:: Advisory Board

GlobalVote Advisory Board

Martin S. Edwards

Martin S. Edwards joined Seton Hall University's Whitehead School of Diplomacy in 2006. His expertise includes International Organizations and International Political Economy. His research addresses the broader effects of international organizations as well as state decisions to join them in the first place. He is presently engaged in a number of projects on the design and effectiveness of International Monetary Fund conditionality. Prior to joining the Whitehead School, Dr. Edwards taught at Texas Tech University and at the University of Michigan. During his four years at Texas Tech, he received teaching awards from TTU’s Department of Residence Life as well as its College of Arts and Sciences.

Nigel Martin

Nigel Martin is the founding President of the Montréal International Forum (FIM), an international NGO think-tank operated out of Montréal. FIM is a global alliance of individuals and organizations with the goal of improving the influence of international civil society on the United Nations and the multilateral system. A graduate of Mount Allison University, Mr Martin has over 30 years experience in the NGO community in Canada and elsewhere and has been Executive Director of several NGOs. These include the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC) in Ottawa, Euro Action Accord in London (UK), and OCSD and Oxfam-Québec in Montréal. He began his career with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in 1971 where he was one of the earliest staff members of the then fledgling NGO programme. Before leaving the government in 1975 for a career in the NGO sector he was Director of Asia Programming for the CIDA NGO Division. Mr. Martin was the initiator and founding co-President of the original World Bank / NGO Committee.  He has served on several Boards of Directors and is currently on the board of the Carold Foundation in Toronto. He is also a founding Board member of The Mothers’ Trust.

Tienchi Martin-Liao

Ms. Martin, born in Nanjing, China, has devoted her life to advocating for democracy and human rights in China. She is a Senior Research Analyst and Editor-in-Chief at the Laogai Research Foundation (LRF) in Washington, DC, a non-profit that exposes prison labor camps and other human right abuses in China.  Prior to joining LRF she was head of the Richard-Wilhelm Research Center for Translation at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany.  Ms. Martin has authored and translated books on Chinese cultural and social subjects, and frequently appears in the US and international media as an expert on Chinese human rights issues. She is also a member of the International PEN, a world association of writers.

Jan Pronk

Mr. Pronk served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan from 18 June 2004 to 31 December 2006. Mr. Pronk has led a distinguished career, both as a prominent European politician and as a senior United Nations official. Mr. Pronk served as the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in 2002, and was formerly Deputy Secretary-General of the UNCTAD from 1980 to 1985. Throughout his career, Mr. Pronk has played a prominent role in promoting sustainable economic and environmental development. He served three times as Minister for Development Cooperation in the Government of the Netherlands (1973-1978; 1989-1998), and, more recently, as Minister of the Environment (1998-2002). He was President of the United Nations Conference of Parties of the Convention on Climate Change (CoP 6) held in The Hague in November 2000 and Bonn in July 2001.

Donna Charles
Ms. Charles works as the Chief Operating Officer of Kids in Distressed Situations, a non-profit children's charity that encourages and facilitates the donations of new product to organizations that serve children in need.  She is active in the Caribbean-American community and has served on numerous boards including the Trinidad and Tobago Independence Committee. 

 David Held

(born 1951) is a British political theorist and a prominent figure within the field of international relations. Together with Daniele Archibugi, he has been a key figure in the development of cosmopolitanism, and is a widely acclaimed scholar on issues of globalisation. He is currently Graham Wallas Professor of Political Science and co-director of the Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics. He is also a co-founder of Polity Press.

 Gerald van Wilgen

Gerald van Wilgen is a playwright, theater director, and editor. He has expertise in publishing, education, the arts and international politics. He is committed to GlobalVote because he believes its an important step in invigorating the democratic process.

The GlobalVote is continuously looking for members to expand the Advisory Board, if you are interested please contact info@theglobalvote.org and let us know what you would like to contribute to this initiative.