IFS Leadership

An international board of directors governs the affairs of IFS. Day-to-day management is supported by an executive director and one communications officer from the hosting organization. The organization is incorporated in the state of New York and its headquarters are currently based in Helsinki, Finland and hosted by the Finnish Federation of Settlement Houses. IFS headquarters rotate between member organizations on a volunteer and voting basis and have been associated with the location of the IFS President.

The volunteer board of directors meets at least four times each year via conference call and once each year in person at a hosting member organization. The board is responsible for developing and approving budgets, guiding policy decisions, setting agendas for conferences and trainings, fundraising, recruiting new members, strategic planning, communicating messages to members, and sharing the resources of IFS with member agencies.

IFS Team

Pentti Lemmetyinen, Chairman of the IFS board
Staffan Lindqvist, Executive Director
Junias Kanyinda, Communication Manager

Board Members

List of Board Members

Name: Melissa Aase	Organisation: University Settlement	Email: maase@universitysettlement.org	Country: NY USA	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Tony Armstrong	Organisation: Locality	Email: tony.armstrong@locality.org.uk	Country: United Kingdom	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Anne Babcock	Organisation: WoodGreen Community Services	Email: ababcock@woodgreen.org	Country: Toronto Canada	Position in the IFS board: Vice President – North America
Name: Frida Dahlberg	Organisation: Fritidsförbundet	Email: frida.dahlberg@fritidsforbundet.se	Country: Sweden	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Annika Svensson	Organisation: Askovfonden	Email: asv@askovfonden.dk	Country: Denmark	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Mohammed Ennahili	Organisation: Organisation Alternatives pour l’Enfance et la Jeunesse	Email: ennahili@gmail.com	Country: Rabat Morocco	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Stéphane Coudret	Organisation: Centres Sociaux (FCSF)	Email: scoudret.lesalliers@orange.fr	Country: France	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Sabine Geringer	Organisation: Wiener Hilfswerk	Email: sabine.geringer@wiener.hilfswerk.at	Country: Austria	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Peter Giczey	Organisation: ÉLETFA	Email: GICZEY.PETER@ELETFAEGYESULET.HU	Country: Hungary	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Veronica Guruceaga	Organisation: Somos Comunidad	Email: vguruceaga@hotmail.com	Country: Venezuela	Position in the IFS board: Vice President – Central and South America
Name: Mervi Janhunen-Ruusuvuori	Organisation: Setlementti Tampere	Email: mervi.janhunen-ruusuvuori@setlementtitampere.fi	Country: Finland	Position in the IFS board: Board member
Name: Chris Hanway	Organisation: Riis Neighborhood Settlement	Email: chanway@riissettlement.org	Country: NY USA	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Franco Uda	Organisation: Arci Culture Solidali	Email: uda@arci.it	Country: Italy	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Lyn Lormer	Organisation: Counterpoint Community Services	Email: lmlormer@gmail.com	Country: Australia	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Etti Isler	Organisation: Israel Association of Community Centers	Email: etisler@matnasim.org.il	Country: Israel	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Roderick Jones	Organisation: Goddard Riverside Community Center	Email: RJones@goddard.org	Country: NY USA	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Pentti Lemmetyinen	Organisation: Finnish Federation of Settlement Houses	Email: pentti.lemmetyinen@setlementti.fi	Country: Helsinki Finland	Position in the IFS board: President
Name: Anna Georgies	Organisation: Women’s Union Bihor Romania	Email: anna17hajni@gmail.com	Country: Romania	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Susan Matlof-Nieves	Organisation: Goddard Riverside Community Center	Email: smatloff-nieves@goddard.org	Country: NY USA	Position in the IFS board: Board member
Name: Nabil Kouidi	Organisation: Federation des Centres Sociaux et Socio-culturels de France	Email: n.kouidi@yahoo.com	Country: France	Position in the IFS board:
Name: Kenzie Okeefe	Organisation: Pillsbury United Communities, Minneapolis	Email: @KenzieO@pillsburyunited.org	Country: Minneapolis USA	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Michael MacKenzie	Organisation: Counterpoint Community Services	Email: MShreenan@counterpointcs.org.au	Country: Australia	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Sunday Ofili Ibobor	Organisation: Umuebu Neighborhood House	Email: sibobor@yahoo.ca	Country: Nigeria	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Roy Douglas Otieno	Organisation: Tinada Youth Organisation	Email: roydouglas88@gmail.com	Country: Kenya	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Liz Lougheed Green	Organisation: Association of Neighborhood Houses BC (ANHBC)	Email: elgreen@anhbc.org	Country: Canada	Position in the IFS board:
Name: Paul Sekfy	Organisation: Local Community Services Associations (LCSA)	Email:pasekfy@adnet.com.au	Country: Australia	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Thijs van Mierlo	Organisation: Landelijk Samenverkingsverband Actieve bewoners (LSA)	Email: thijs@lsabewoners.nl	Country: Netherlands	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Allison Wallace	Organisation: Greater Cleveland Neighborhood Centers Association.	Email: awallace@gcnca.org	Country: Ohio USA	Position in the IFS board: Board Member
Name: Renate Wilkening	Organisation: Nachbarschaftszentrum	Email: renatewilkening@nusz.de	Country: Germany	Position in the IFS board: Vice President – Europe
Name: Can Yasmut	Organisation: Local Community Services Associations (LCSA)	Email: can@lcsansw.org.au	Country: Australia	Position in the IFS board: Board Member

The International Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers (IFS)

c/o Finnish Federation of Settlement Houses

Sturenkatu 11

00510 Helsinki, Finland

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