We are happy to announce that two ACA member organisations have recently appointed strong personalities as new chief executive officers.

In Finland, Pasi Sahlberg is taking office as the CIMO Director on 1 September, succeeding Ulla Ekberg, who was also a former ACA Treasurer. Sahlberg, who refers to himself as a “school improvement activist”, joined CIMO from the European Training Foundation. He has also done work for the World Bank and the OECD, and he is an adjunct professor at the universities of Helsinki and Oulu.

In Norway, SIU has appointed as Director Arne Liljedahl Lynngard, to succeed Gunn Mangerud (a former ACA Vice-President) on 1 September. Arne, who holds an MBA from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, joins SIU from the private sector, but he has also a strong record in the area of human rights, as a former President of the Rafto Foundation and a Council Member of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.

We wish both success and luck, and we welcome them to the ACA family.