of developing co-operative enterprises and movements in various countries of Africa (e.g. in the artisanal textile sector and for the development of fair trade cotton). Co-operative development has deep roots in his family's history with their involvement in the creation and development of the local cooperative banking and agricultural sector in the South Western part of Germany. 
email: k.niederlander@coopseurope.coop