Ali Razmkhah was selected for the role by the unanimous consensus of the Executive Committee of the ICCA Consortium’s Council
First published on 03/26/2024, and last updated on 04/10/2024
Announcement by the Executive Committee of the ICCA Consortium Council
The Executive Committee of the ICCA Consortium’s Council is delighted to announce Ali Razmkhah’s appointment as the next Global Coordinator of the ICCA Consortium’s Secretariat.
In this role, Ali will lead and support the Secretariat, the team collaborating to serve the Consortium’s vision, mission, manifesto for territories of life, and 2024-2028 Strategic Plan. He will ensure the necessary strategic direction, internal capacity, operational support, and partnerships for the Consortium’s Secretariat so that our membership-based association can continue to serve the global movement for territories of life of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
Ali Razmkhah, a legal expert and advocate for Indigenous Peoples and local communities and their territories of life, brings over a decade of experience in this movement, with a particular focus on working with nomadic pastoralists and subsistence and small-scale farming communities in Iran. His deep understanding of the issues faced by Indigenous Peoples and local communities and his commitment to their rights makes him an ideal leader for the role of Global Coordinator at the Consortium.
Since 2018, he has been the Regional Coordinator for West and Central Asia and the Caucasus in the ICCA Consortium Secretariat on behalf of the Centre for Sustainable Development and Environment (CENESTA), a founding Member organization of the Consortium.
Ali has been actively involved in the Consortium’s organizational change process for several years, including in the regionalization process in his capacity as Regional Coordinator and the organization-wide process of reflection, revisioning, and strategic planning in 2023. His significant contributions to this process in 2023, which include co-drafting the new strategic plan, went far beyond his role as Regional Coordinator and demonstrated his deep understanding of and dedication to the Consortium’s mission and Manifesto.
Ali was selected by the unanimous consensus of the Executive Committee, based on the recommendation of the Search Committee established for this purpose. This decision reflects our collective confidence in his abilities and vision for the role.
The Search Committee consisted of eight members, including four Council members, three Secretariat members, and one Member organization representative with expertise in organizational development and leadership transitions.
Ali is expected to formally commence this role by 1 May 2024, after an active handover process with the outgoing Global Coordinator, Holly Jonas, in April. Ali will serve as Global Coordinator for one year, with the expectation that the nature of this role will evolve as part of the ongoing organizational change process.
As the next Global Coordinator, Ali will have the following core responsibilities:
- Provide leadership, strategic foresight, and ongoing guidance within and for the Secretariat.
- Guide and support the continuing organizational change process, focusing on the Secretariat.
- Oversee the development, coordination, resourcing, ongoing support, monitoring, and reporting of the Consortium’s programmatic and organizational priorities per our 2024-2028 strategic plan.
- Support and oversee the development and strengthening of the Secretariat’s team management systems, policies, and procedures.
- Oversee a robust financial management system and resource mobilization strategy.
- Serve as the main point of contact and signatory for the Secretariat’s global-level relationships with funders, partners, and other relevant organizations and initiatives.
- Work with the Council and its committees to provide timely and accurate information and Secretariat support for the ICCA Consortium’s governance bodies and to ensure adherence to the Consortium’s governing documents and organizational policies and procedures.
- Serve as the main point of contact and signatory for the ICCA Consortium’s fiscal sponsor, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
Join us and welcome Ali as the next Global Coordinator of the ICCA Consortium’s Secretariat.
Learn more about Ali Razmkhah
Ali Razmkhah is an Iranian living in north-central Italy since 2020. Ali’s grandparents were small-scale farmers in south-central Iran before the nationalization of land in the country. In 2012, he achieved a master’s degree in international law from Shiraz University in Iran.
For his master’s thesis, Ali studied the international legal regime governing sustainable agriculture in providing adequate food. During that time, he also started working with the Centre for Sustainable Development and Environment (Cenesta), a non-profit organization based in Iran. Cenesta is also one of the co-founders of the Consortium.
Ali has a wealth of experience working with the Indigenous Peoples and local communities, particularly nomadic pastoralists and subsistence and small-scale farmers. His work has spanned across Iran and at regional and global levels, demonstrating his deep commitment to social justice. Ali has also proven his ability to navigate challenging and complex organizational change processes within Cenesta and the Consortium.
Throughout a decade at Cenesta, Ali held various positions, including legal expert and project manager, where he worked with his mentor, Taghi Farvar, one of the co-founders of the ICCA Consortium and the first President.
Ali started with projects such as “Empowering Iran’s Indigenous nomadic tribes: towards poverty eradication and nature conservation through diversification of income and wealth generation activities and the promotion of Indigenous Peoples’ and Community Conserved Areas” and “Social, Environmental and Livelihood Justice for Poverty Elimination for Iranian Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.” “Self-strengthening of Indigenous Nomadic Peoples, custodians of territories of life in Iran” was one of the last projects he managed at Cenesta.
Ali’s leadership skills were tested when he was elected as the Chief Executive Officer of Cenesta following the passing of his mentor, Taghi, in 2018. With Cenesta’s team, he successfully steered the organization through a challenging transition, demonstrating his ability to lead and adapt in difficult times.
He has been part of the Consortium’s Secretariat since 2018 as the Regional Coordinator for West and Central Asia and the Caucasus. As part of the Secretariat, Ali was actively involved in the organizational change process in 2023, including helping draft the new Strategic Plan 2024-2028 and helping design and facilitate the in-person gathering in Kenya last October, when the “working version” of the Strategic Plan was finalized.
One of Ali’s greatest strengths is his long-standing and close relationship with the Consortium. He is deeply committed to the Consortium’s work, heritage, and legacy. Ali has an intimate understanding of the Consortium’s and the Secretariat’s current organizational context, close working relationships with many members of the Secretariat, and alignment in values and the Secretariat’s unique culture.
Ali is currently in the final stages of his Ph.D. at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, focusing his research on the biocultural diversity and governance systems of nomadic pastoralists in Iran.
He has authored and co-authored peer-reviewed publications on nature-human relations, the right to food, the relationship between human rights and agricultural international trade policies, farmers’ rights, territories of life, and Indigenous Peoples. He co-authored many articles and prepared policy briefs to raise awareness about Indigenous and traditional governance and management of the nature and rights of custodian and guardian communities of ICCAs-territories life.
Ali has also been a member of the CSO Follow-up Committee of the NENA (Near East and North Africa) region for FAO consultation and a representative of farmers’ organizations in the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Farmers’ Rights (AHTEG-FR).
“For me, the ICCA Consortium is more than an association; it is a heritage that must be preserved and nurtured. Having a strong belief in the Consortium’s values and working principles, I believe that a strengthened and more capable Consortium means positive outcomes for the collective territories of life of the Indigenous Peoples and local communities worldwide.”
Ali Razmkhah.
Featured image: A collage consisting of a portrait of Ali Razmkhah juxtaposed with an image of the Chahdegal Balouch Peoples’ territory of life in Iran. Designed by Ines Hirata/ ICCA Consortium, with the landscape photo by Hamed Shahiki
