25 years of making it work

Governance

‘To sit around a table at the yearly Council meeting is to watch the dynamic of the global dementia movement.’ Christine Bryden, former ADI Board member with dementia, Australia

ADI was founded on 21 October 1984 as a worldwide network for Alzheimer associations to share and exchange information, resources and knowledge. That year, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan was elected as President of ADI, following her strong involvement with the Alzheimer’s Association in the USA and her experience of caring for her mother, Rita Hayworth.

A further meeting took place in 1985 in order to draw up ADI’s aims, objectives and bylaws and it was agreed that office space from the Alzheimer’s Association in the USA would be made available for ADI at their national office. When ADI’s bylaws were reviewed again in 1990, it was agreed that a Chairman should be officially appointed and Brian Moss was asked to fill this role.

Each year, since the formation of ADI, an annual meeting of the Council has taken place and it is essentially a business meeting. During this meeting, each member of ADI is represented by one person who sits at the Council table and has a vote.

During the ADI Council meeting in 1991, a number of Standing Committees were formed to assist the Executive Committee in making decisions relating to ADI and its activities. These Committees focussed on education, patient and family services, membership development, the conference, public policy, public information and public relations, bylaws, and finance. Each group was given the opportunity to meet before ADI’s annual Council meeting to discuss goals and objectives.

The ADI Bylaws Committee was asked to review the bylaws in 1992 and make their suggested changes available to ADI members for comment.

The ADI office was relocated to London, UK in 1995 and, in 1996, a paper on the future of ADI was prepared for discussion at the Executive Committee meeting. This paper outlined ways in which the committee structure could be improved. The Bylaws continue to be reviewed on a regular basis to assist ADI in its expansion and improving working practices.

In 1999, a three-year business plan was developed and, following the implementation of this plan, ADI employed a consultant in 2002 to lead the Executive Committee through a strategic review to set out priorities for the next three years. ADI has continued to regularly review its business plan, which has now come to be known as the Strategic Plan. In July 2009 work began on the latest Strategic Plan, Creating Capacity for Change.

ADI has been through a number of restructuring processes in order to improve the governance of the organisation. In 2003, it was agreed that the Executive Committee would be re-named the Elected Board and a smaller Executive Committee was formed. The new Executive Committee, made up of the Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer and head of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Panel, is able to communicate more frequently than the full Board.

ADI staff

Rachel Billington (1990-1995)
Robert Gomez (1995-1996)
Elizabeth Rimmer (1996-2006)
Susan Frade (1998-2004)
Michael Lefevre (1998-present)
Lucy Hawkins (2000-2002)
Helen Regan (2001-2007)
Phoebe Rope (2004-2005)
Melanie Legg (2005-2008)
Jodie Cross (2005-2008)
Jane Cziborra (2006-present)
Marc Wortmann (2006-present)
Sarah Smith (2008-present)

ADI Chairmen

Brian Moss, Australia 1990-1996
Nori Graham, UK 1996-2002
Henry Brodaty, Australia 2002-2005
Orien Reid, USA 2005-2008
Daisy Acosta, Dominican Republic 2008-present

The brand

1986: ‘Alzheimer’s Disease International: The International Federation of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Societies Inc.’ was registered and approved.

1991: ADI’s first logo was formally approved.

1998: ADI launched a new logo, to coincide with World Alzheimer’s Day, in September. John Murphy, a trustee of Friends of ADI, asked Gareth Mapp of Lambie-Nairn, one of the leading design consultancies in the UK, to design the logo, which they did free of charge.

2006: An enhanced version of the logo was created to support ADI’s centenary activities marking 100 years since the first diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

2009: A further logo design was created to mark ADI’s 25th anniversary.

Friends of ADI

In 1999, a registered UK charity called Friends of ADI was set up in order to take advantage of tax and other benefits available to charities in the UK. ADI remains registered in Illinois, USA, although the office is now based in London. The first Trustees of Friends of ADI were the then Chairman, Nori Graham, Anthony Mann from the Institute of Psychiatry in London, John Murphy, a specialist in the branding strategy field, and the late Roger Martyn, a retired lawyer who handled the legal process of setting up Friends of ADI. Although Friends of ADI is an independent organisation, it runs no programmes of its own and exists to support ADI, mainly by making grants.

In 2003, Friends of ADI received a donation of over £130,000 from the funds of an insurance company that was being wound up, based on the decision of the person handling that process who had a personal experience with Alzheimer’s disease.

As well as offering the practical benefits of being a UK registered organisation, the Trustees offer their knowledge and experience to ADI.

Where next?