Jean-Marc Roirant has stepped down after nearly two decades at the helm of the ECF. At the General Assembly in Brussels, members voted to elect Vera Mora as Co-President alongside Raffaella Bolini, as well as voting in new members to the Board and the Steering Committee.
18 years after founding the European Civic Forum, Jean-Marc has stepped down as Co-President. Jean-Marc has been a much-loved driving force in the ECF and in wider European civil society, helping to forge alliances and cooperation amongst civil society actors.
Jean-Marc’s presence will be greatly missed, but it is a testament to his work that he leaves ECF in a stronger position than ever. In recognition of his role, the General Assembly elected him Honorary President.
“Jean-Marc has been a visionary leader whose action was driven by the strong belief that united, beyond silos, civil society can play a major role in decision-making processes at EU level. He invested a great deal of energy and led ECF to become a major civic organisation in Europe.
He has been a stable ground while we constantly walked on moving sands. He entrusted people – many of them young – to step up, build ownership and collective power within civil society organising. We are so thankful for his commitment and so proud to carry forward the legacy!” – Alexandrina Najmowicz, ECF Secretary General
At the General Assembly on 18 September in Brussels, ECF members elected Vera Mora of Ökotárs Alapítvány as our new Co-President, alongside Raffaella Bolini of ARCI. Vera is a longtime champion of civil society in Hungary and Brussels and will be invaluable to the ECF over the coming years.
Members also voted to elect a new Vice President, Julie Rosenkilde of Nyt Europa and two new members of the Steering Committee: Frank Heuberger of BBE and Thais Bonilla of NOVACT, which also joins the ECF Board for the first time.
In addition, European House Budapest, a longtime ECF member, has rejoined the Board.