IAC/ACT director to step down

Joiwind Ronen, executive director of the Industry Advisory Council and the American Council for Technology, announced she will step down next year as soon as a replacement is found.

Ronen, who took over for Alan Blautis in May 2003, helped expand IAC and ACT's membership and revenues.

Over the last 18 months, Ronen helped double IAC's revenue by hosting workshops and discussions with federal CIOs and other federal executives, and by increasing its major conferences, Management of Change and the Executive Leadership Council.

Ronen changed the name from the Federal Government Information Processing Councils to ACT, updated the membership structure by letting individuals sign up and developed a strategic plan for the organization.

"I had a set of things I wanted to accomplish such as creating an infrastructure for IAC to have sustained growth, and we accomplished those things," Ronen said. "In organizational cycles, different people are good at different phases, and I helped bring the organization from small to a more mature, medium organization. Now it is about consistency, and it is time for someone to ensure consistency in how we provide membership services."

Ronen said she expects to stay with IAC and ACT until the spring, when a new executive director is hired. The job announcement will be posted later this month.

Ronen plans to take some time off, then re-enter the nonprofit sector in the social advocacy area. In the past, she has worked on issues involving American Indians and international development.

"We will miss Joiwind, we were very fortunate to have benefited from her talents in reinvigorating FGIPC into a more dynamic ACT," said ACT president Barry West, who is CIO of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "Under her leadership, our membership has been more active, and we have come together to create a strategic vision for the future."