Global Voices introduces Executive Director, Ivan Sigal

We're thrilled to announce that Ivan Sigal has joined Global Voices as Executive Director. Ivan comes to us from the US Institute of Peace, where he's been researching citizen media in conflict-prone parts of the globe. Prior to his time at USIP, Ivan spent several years with Internews, an international media development organization. With Internews, Ivan worked on projects in the former Soviet Union, was Regional Director for Central Asia and Afghanistan, Regional Director for Asia, and worked on development for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Ivan Sigal, Georgia Popplewell. Both photographed at the Global Voices 2008 summit in Budapest by Global Voices board member, Joi Ito.

Global Voices has been searching for an Executive Director for the past year, transitioning the management of the project from co-founders Rebecca MacKinnon and Ethan Zuckerman. In February, we promoted Georgia Popplewell, formerly our managing editor, to Managing Director, where she manages the day to day operations of our international community. Ivan will be working closely with Georgia, focusing on the long-term strategy of the project, on partnerships, fundraising and sustainability of the organization. We're thrilled to have the chance to work with someone so passionate about the potential of citizen media and knowledgeable about the global media environment.

Ivan is an award-winning photographer, currently working on a book on Central Asia. At our recent summit in Budapest, his workshop for bloggers on photography was one of our more popular events. Ivan has been blogging at Ivonotes, and we're looking forward to reading what he thinks about his new role, which he'll begin in mid-August.

Welcome to Global Voices, Ivan – we're glad to have you here.