JET ALUMNI ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL
HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE
Leadership of JETAAI has evolved over the years.
This section outlines how the Executive Officers and Committee of JETAAI has changed and evolved during time, and preserves a record of those who have served.
JETAAI EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
The first JETAA International Bylaws were introduced in 1999 at that year’s International Conference. However, Executive Officer elections were not held until the 2000 JETAA International Conference.
There was an “Interim Organizational Committee” in place for the 1999 conference that appears to have carried through to the next year, which was chaired by Anita Chandan (Montreal), and included Daniel Lintz (Eastern Japan), Yvonne Thurman (New York), Tom Robles (Winnipeg), and Bill Higgins (Philadelphia).
The four Executive Officer positions were based on the standard chapter officer model of the early years, in the expectation there would be a need for a secretary and treasurer as the organization developed. In 2006, the Treasurer position was officially changed to a Public Relations position, as that was considered more realistic and meaningful.
Until 2014, all Executive Officer elections were held at the annual gatherings (first the International Conferences, with Chapter and Country Reps, then International Meetings, with only Country Reps). It took from the last International Meeting of JETAA-I 1.0 in 2011 until the end of 2013 for an online election process to be developed, even though chapters and countries had been using online voting for years.
In JETAA-I 1.0 the four Executive Officers were elected from the members of the Executive Committee, comprised of all member Country Reps (motions to expand the candidate pool to Chapter Reps were debated but rejected over the years). The Officers were considered to be a part of the Committee, as in a parliamentary system.
The requirement that officers be Country Reps was loosened under JETAA-I 2.0, and the two Officers were situated as an executive separate from the Committee, which serves as the legislative. Along with this, the number of Officers was reduced to the Chair and Vice Chair, the other positions never having really been effectively utilized due to the lack of funding and activity. The Webmaster position was formalized, since 2.0 was envisioned as a largely online entity and not dependent upon physical meetings. A Board of Advisors was also added to provide support for the Officers and continuity for the organization.
2000 - 2001
Chair: Paula Kelly (Ireland)
Vice-Chair: Megan Kaino (Australia)
Secretary: Boleyn Relova (Canada)
Treasurer: Julian Paisey (UK)
2001 - 2002
Chair: Paula Kelly (Ireland)
Vice-Chair: Tony Rikkers (Australia)
Secretary: So-Young Kang (US)
Treasurer: Julian Paisey (UK)
2002 - 2004
Chair: So-Young Kang (US)
Vice-Chair: Elizabeth Stephen "Baba" (Canada)
Secretary: Snaiet Shalav (New Zealand)
Treasurer: Tony Rikkers (Australia)
Note: Schedule disrupted by transition from annual International Conferences to the smaller International Meeting format (with only Country Reps and no Chapter Reps, attending).
2004 - 2005
Chair: Brenda McDonald (Canada)
Vice-Chair: Cristina Izumi Sagara (Brazil)
Secretary: Alison Bond (UK)
Treasurer: Jean-Francois Mannina (US)
Note: This team served from their election at the February 2004 Int’l Conference in New York until the June 2005 Int’l Conference in Japan (split between Nagoya and Kobe).
2005 - 2006
Chair: Peter de Valda (New Zealand)
Vice-Chair: Alison Bond (UK)
Secretary: Cindy Pitkin (Australia)
Treasurer: Michael Barrett (US)
2006 - 2007
Chair: Alison Bond (UK)
Vice-Chair: Michael Adams (Australia)
Secretary: Cindy Pitkin (Australia)
Treasurer: Liz Aveling (UK)
Note: The title of Treasurer was dropped, since it was meaningless with no funds to administer, and switched to the Public Relations role that Michael B. had emphasized during his term.
2007-2008
Chair: Michael Adams (Australia)
Vice-Chair: Joseph Luk (Canada)
Secretary: Michelle Fox (Australia)
PR Coordinator: Liz Aveling (UK)
2008 - 2009
Chair: Michael Adams (Australia)
Vice-Chair: Joseph Luk (Canada)
Secretary: Michelle Fox (Australia)
PR Coordinator: Stuart Butchers (UK)
2009 - 2010
Chair: Michelle Fox (Australia)
Vice-Chair: Ryan Hart (US)
Secretary: Kay Dunkley (Jamaica)
PR Coordinator: Stuart Butchers (UK)
2010 - 2011
Chair: Shree Kurlekar (US)
Vice-Chair: Barbara Gill (Scotland)
Secretary: Kay Dunkley (Jamaica)
PR Coordinator: David Boyd (Australia)
2011 - 2013
Chair: Shree Kurlekar (US)
Vice-Chair: Barbara Gill (Scotland)
Secretary: Cristiane Hayato (Brazil)
PR Coordinator: Kay Dunkley (Jamaica)
Note: According to an email by the Chair (sent 1/10/13), the 2012 election “never happened”. These officers were in place in 2011 and appear to have carried through at least 2013.
