AMASC - World Association of Alumnae and Alumni of the Sacred Heart

AMASC Congress 2010 - Speakers at Plenary Sessions

Theme of the Congress
'FIGHT POVERTY'

Climate Change: impact on water/desertification/food, Migration and Poverty
	Mrs Penny Sturrock
	Sister Palloma rscj Sr Paloma Fernandez De La Hoz Mola rscj lives in Vienna and works for the Katholische Sozialakademie KSOW (Catholic Social Academy). Her areas of expertise are migration and poverty and she has worked for some time in these areas.
Women and 2010 European Year on Poverty
	Mr Fintan Farrell European Anti Poverty Network Fintan Farrell is Director of EAPN since June 2002 and was president of the organisation from 1996 to 2000. Fintan has been President of the Platform of European Social NGOs (Social Platform) and Chairperson of the EU Civil Society Contact Group. Fintanis a great believer in participation and has contributed to the development of this practice, which seeks to empower people experiencing poverty and social exclusion. From 1995 to end 2001, he was the Director of the Irish Traveller Movement, an organisation defending the human rights of Irish Travellers. During this period Fintan was part of the team that represented the Irish Community Voluntary Sector in the National Social Partnership arrangements.
Education, children and Poverty
	Madeleine Sophie Ortman Madeleine Ortman is the Executive Director for the Network of Sacred Heart Schools. A native of Xenia, Ohio, Madeleine graduated from Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Washington, DC and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Barat College of the Sacred Heart in Lake Forest, Illinois. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Educational Administration from Catholic University of America and has done additional graduate work at Trinity College. She successfully completed a Dale Carnegie Course in effecting speaking and human relations at the Dale Carnegie Institute. Madeleine's mother, Regina Western, is a graduate of Convent of the Sacred Heart, 91 First Street and Manhattanville College, both in New York. Her Aunt, Florence Western, was a religious of the Sacred Heart.
Disabilities and Poverty
	Professor Ron McCallum AO is Professor of Labor Law and former Dean of Law at the University of Sydney, Australia. In January 1993, Ron was the first totally blind person to be appointed to a full professorship in any fields at any Australian or New Zealand University. Professor McCallum is the 2010 Chair of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with disabilities. This expert treaty body monitors the new United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ron is a Deputy-Chair of Vision Australia which is Australia's largest blind welfare organisation. He is married to Professor Mary Crock who was educated at the Sacré-Coeur School, Melbourne, Australia.
	Ms Caroline Casey is a founding CEO of KANCHI and the O2 Ability Award and is also an international speaker and adventurer. A social entrepreneur, Caroline sits on the Board for several governments, business and not-for-profit organisations. A former management consultant with Accenture, Caroline is visually impaired to the degree that she is registered as legally blind.
Poverty in Malta
	Dr Josann Cutajar is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Malta teaching courses focussed on Social inequality on the level of gender, social class, race and ethnicity. She also conducts research in this field in order to find out how social locations on the basis of these variables affect live chances - such as access to educational and labour market opportunities and how the latter impacts on physical and mental health.
The XIV AMASC World Congress is an opportunity for us all to make a difference for the fight against poverty. A key value of AMASC is Solidarity. Let us make 2010 our year marking an opportunity for change.