FREDERICK O'REGAN, PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE NOVEMBER 3

Frederick M. O'Regan, President of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), will speak at the weekly meeting of the Y's Men of Westport/Weston on Thursday, November 3 rd . His talk is titled "Working on the Wild Side: A Report from the Frontlines" The meeting begins at 10AM at the Saugatuck Congregational Church, 245 Post Road East

IFAW, based on Cape Cod , is the world's leading international animal welfare and conservation group and Mr. O'Regan will talk about its ongoing battle to protect endangered species and threatened habitats around the world. He will explore some of the critical challenges confronted on a daily basis by non-profit advocates, government policymakers, business leaders and others working to build a more sustainable future -- and why everyone has a stake in the outcome. O'Regan will highlight fresh approaches and new initiatives from New England to Nairobi that give reason for hope and a new way forward in IFAW's ongoing effort to build a better world for both animals and people.

Before becoming president of IFAW, O'Regan was the Peace Corps Regional Director for Europe , Central Asia and the Mediterranean , responsible for Peace Corps operations in 24 countries in Central and Eastern Europe , the Republics of the Former Soviet Union, North Africa and the Middle East . The region is comprised of 2,000 volunteers and staff, working in the environment, education and business development.

Prior to the Peace Corps, O'Regan was Program Director with the Aspen Institute, heading a national action-research program on employment-generation and business development among the poor within the United States . He has also headed the Community Economics Corporation, a policy and consulting organization specialized in developing local-level economic and development programs in the U.S. and the third world. In this capacity he advised major foundations, the World Bank and USAID on economic development programming. His work included the development of the first major lending programs in the black townships of South Africa . During the 1992-1993 academic year, O'Regan was Visiting Professor of Public and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School , Princeton University , where he taught community-based economic development at the graduate level.

From 1984-1989 he headed the Kenya Rural Enterprise Program, an intermediary finance and training organization for small- and micro-enterprise development. This work included efforts to involve indigenous populations around game parks to participate in tourist-related activities and animal protection. He founded and co-directed the Development GAP (1977-84), and advocacy and consulting organization in international development. O'Regan was Program Director of the Community Action Program in Cambridge , Massachusetts (1974-77), and began his career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Swaziland (1969-72). He has published numerous articles and papers on international development and co-authored two books on development assistance policy and economic development among the poor.