Mario Lubetkin, Italian-Uruguayan journalist, IPS Director General.

He served as correspondent for several Italian and Latin American print media, and as communications adviser for several U.N. agencies and regional integration organisations such as ALADI (Latin American Integration Association), CEFIR (Training Centre for Regional Integration), ARPEL (Latin American Oil Companies Association) and also for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (PNUD).

Susan Alexander, Director of Plans and Programmes

Susan Alexander is the Director of Plans and Programmes for IPS, and since January 2007 is also the Management Co-ordinator. She works with global and regional staff to design, implement and report on IPS projects. She is also responsible for the annual, multi-year and strategic plans, reports and evaluations for the Core Donor group. As Management Co-ordinator she convenes the monthly meetings of the global IPS management team and supports efforts across sectors and regions to implement agreed upon goals and plans.

Giovanni Spinelli

Giovanni Spinelli, born in 1942, is an Italian journalist. In the 1960s he was the national representative of Italian NGOs and worked as a political reporter. From 1979 to 1985 he served as Mayor of the Municipality of Historic Central Rome, and in 1980, UNFPA commissioned him to organise the First World Conference of Mayors in Rome. He also worked as a consultant for UNESCO on the creation of a Francophone African news agency.

Ramesh Jaura, Regional Director - IPS Europe

Ramesh Jaura is a member of the Board of Directors of the IPS International Association and Director of IPS-Inter Press Service Europa (IPS Europe), the news agency’s regional entity for Europe and the Mediterranean. A journalist with an experience of more than 40 years, most of which he has spent reporting on global communication and development affairs, Jaura is also tasked with the planning and implementation of IPS’s communication and outreach strategy. He is Editor-in-Chief of the bilingual KOMMUNIKATION GLOBAL - GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES, a monthly magazine for international co-operation published by IPS Europe. He is also publisher and Chief Editor of The Global South, a monthly internet publication. South Asian Outlook, IDN-InDepthNews are other internet publications he is associated with.

Paula Fray, Regional Director ­ IPS Africa

Paula Fray has worked in media for over 22 years ­ the last four in the field of media training and development. She is currently the Regional Director for IPS Africa, with management responsibilities for the news service and related media and communication projects in Africa.

Joaquín Costanzo, Regional Director - Latin America

Joaquín Costanzo was born in Uruguay, is married and has three children. In 1980 he began working as a journalist for different newspapers, radios, and TV stations in his country. He was Chief of Political and Society Information of La República and La Hora newspapers; Director of the Information Department of Radio Nacional; Director of News Programs of the TV station TevéCiudad; and Editor-in-Chief of the Uruguayan news agency Pressur.

Johanna Son, the Regional Director for IPS Asia-Pacific, has been with the news agency since 1994.

A Philippine national, Johanna graduated with a journalism degree from the University of the Philippines, magna cum laude, and has covered the diplomatic and political beats in her country. She joined IPS as regional correspondent for the Asia-Pacific and became regional editor in 1997. She was appointed concurrent regional director in 1998, and oversaw the transfer of the regional headquarters from Manila to Bangkok in late 1999.

Thalif Deen, UN Bureau Chief & IPS Regional Director - North America

Thalif Deen, U.N. Bureau Chief and Regional Director, Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency, has been covering the United Nations since the late 1970s. A former deputy news editor of the Sri Lanka Daily News, he was also a senior editorial writer on the Hong Kong Standard.

Walter García, Chief Technical Officer

Walter García has been Chief Technical Officer for IPS since 2003. Based at IPS Headquarters in Rome, he is responsible for the implementation of IPS’s global online presence, for all telecommunications systems and all applications and websites.