SIGNIS is a worldwide association. Its members are national associations grouped by regions of the world. There are six regions: Africa, Latin America, North America, Pacific, Asia, and Europe, as well as an International Group (composed of international organizations). In addition, individuals and institutions can become associate members.
All the regions and the international group are represented on the Board of Directors that decides the policy of SIGNIS. The members of the Board are elected during world or regional assemblies.
The decisions of the Board have to be endorsed by the Assembly of Delegates. The Assembly is composed by six representatives from each region and the international group (2 members of the Board and 4 other representatives). The SIGNIS Delegates are elected during regional assemblies every four years.
The administrative headquarters of SIGNIS, the General Secretariat, is currently in Brussels and will move to Rome by the end of 2024.
Board of Directors
PRESIDENT
Mrs. Helen Osman USA
VICE-PRESIDENT
Fr. Paul SAMASUMO ZAMBIA
VICE-PRESIDENT
Mrs. Maria José CENTURIÓN PARAGUAY
ECCLESIASTICAL ASSISTANT
Fr. Peio SANCHEZ, SPAIN
GENERAL TREASURER
Mr. Emmanuel BONNET FRANCE
REPRESENTATIVE – DICASTERY FOR COMMUNICATION
Dr. Natasa Govekar VATICAN CITY
GENERAL SECRETARY
Mr. Peter Rachada MONTHIENVICHIENCHAI THAILAND
AFRICA
Fr. Webb AMOUZOU IVORY COAST
Rev. Alberto BUQUEMOZAMBIQUE
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Mr. Carlos FERRARO ARGENTINA
Mr. Alejandro CARO CHILE
NORTH AMERICA
Mrs. Pam ALEMAN CANADA
Mr. Matt SCHILLER USA
ASIA
Fr. Dr. Stanley Kozhichira INDIA
Ms. Adeline James MALAYSIA
EUROPE
Mr. Douglas FAHLESON IRELAND
Mrs. Adriana Răcășan ROMANIA
PACIFIC
Mr. Bill FALEKAONO TONGA
Agatha FEREI FURIVAI FIJI
INTERNATIONAL
Fr. Fabrizio COLOMBO, mccj, ITALY
Sr. Noemi BERGAMIN, fsp, ITALY
Assembly of Delegates
AFRICA
Member to the SIGNIS Board – Rev. Fr. Webb Amouzou CÔTE D’IVOIRE
Vice-President – Rev. Fr. Alberto Buque MOZAMBIQUE
Secretary/Treasurer – Rev. Fr. Dieudonne Kofi Davor GHANA
Member – Fr. Alfonce Kugwa ZIMBABWE
Member – Sr. Adelaide Ndilu KENYA
Member – Pr. Fidele Mutabazi RWANDA
ASIA
President – Fr. Dr Stanley Kozhichira INDIA
Vice-President – Adeline James MALAYSIA
Secretary – Ms Kagnha Keo CAMBODIA
Treasurer – Mr Romulus Lee KOREA
Member – Mr. Alphonse Nguyen Phuoc Bao Tri VIETNAM
Member – Fr. Joseph Anucha Chaiyadej THAILAND
EUROPE
President – Mr Douglas Fahleson IRELAND
Vice-President – Adriana Răcășan ROMANIA
Member – Mr Alexander Bothe GERMANY
Member – Sr. Romana Kocjancic SLOVENIA
Member – Sergio Perugini ITALY
Member – Mrs Philippine de Saint-Pierre FRANCE
LATIN AMERICA
President – Mr. Carlos Ferraro ARGENTINA
Vice-President – Alejandro Caro CHILE
Member – Marjorie Reffray PERU
Member – Naivi Frias DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Member – Alessandro Gomes BRAZIL
Member – Alexander Dávila ECUADOR
Member From the sub-region Caribbean – Lisa Bhajan TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
NORTH AMERICA
President – Pamela Aleman CANADA
Vice-President – Matthew Schiller USA
Secretary – Ernest Kouadio Kouacou CANADA
Treasurer – Edward Siebert, SJ USA
Member – Sr. Rose Pacatte, FSP USA
Member – Frank Frost USA
PACIFIC
President – Bill Falekaono TONGA
Vice-President – Mr. Rommell Buenaflor NORTHERN MARIANAS ISLANDS
Secretary/Treasurer – Ms. Agatha Ferei Furivai FIJI
Member to the SIGNIS Board – Fr. Ambrose Pereira PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Member – Mr Tony C. DIAZ GUAM OCEANIA
Member – Ms Conchita Pelleau NOUMEA
General Secretariat
The General Secretariat of SIGNIS is the administrative headquarters of the association based in Brussels, Belgium. The Secretariat helps the members of SIGNIS throughout the world to achieve their mission by giving global visibility to their actions, by creating and animating a networking space for them and by looking after the heritage of the association.
The Secretariat is responsible for issuing the publications of the association, specially the long-established quarterly trilingual (English, French and Spanish) magazine, SIGNIS Media and the Annual Report. It also looks after the web portal of the association and sends the trilingual electronic newsletters SIGNIS Webnews and a special one for the TV producers’ community. The presence of SIGNIS on two social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter, is supported from the secretariat as well.
A great deal of the effort of the Secretariat is in support of those who attempt to give voice to the voiceless, to promote interfaith dialogue, to promote a culture of peace, to respect human rights, and to defend the integrity of Creation. The office in Brussels facilitates a vast network by providing trainings and resources for members to analyze better the needs and media preferences of their audiences.
The members of the association are very diverse. Some work in pluralistic societies; others in traditionally Catholic countries, though many are going through great cultural changes in post-modern environments; others work in places in which Christians are minorities or even persecuted. Likewise, economic and cultural realities vary greatly. The Secretariat faces the challenge of supporting members in a wide range of situations, and must take its lead from the needs and priorities of those it seeks to serve.
The work of the office is organized under the supervision of the Secretary-General, Peter Monthienvichienchai, and Assistant Secretary-General Maria Chiara De Lorenzo.