JA Worldwide Welcomes New Board Leaders
June 29, 2021
On July 1, the JA Worldwide Board of Governors welcomes a new chair, new vice co-chairs, a new treasurer, a new committee chair, and more.
The JA Worldwide Board of Governors shapes our global footprint, serves as a fiduciary body to oversee the JA brand, and helps the JA network prepare for the opportunities that await us. Each board leader serves one three-year term, with the option to renew for a second term. After their terms expire, chairs are encouraged to remain board members, as previous chairs Ainar D. Aijala, Jr. and Ralph de la Vega have done to great effect.
After serving two terms as Chair of the Board of Governors, Francesco Vanni d’Archirafi steps down from his leadership role on July 1 but will remain on the board as his predecessors have done. Prior to his tenure on the JA Worldwide board, Francesco served as Chair of JA Europe. After a storied 38-year career with JA Worldwide global partner Citigroup—most recently as Vice Chairman of Banking, Capital Markets and Advisory for EMEA—on July 1, Francesco embarks on a new endeavor as chairman of Belgium-based financial services company Euroclear.
Board Chair-Elect Jonas Prising, Chairman & CEO of ManpowerGroup, joined the board in 2011 and recently completed two terms as Vice-Chair. He has led the Fortune 500 leading global workforce-solutions company, which connects millions of people to meaningful, sustainable work in more than 75 countries since 2014, strengthening ManpowerGroup’s longstanding partnership with JA around the world. Prior to joining the board of JA Worldwide, Jonas served as Junior Achievement USA Board Chair and as a member of the Junior Achievement of Wisconsin board. Born in Sweden, Jonas speaks five languages and has resided in nine countries. He is deeply passionate about the responsibility of business to address social problems and strongly believes that getting young people ready for work and supporting them to unleash their full potential is one of the most important ways to reduce inequities that exist along so many lines—income, race, gender, geographies, and skills.
Karen Reddington and Shiv Khemka were elected to the role of Vice-Chair, opting to share the position. Karen is based in the Netherlands and serves as CEO of TNT and Regional President of FedEx Europe. She previously served as JA Asia Pacific Board Chair and has served on the JA Worldwide Board of Governors since 2018. Shiv Khemka, based in India, is Vice Chairman of SUN Group Global, a diversified conglomerate that operates in Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa. Shiv also chairs JA India, which was reconstituted after a partnership with The Global Education and Leadership Foundation (tGELF); he has served on the board since 2017. According to JA Worldwide CEO Asheesh Advani, “this represents the first time JA Worldwide has elected a woman to the role of vice-chair and the first time JA Worldwide has elected a vice-chair from Asia, both important milestones for adding gender diversity and global diversity to the leadership ladder of the organization.”
Carlos Motta, a board member since 2017, begins his first term as Treasurer and as Chair of the Finance Committee. Carlos hails from Panama and serves as a senior executive at Inversiones Bahia, a diversified conglomerate that is one of the largest businesses in Central America. Carlos joins fellow committee chairs Stephen O’Hearn, Audit Committee; Phil Evans, Development Committee; Bhakti Vithalani, Learning Experiences Committee (co-chair); Gus Schmedlen, Learning Experiences Committee (co-chair); Mayu Avila, People Development Committee; and Partha Bose, Marketing Committee.