ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2021
ADHD Europe held its 2021 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 17th April 2021 as a virtual meeting for the second year in a row due to COVID-19. Despite the difficulties of a virtual event, over 45 members attended and 29 full members voted in our AGM. Whilst our focus was on the business of the AGM, we were also lucky to hear from Barbara Franke who gave a lecture to our attendees on some of her recent research.
CHANGES TO THE BOARD
Two Board Members chose to step down at the end of their term: Vice President Marko Ferek and Board Member Isabel Rubio. The Board would like to take this opportunity to thank them both for their tireless service to the organisation, and to thank Isabel in particular for her role in ADHD Europe since the founding of the organisation.
Vice-President
Impuls & Woortblind
Our members chose to elect Hans van de Velde as our second Vice-President after a three year term as Board Member. Hans was instrumental in the creation of Broadcasting ADHD Europe, our webinar series with ADHD experts from across the globe, and leads the Broadcasting Committee. He also leads the Coaching Committee and was responsible for the drafting of our Practical Guide to Finding an ADHD Coach. Hans is a former President and Board Member of Imupls & Woortblind in the Netherlands and is the Chair of its Scientific Committee.
Chantel Fouche was also re-elected to a second term as Treasurer. Chantel has devoted herself to raising awareness of ADHD in Women, leading the ADHD and Women Committee and playing a key role in the ADHD and Women project between ADHS Deutschland and ADHD, ASC & LD Belgium. Chantel has also played a key role in our work for ADHD Awareness Month, supporting Andrea Bilbow OBE on this committee.
Treasurer
ADHD, ASC & LD Belgium
Board Member
ADHD Malta
Carola Stivala was also re-elected to a second term as Board Member. Carola leads our Scientific Committee, formerly known as the Research Committee, and led the work to create our 2020 Survey on Diagnosis and Treatment of ADHD in Europe. Carola has served on the Board since 2018 and has volunteered for ADHD Malta since 2013, inspired to raise awareness and combat stigma about ADHD, a condition which affects her son and other family members.
Nina Hovén-Korpela was newly elected as a Board Member. Nina is the Executive Director of ADHD-liitto, located in Vantaa, Kuopio and Oulu in Finland. She is an occupational therapist and has studied marketing and sales. Nina has been involved in ADHD Europe for a while through her role as Executive Director and looks forward to being able to give a voice to the Nordic countries in her role on the Board.
Board Member
ADHD liitto
Board Member
ADDISS
Viljo Wilding was also newly elected as a Board Member. Viljo previously served as Technical Advisor to the Board and Operations Officer, and has led the redevelopment of ADHD Europe’s website, mailing list, and other IT systems. Viljo has also led the technical development of Broadcasting ADHD Europe and implemented the new livestream format alongside Hans. Diagnosed with ADHD and autism in his teens, the challenges he faced in education and in accessing care inspired him to advocate for other young people with disabilities and their rights.
Click here to see the full composition of the Board and the profiles of our Board Members.
NEW MEMBER ORGANISATIONS
A warm welcome to the two new full members of ADHD Europe who were accepted at the AGM – elpos from Switzerland and ADHD Felagið from the Faroe Islands. Our members were able to hear presentations from both organisations about their work and the challenges they face, and overwhelmingly voted in favour of approving their membership. Both organisations have lots of exciting projects going on and we look forward to working together to help them grow and to further grow ADHD Europe. You can find out more about them below:
Website: www.elpos.ch
Phone: +41 (0)31 352 00 15
Location: Wabern, Switzerland
Website: www.adhd.fo
Phone: +298 211428
Location: Tórshavn, Faroe Islands
HONORARY MEMBERSHIP
An overwhelming majority of members also voted to confer lifetime honorary membership of ADHD Europe upon Joanne Norris, Rose Kavanagh, and Stephanie Clark, three women who were instrumental in the founding of ADHD Europe and its growth in the early years and beyond. We are very grateful for their support over the past 13 years and the Board is pleased to be able to recognise their achievement with this honour.