The board of the Adventist Development and Disaster Relief Agency (ADRA) in Switzerland has appointed Michel-André Kanor as its new executive director, according to a statement on its website. The 47-year-old succeeds previous director Mike Perekrestenko, who left ADRA Switzerland in the spring after five years. Michel-André Kanor will take up the post on November 1, 2021. Until then, Jörg Fehr will continue to lead the aid organisation on an interim basis.
"We are very pleased that we were able to win Michel-André Kanor for this position," says Olivier Rigaud, president of the board of ADRA Switzerland.
Career
Michel-André Kanor was born and raised in Germany. After two years of law studies in Strasbourg, he studied and graduated in theology at the Theological College in Collonges, France. He also holds a Master of Science in Administration (Major in International Development) from Andrews University, in Michigan, USA.
He has 12 years of experience in the field of humanitarian aid and development cooperation in the areas of project management, strategic planning, and intercultural communication and leadership. Among other things, he worked for several years as ADRA director in Congo and Senegal.
Kanor’s wife is of Swiss origin, and they have two children together. He will move from Germany to Switzerland in autumn and start working for ADRA Switzerland, in Aarau, on November 1st.
"It is a privilege for me to serve people in this position and I am looking forward to my new role," Michel-André Kanor commented on his appointment.
ADRA Switzerland
ADRA Switzerland was founded in 1987 as an aid organisation of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Switzerland. It is an association registered in the commercial registry, with headquarters in Zurich and an office in Aarau. The relief organization was recertified in 2017, for a further five years, by the Swiss office for fundraising and non-profit institutions (ZEWO). The ADRA network consists of approximately 130 regional and national offices worldwide. ADRA provides aid regardless of race, ethnic origin, gender, religion or belief, disability, age, or sexual identity. More about the relief organisation: www.adra.ch