2013 - 2014
Chair: Shree Kurlekar (US)
Vice-Chair: Barbara Gill (Scotland)?
Secretary: Cristiane Hayato (Brazil)?
PR Coordinator: Kay Dunkley (Jamaica)?
Note: Reviewing available records (4/19), Shree continued as Chair until elections were completed in January 2014, but it is unclear whether the other officers continued to serve. Kay, becoming Chair in 2014, almost certainly did, however.
2014 - 2015
Chair: Kay Dunkley (Jamaica)
Vice-Chair: Ewan Dawson (?)
Secretary: Barbara Gill (Scotland)
PR Coordinator: Divya Jha (India)
Note: According to an email by the (former) Chair, Shree (sent 1/11/14), an election was launched on 12/31/13 that put these four officers in place.
2015 (until November)
Chair: Kay Dunkley (Jamaica) - de facto
Vice-Chair: Vacant
Secretary: Vacant
PR Coordinator: Vacant
Note: Efforts to renew JETAA-I began heating up in 2015 and elections were not held as the debate over how to carry out this renewal were conducted. Kay continued to occupy the position of Chair until November. After that, a core team coordinated efforts to draft new bylaws and develop a new structure for JETAA-I in consultation with all Country Reps, while also launching a new website, in a proto-version of the Officers / Webmaster / Board of Advisors / Executive Committee structure eventually adopted.
2016 (August) - 2017
Chair: Xander Peterson (US)
Vice-Chair: Ashlie O’Neill (Australia)
Webmaster: Eden Law (Australia)
Note: In June 2016 the JETAA-I (2.0) Bylaws were formally approved by a super-majority of 16 Yes, 1 No, and 1 non-response. Elections for Chair and Vice Chair were held in July, with officers starting their terms on August 1. Eden was almost immediately appointed as Webmaster. No BoA members were appointed for the first few months.
2017 - 2018
Chair: Xander Peterson (US)
Vice-Chair: Ashlie O’Neill (Australia)
Webmaster: Eden Law (Australia)
Board of Advisors
Matthew Gillam (US)
Ryan Hata - as AJET rep, then as alum (US)
Nathalie Ng (Singapore)
Rose Tanasugarn (Japan)
Meryl Jordan (AJET)
Note: In March Ryan Hata (AJET) and Matthew Gillam were selected as the first BoA members, and in July Nat Ng and Rose Tanasugarn were added to the BoA, with Meryl Jordan taking over the AJET ex officio seat. Ryan then stayed on as a regular member. Elections held in March, with officers starting their terms on schedule on April 1.
2018 - 2019
Chair: Ashlie O’Neill (Australia)
Vice-Chair: Rose Tanasugarn (Japan)
Webmaster: Eden Law (Australia)
Board of Advisors
Matthew Gillam (US)
Ryan Hata (US)
Nathalie Ng (Singapore)
Xander Peterson (US)
Megan Buhagiar (AJET)
Note: Elections held on schedule, from January to March, as roles & procedures began operating more normally.
2019 - 2020
Chair: Ashlie O’Neill (Australia)
Vice-Chair: Nathalie Ng (Singapore)
Webmaster: Eden Law (Australia)
Board of Advisors
Matthew Gillam (US)
Ryan Hata (US)
Xander Peterson (US)
Megan Buhagiar (AJET)
2020 - 2021
Chair: Nathalie Ng (Singapore)
Vice-Chair: Andrew Massey (Canada)
Webmaster: Eden Law (Australia)
Board of Advisors
Matthew Gillam (US)
Ryan Hata (US)
Xander Peterson (US)
Megan Buhagiar (AJET) - partial
Note: Megan stepped away part-way through the year and turmoil within AJET prevented identifying a replacement.
2021 - 2022
Chair: Nathalie Ng (Singapore)
Vice-Chair: Andrew Massey (Canada)
Webmaster: Eden Law (Australia)
Board of Advisors
Matthew Gillam (US)
Ryan Hata (US)
Xander Peterson (US)
Cheryl Phua (Singapore)
Tomo Morimoto (DoARes) / Anna Ayvazyan (DoARel) - AJET (sharing seat)
Note: Cheryl was added to beef up the Board, since several members had been lost through various developments and more hands were needed heading into the hoped-for 2022 IM. Also, it took AJET several months to find someone to fill their seat. This resulted in Anna & Tomo sharing that duty.
2022 - 2023
Chair: Nathalie Ng (Singapore)
Vice-Chair: Laurence Inniss (Trinidad & Tobago)
Webmaster: Eden Law (Australia)
Board of Advisors
Matthew Gillam (US)
Ryan Hata (US)
Xander Peterson (US)
Cheryl Phua (Singapore)
AJET - empty