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Joanna MacLean
Anthropologist, teacher, photographer, writer, art gallery owner/director, Joanna MacLean taught in her native country New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, and England before beginnin...view moreAnthropologist, teacher, photographer, writer, art gallery owner/director, Joanna MacLean taught in her native country New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, and England before beginning her International Red Cross career that spanned 28 years. From 2002-2005, she was Head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies' Delegation in Myanmar, and she also worked in Africa and the Caribbean/Central America. In the Geneva HQ, she held a number of Department Head posts and was a leading figure in the Movement's global events and campaigns over a period of 15 years from 1988-2002. As an independent consultant, she continues to do some training and short-term assignments for the International Red Cross, including another three-month stint in Myanmar from September to December 2013.
In 2004 she co-founded La Luna Gallery in Chiang Mai, Thailand specialising in S.E. Asian contemporary art, focussing on art from Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam and since 2011 she has been joint owner/director of Colour Factory, operating shops in and around Chiang Mai. One of their main products are the painted elephants of the internationally known 'Elephant Parade'. Her company also organises events to bring attention to, and raise funds for a number of causes, including elephant welfare and pediatric heart surgery for disadvantaged children.
In her capacity as Consultant to the 'Naka Foundation,' which is dedicated to the conservation and well-being of elephants, Joanna lectures to school and university students and to service groups in Thailand on issues related to elephant conservation. She is a founding member of the ASEAN Captive Elephant Working Group (ACEWG), a group of regional elephant specialists, veterinarians, researchers and conservationists who are working to create more awareness about both the problems and the possible solutions, as well as provide recommendations to improve healthcare and management practices for captive elephants in the ASEAN countries.
She is also an Advisor to 'Skills for Life,' a foundation which provides vocational training and job opportunities for underprivileged youth from Hill Tribes around Chiang Mai.
She continues to enjoy traveling and photography in her spare time and in combining these interests and her experience has worked as a lecturer aboard cruise ships in Asia and the Americas.
Joanna has been living in Chiang Mai, Thailand since 2006.view less