Our Board

The Federation’s Board brings together expertise from over 10 countries. 

 

The Federation is governed by a Board of up to 14 people, who meet at least twice a year. 

Board members are appointed in 3 ways. 

Chairs

The presidents of the Federation’s member organizations appoint a Chair to oversee day-to-day operations. The Immediate Past Chair also remains on the Board to promote continuity. 

Neil James

Neil James

Chair

Australia

Vera Gergely

Vera Gergely

Immediate past chair

Hungary

Organization members

The presidents of the Federation’s 3 member organizations also serve on our Board. They appoint a further Board member each to represent their organization.  

Barbra Kingsley

Barbra Kingsley

Center for Plain Language representative

United States

Julie Clement

Julie Clement

Clarity representative

United States

Lodewijk van Noort

Lodewijk van Noort

PLAIN representative

Netherlands

Paul Aterman

Paul Aterman

Center for Plain Language representative

Canada

Christopher Balmford

Christopher Balmford

Clarity representative

Australia

Joanna Richardson

Joanna Richardson

PLAIN representative

Argentina

Elected board members

The chairs and the organizational members elect a further 6 Board members, who are generally from a non-English speaking or multilingual country. This ensures that the Federation promotes plain language in a wide range of countries and languages. 

Angelika Vaasa
Estonia

 

 

 

Carlos Valdovinos
Mexico

Sarah Slabbert
South Africa

 

  

 

Karel van der Waarde
Belgium

Torunn Reksten
Norway

 

 

 

Eyitayo Ogunyemi
Nigeria