Berne, Switzerland (June 25, 2011). Gary Bailey, MSW, ACSW, President, The International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) announces that the IFSW Executive Committee at its June meeting in Dublin, Ireland unanimously selected Dr. Rory G. Truell to be the organizations new Secretary-General. Dr. Truell, who has spent the last four years as the Chief Executive of The New Zealand Social Services Industry Training Organization, will assume the position July 1st, 2011. IFSW is a federation of national member organizations in 90 countries representing more than 745,000 social workers worldwide.
Dr. Truell has had a distinguished background as the CEO of a number of social development organizations. His career spans a number of years in the human services sector and he is a respected social work leader locally, nationally and internationally. His years at the New Zealand (NZ) Social Services Industry Training Organization represent his third time leading a major organization, having served previously as Executive Director and Professor of Social Work at the Te Wananga o Aotearoa and as Chief Executive of The NZ Institute of Training in Social Services.
Born in Northern Ireland, Dr. Truell has also been a Conflict Management Educator, a role funded by the Northern Ireland Peace and Reconciliation Commission; a Senior Lecturer in Counseling and Social Work, at the Central Institute of Technology (CIT), Senior Social Worker, Wellington Mental Health Services, and a Community Coordinator, in Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand.
As the CEO of The New Zealand Social Services Industry Training Organization, Dr.Truell has been recognized as a transformative leader, having increased that organizations funding from government, and gaining support from professional bodies and industry. In NZ he led the redevelopment of national qualification standards in Social Work and Youth development. He was also instrumental in developing the community-centered focus of the agency and chaired a collective of national bodies from the aged-care, disability, health and mental health and social service sectors to align to better meet the evolving needs of families and communities and produce measurable and meaningful outcomes in the lives of those served.
IFSW President, Gary Bailey, said “In our new Secretary-General we were looking for someone who has an equally strong vision for the future and who would also build upon IFSW’s past successes. We believe that in Rory Truell we have found an incredible leader and someone who will play an integral role in elevating the awareness and recognition of professional social work worldwide. We are delighted that he has agreed to bring his immense skills and talents to IFSW and I look forward to our working together to elevate the stature of global social work. I wish to thank the IFSW Secretary General Search Committee, chaired by Nicolai Paulsen, Denmark and Regional President Europe for leading such a successful global search. My thanks also go to the other members of the Search Committee which included : Ms. Laura Acotto, Argentina, Regional President Latin America/Caribbean, Ms. Anthea Agius, Malta ,Member-at-Large Europe, Ms. Mariko Kimura, Japan, Member at-Large Asia/Pacific, Mr. James Kelly, USA, Regional President North America, Mr. Charles Mbugua, Kenya, Regional President Africa and IFSW past President David Jones, UK, for their outstanding work in bringing forward such a diverse and exciting group of candidates from which to choose”
About IFSW:
IFSW located in Berne Switzerland, is a federation of national member organizations in 90 countries representing more than 745,000 social workers worldwide supported by a professional secretariat and augmented by the voluntary effort of over 90 individuals The Secretary- General is the senior paid Chief Executive Officer of the federation
About Dr. Rory G. Truell :
Respected and admired by colleagues, Dr. Truell was born in Newry, Northern Ireland and currently resides in Kapiti Coast, New Zealand ;he will be relocating to Berne in July 2011. He has a Doctorate from Bond University, Australia where his thesis was on mental health social work assessment; an MSc in Guidance and Counseling, from Ulster University, Northern Ireland; a Post-Graduate Diploma in Psychotherapy, from the Central Institute of Technology, New Zealand. He is a Certified Transactional Analyst, and has a Certificate in Managing Community Welfare Organizations and a Diploma in Social Work (CQSW) from Victoria University, New Zealand.
For more information contact:
René Schegg / IFSW Communications and Policy Officer / rene.schegg(at)ifsw.org
IFSW / Schwarztorstrasse 22 CH, 3001, Berne, Switzerland / www.ifsw.org