Edsa board

 

Every three years the EDSA Board is elected by the general assembly. The present board has been elected at the Annual General Meeting, which took place in Rome, october 2011 and will be in office until 2014.

Previous meetings were held in Sarajevo (april 2009), Dublin (august 2009), Nürnberg (february 2010) and Rom (october 2010).
Since 2011 the edsa board uses the possibility of online meetings in order to safe costs and time.

 

 

EDSA's officers are currently:

President
Cora Halder, Nürnberg , Germany
Deutsches Down-Syndrom InfoCenter
Cora is the director of the German Down Syndrom InfoCenter and chief editor of the journal „Leben mit Down-Syndrom“. She has been working in the field since 20 years.
She is a mother of two young ladies. Her youngest daughter Andrea has Down syndrome and is 23 years old.

 

General Secretary
Cécile Dupas, Saint-Etienne, France
Trisomie 21 France
Cécile represents Trisomie 21 France at EDSA Board and is president of the local organisation Trisomie 21 Loire.
She is a mother of an 18-year-old young woman with DS and two other daughters.

 

Vice President
Frank Buckley, Portsmouth, UK
Down Syndrome Education International
Frank is the Chief Executive of Down Syndrome Education International and President/CEO of Down Syndrome Education USA. Frank has worked for DSE International since 1996 and was appointed Chief Executive in September 2007. He is responsible for the leadership and strategic direction of the organisation.
Frank is Sue Buckley‘s son and his sister has Down syndrome.

Vice President
Anna Contardi, Rome, Italy
Associazione Italiana Persone Down
Anna is not a parent but a professional, Social Worker and collaborates with Associazione Italiana Persone Down since 1981. She is editor of the journal “Sindrome Down Notizie” since 1983, author of several books and publications about DS, social aspects, education, school and work inclusion of persons with DS and
coordinates the activities of the AIPD since 1990. In 1989 Anna was appointed director of the “Course for the autonomy training of Down syndrome adolescents”.

Treasurer
Isidro Moyano, Prague, Czech Republic
DownSyndrom CZ
Isidoro became a member of the Board of the Prague Down Syndrome Association in April 2006.
The eldest of his three daughters has Down syndrome. Isidoro comes from Spain, but lives with his Czech wife in Prague. Their children are bilingual.

 

Board Member
Juan Perera, Mallorca, Spain
Asociación Síndrome de Down de Baleares (ASNIMO)
Juan is the director of the Centro Principe de Asturias (ASNIMO) in Mallorca, Professor Psychology Universidad de las Islas Baleares (UIB). He has been one of the founders of EDSA and its President from 2001 to 2005. He is also on the DSI board, author and co-author of several publications and organiser of many international conferences. Since years Prof. Perera supports DS-Associations in South America. He is also the legal guardian of an adult person with Down syndrome.

 

Board Member
Pat Clarke, Drogheda, Ireland
Down Syndrome Ireland
Pat is CEO of Down Syndrome Ireland and president elect of Down Syndrome International. He represents EDSA at the European Disability Forum and chairs its Youth Committee and serves on its executive committee. He also serves on the advisory board of the European Coalition on Community Living.
He is the parent of David, a 28 year old young man with DS.

 

Board Member
Tania Mykhailenko, Kyiv, Ukraine
Ukrainian Charitable Organization “Down Syndrome“
Tania is a Board Member of the Ukrainian Charitable Organization "Down Syndrome" and a Service Director of the first and the only in Ukraine Down Syndrome Early Development Center that was opened in Kyiv on november 2, 2010. She has two sons, 24 and 7 and a daughter,18. The youngest, Lev, has Downs syndrome.

 

Board Member
Jaroslaw Pieniak, Wroclaw, Poland
Dolnośląskie Stowarzyszenie na Rzecz Osób z Zespołem Downa "Razem"
Jaroslaw Pieniak was co-founder of RAZEM Wrocław DS organization: he also developed the website www.zespoldowna.info which is guideline for parents with a child with DS in Poland.
Jarek is a a father of three sons. The youngest son Jan (5 years old) has Down Syndrome. The second son has got autism. Jarek is interested in the role of supplementation and drugs, to improve the childrens health. He is very much involved in implementing main stream education in kindergarden and in the polish schoolsytem.

 

Board Member
Dinka Vukovic, Zagreb, Croatia
Croatian Down Syndrome Association (CDSA)
Dinka is the president of Croatia Down Syndrome Association. CDSA represents eight local Down syndrome associations in Croatia and around 450 children with Down syndrome and their families. Her only child, Filip (age 11) has Downs syndrome and he is attending a regular school where he is supported by a teaching assistant. Over the past then years Dinka learned how to work with several education methods for children with Down syndrome and besides devoting herself to the education of her son she also holds several courses for parents and experts. She is the editor of a series of publications in Croatian language from the Down Syndrome Education International, UK .

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Letters from the President

The current EDSA President sends out short newsletters, 3 or 4 times a year with an overview of activities from board members, interesting facts from the different edsa associations etc.
You can download these letters from the president here:

Letter from the President – May 2011	→ PDF download (740 KB)
Letter from the President – January 2011	→ PDF download (637 KB)
Letter from the President – August 2010	→ PDF download (248 KB)
Letter from the President – April 2010	→ PDF download (421 KB)
Letter from the President – March 2010	→ PDF download (247 KB)
Letter from the President – November 2009	→ PDF download (193 KB)
Letter from the President – June 2009	→ PDF download (375 KB)
Letter from the President – April 2009	→ PDF download (223 KB)
Letter from the President – January 2009	→ PDF download (245 KB)
Letter from the President – December 2008	→ PDF download (180 KB)