IMF | Retirees & Alumni Association

IMFRA Board News

As is customary following IMFRA’s Annual Meetings, the IMFRA Board of Directors met recently to elect the four Officers for the coming one-year period. Directors voted unanimously to re-elect Anne van Wylick as President, Saqib Rizavi as Vice-President, and Cathy Wright as Secretary, as well as to elect Jeremy Carter as Treasurer.

Sadly, we must also inform you that Board member Ali Salehizadeh decided to resign from his position, for family and health reasons. Ali was truly the “senior” member of the Board having served on it for a remarkable 26 years. During this time, Ali made valuable contributions to the work of the Board, serving as Treasurer for his entire tenure and for many years as Editor of The Caravan. In addition to these formal responsibilities, Ali engaged constructively and collegially in all Board discussions on policy and procedural matters, bringing his wisdom and experience to bear, always with tact and good humor. He also took great pride and pleasure in organizing IMFRA luncheons.

Ali will be sorely missed by his colleagues and friends on the Board and by the retiree and alumni community at large. We wish him all the best and hope there will be an opportunity in the not-too-distant future to express our appreciation to him in person.

Ali’s resignation of course left a vacancy on the IMFRA Board. Per Section 7 (e) of the By-Laws of our Association, “any vacancy occurring in the Board of Directors may be filled for the balance of the term by an appointment by the Board of Directors.” As a result, the Board unanimously voted to appoint IMFRA member Olga Penova to serve the balance of Ali’s term.

The appointment of Olga meets the Board’s pressing need for a webmaster to co-ordinate and lead the on-going work to maintain and enhance the IMFRA website. Olga has the necessary technical skills and, indeed, prior to joining the Board, has already provided invaluable assistance on the website over the past six months. We are delighted to welcome Olga to our team, and we look forward to working with her on the website and on other areas of the Board’s remit.

PAHO March for Health

The March for Health organized by PAHO is an opportunity to show solidarity with public health, exercise a little, socialize, eat and have some fun. Please see the PAHO website for more details. To receive a T-shirt, participants need to submit the registration form. We look forward to seeing you there.

Date: Sunday, September 28, 2025           Time: 9:00-11:30am           Location: PAHO HQ Building, 525 23rd Street, N.W., Washington DC 20037

IMFRA 2025 Fall Luncheon

All IMFRA members and their partners are cordially invited.

The cost will be $49 per person. Additional details will be communicated shortly.

We would love to see as many of you as possible, so do plan to attend!

Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2025           Time: 12:00pm           Location:  Bretton Woods Recreation Center

MD's Message on the Departure of Gita Gopinath

Please see the full text of the message here.

From the IMF's Intranet Blog

“Wiesiek’s Last Ride: A Farewell to Warsaw’s Quiet Hero” by Christoph Rosenberg, recently retired Deputy Director of the Communication Department. Please see full text on Articles & Book Announcements page. 

Part-Time Job Oppotunity for Retirees

International Growth Centre—Roster of Potential Country Directors

The International Growth Centre (IGC) is a UK-funded joint venture of the LSE and Oxford and is run primarily by development economists who are former academics. The idea is to work with governments and conduct policy research usually at the request of senior policy makers. The IGC has country programs in some 10 or so countries in Africa and Asia. The Executive Director is building its roster of potential country directors that might be interested in joining the IGC. The CD job is part-time - some 70-85 days a year, depending on the country, at a daily rate of £750 per day, and can be non-resident. The ideal candidate is a person with extensive international experience in Africa and/or Asia, solid economics background, stature to engage credibly with Ministers and senior officials, some management experience and interest in mentoring dynamic group of young economists, and intellectual interest in economic policy and research to promote growth. Advantages include control of one’s own time, ability to work from anywhere, and engagement with dynamic country-based young economists and international lead academics. Several current CDs are retired from the Bretton Woods institutions. At present, the IGC has CD openings in Zambia and Jordan, but other slots are expected to open up over the next year or so. If you are interested, please send your cv to krummkathie@gmail.com or rnewfarmer@gmail.com and/or give us a call to chat further: Kathie Krumm 1-301-807-2741, Richard Newfarmer ‭1-202-430-7847‬.

New Book by Robin Kibuka

We are happy to share that Robin Kibuka’s new book Build Legacy, Not An Inheritance: Embracing the Journey of Building a Lasting Impact is on Amazon. Please see Articles & Book Announcements page for more information.

New Book by Jeremy Clift

We are happy to share that Jeremy Clift’s thrilling new sci-fi novel, Space Vault: The Seed Eclipse, is out on Bookshop.org and on Amazon. Kirkus recently published a profile of the award-winning author.

Professor Rogoff’s New Book

The new book by our esteemed former colleague, Professor Kenneth Rogoff, entitled Our Dollar, Your Problem: An Insider's View of Seven Turbulent Decades of Global Finance, and the Road Ahead is currently on sale. 

Please see this 90 second video addressed to IMFRA members and the Articles & Book Announcements page for further information.