The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) is seeking the nomination of members for its next Board of Directors (2025-26). The elections will be held at the General Assembly in Bangkok, Thailand, on 7 April 2025.
IDF is an expanding global organisation engaged in the development of innovative and cost-effective programmes aimed at improving the lives of people with diabetes and reducing the serious impact that the diabetes epidemic currently has on our societies. Our organisation seeks inspirational leaders from diverse cultures and settings, with exceptional dedication and proven leadership skills.
Serving on the IDF Board is a great honour that requires a significant commitment of time and effort. Members of the Board of Directors should therefore have the stature, dedication, time, and resources to perform their duties effectively and best serve the needs of the diverse community of stakeholders that IDF represents.
Nominations
Nominations are sought for the following positions:
- President-Elect: 1 vacancy
- Vice-Presidents without portfolio: 6 vacancies
- Vice-President Finance: 1 vacancy
- Vice-President Strategic Governance: 1 vacancy
- Members of the Nominating Committee: 4 vacancies
The Nominating Committee consists of:
- Chair: Prof Andrew Boulton, Immediate Past President IDF
- Prof Stephen Colagiuri
- Mr Fredrik Löndahl
- Dr Douglas Villarroel
- Prof. Moon-Kyu Lee
The Nominating Committee is assisted by the IDF Secretary, Ms. Dominique Robert.
Criteria for selection
The Nominating Committee will seek to ensure that:
- Each candidate fulfills all three (3) of the overarching criteria and that they can demonstrate solid training and experience in at least one of the required skills set.
- The candidate roster offers a wide geographic base and good gender balance.
In accordance with the IDF Articles of Association, the Board comprises Members falling into five (5) categories set out below, as well as the President, President-Elect and the Regional Chairs.
Candidates standing for one of the Vice President or other roles will be required to identify the category of Board Membership they wish to be considered for:
- Physician
- Healthcare Professional
- Person with diabetes or affected by diabetes
- Vice President Finance
- Vice President Governance
Please note that the criteria set out below should be read in conjunction with the IDF Articles of Association and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) .
All candidates must have demonstrated a well-established interest in diabetes at a professional and/or a personal level, with solid evidence of sustained engagement with diabetes activism in their country.
All candidates must be able to demonstrate the ability and commitment to make time available for their Board duties. The terms should clarify that this would require at least three full weekends per year and at least 3 days per month for participation in virtual meetings and the review and preparation of materials. In addition, the candidate should confirm access to adequate broadband coverage in their home or workplace to take part in virtual meetings.
All candidates must demonstrate a reasonable level of international engagement in diabetes, within a well-established international network.
Candidates for the position of President-Elect should meet at least one of the following criteria:
- Have served at least one term on the IDF Board, either as an IDF Vice President or Regional Chair;
- Can demonstrate experience in a senior role (Board-level such as President or Vice President, for example) at an international NGO or similar, active in the field of health, preferably NCDs.
Medical & scientific skills
Candidates wishing to nominate for the Vice President in the Physician or Healthcare Professional category must demonstrate at least 10 years of direct engagement in diabetes care, research and education, with a significant proportion of that engagement having taken place in the past 5 years.
Other skills
Candidates wishing to be nominated as a person with or affected by diabetes should provide evidence of skills in one or more of the following areas:
- Advocacy – direct engagement in national diabetes advocacy campaigns.
- Communications – paper or web-based publishing.
- Research – active engagement in academic research published in high impact international journals.
- Teaching – active engagement in professional and tertiary (post-secondary) education in the past 5-10 years.
- Ethics – active engagement in ethics and professional conduct committees for practice in the business, medical or non-medical domain or medical or social care research through management of submissions or service on review panels.
Such skills may be professional or developed through volunteer work in diabetes. Such skills should have been exercised either at a high level of national engagement or internationally.
Financial management skills
Candidates wishing to nominate for the Vice President Finance category must provide evidence that they have a degree with some specialisation in accountancy together with the qualifications required by their home country to be officially recognised and admitted as a member of the accounting profession.
Governance skills
Candidates wishing to nominate for the Vice President Strategic Governance category must provide evidence that they have professional qualifications and developed skills in governance, preferably with a professional qualification in law or well-established skills in corporate governance and the legal requirements of not-for-profit organisation management demonstrated through experience.
Language
All candidates must be able to communicate in English.
How to nominate a candidate
Self-nomination is not permitted.
All candidates must be recommended by:
- At least five Members for President-Elect
- At least three Members for all other positions
A person may be nominated for more than one position, but can only be elected to one position. However, candidates can only stand for one position as Vice-President (with or without portfolio).
The Nominating Committee welcomes nominations from anyone interested in shaping the future of the International Diabetes Federation.
Process
- Each Nominating Member must complete and submit the application form available below. Recommendations received through other channels will not be taken into consideration. No other documentation is required.
- Once the Recommendation for Nomination form is received, the Secretary contacts the nominee and sends them the application form. Each candidate must submit an application file with all required documents to the IDF Secretary. Candidatures received through other channels will not be taken into consideration.
- The nominee returns the Application form along with a short CV, a letter of motivation and a passport size photograph.
The deadline for receipt of nominations is 30 September 2024.
Nominees are not considered official Candidates until the release of the official list.
Until this list is released, the potential candidates are Nominees and cannot consider themselves as Candidates and therefore must not campaign for support.
Timeline
- August: launch of call of nominations
- 30 September : deadline for receipt of nominations and applications
- October: the Nominating Committee reviews the applications and launches a second call for additional candidates if necessary. Interviews will be organised by the Nominating Committee if required.
- December: the selected candidates will be notified of their selection.
- January-February 2025: the official list of candidates will be included in the Handbook for the IDF General Assembly in Bangkok on 7 April 2025.
Enquiries
Enquiries related to this call for nominations can be addressed to [email protected]. All enquiries will be forwarded to the attention of the Nominating Committee by the IDF Secretary.
All nominations received by the Nominating Committee will be kept confidential by the Committee and the Secretary servicing the Committee.