At their meeting in Brussels on 12 December 2014 the Board of Directors of the European Partnership for Democracy discussed the current status of the organisation’s finances, fundraising prospects and programmes. The Board also took important decisions about the composition of the organisation, renewing the mandate of Hans Bruning as Chairperson of EPD for one year and endorsing the appointment of Ken Godfrey as the new Executive Director as of 1 March 2015.
Ken Godfrey has been working as a Programme Manager for EPD since July 2013, focusing on democracy support programmes with an emphasis on dialogue processes between civil society and public authorities. He has managed programmes in Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine as well as Zimbabwe and currently manages the PASC (Programme d’Appui à la Société Civile) project in Tunisia. Ken has a background in democratisation (MA) and has previously worked as an election advisor for the UN in East Timor providing technical support to the Timorese election commission. He has experience working for EU Institutions (EP, EC and the Council), including time as a procurement officer for the European Union police mission to Afghanistan. Ken has also worked for the Canadian development agency in Senegal and for Amnesty International. He speaks English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Ken will replace Nicolas Rougy who will continue his career in Brussels as Senior EU Engagement Officer for Interpeace Europe. Nicolas will also remain a member of the steering committee of the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO). The Board thanked Nicolas for his tremendous efforts in strengthening EPD’s profile as a key interlocutor on democracy support – both for civil and political society representatives and the EU institutions – and wished him all the best for the future.
The Board of Directors also endorsed the promotion of Sebastian Bloching to Head of Policy and congratulated him for his recent election to become a member of the HRDN Troika. Sebastian Bloching has been working for EPD as a Programme Officer/Manager since September 2011. Sebastian has a background in political science (MA) and European affairs (MA). Before joining EPD, he worked for different non-for profit organisations in Brussels, focusing on the EU’s security and defence policies. As EPD’s Programme Manager for the EU-funded INSPIRED programme, Sebastian coordinated the work of seven partner organisations from Spain, The Netherlands, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Morocco and Tunisia, and co-authored a handbook on inclusive policy dialogue. Sebastian speaks German, English, French and Greek.
