ANNOUNCEMENT – NEW SECRETARY GENERAL, WORLD YMCA
President of the World YMCA, Peter Posner OBE, today announced the appointment of Carlos Sanvee as the next Secretary General, commencing 1st January 2019.
Carlos is currently General Secretary of the African Alliance of YMCAs (75%) and Special Advisor to the Secretary General for the World YMCA (25%). He will succeed Johan Vilhelm Eltvik as Secretary General when Johan’s 8 year term concludes at the end of 2018.
Today’s announcement is the culmination of a 15 month process undertaken by the Search Committee on behalf of the World YMCA Executive Committee.
“After a thorough and rigorous process our unanimous recommendation for the position was Carlos”, confirmed Peter. “Congratulations Carlos, our next Secretary General! May God support you in your work for the World YMCA in the years to come.”
Carlos has a long history with the YMCA movement.
Currently he is General Secretary of the African Alliance of YMCAs, based at its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, a role he has held since September 2007. Under his leadership, the African YMCA movement has made great strides in positioning itself as a united continental body focusing on the niche area of youth empowerment in Africa.
He served as Executive Secretary of Finance and Administration at the World Alliance, Geneva, from 1999-2007. Here he was centrally involved in the development of strategic direction of the World Alliance and the subsequent Global Operating Plan, was responsible for the Inter-Movement Support Services ( IMSS) and instrumental in the introduction of a new policy and management of the John R. Mott Fund as well as launching a serious Review of the World Movement Fair Share formula.
Carlos began his journey with the YMCA as a volunteer for the Togo YMCA to recruit new members as part of the revitalisation of the movement. He joined the staff of the Togo YMCA in 1987 as a Leadership Development Secretary, and worked his way up to Deputy General Secretary, in which position he served for five years, before working for the World Alliance.
He holds a first degree in Physics and Chemistry from Université du Bénin in Togo and a “Diplôme des Hautes études de pratiques sociales (DHEPS)” from Université Lyon Lumière II, France.