What is the IBA Transition Process?
IBA has begun the process of an ambitious initiative to greatly expand programs in the realms of conservation implementation, scientific voice, and capacity building, thus improving its ability to execute its mission. In 2014 at the Council meeting in Thessaloniki Greece, as a result of the continued growth and unsustainable workload on IBA’s all-volunteer Council, Committees, and IBN staff, a committee was formed to develop a strategic plan. The first step of this process was a survey in 2015 and IBA members were asked to provide input and guidance for IBA going into the future. The message from that survey was clear: IBA members value the organization, especially its conferences, publications, its grants programs, and its collegial almost family-like culture. In 2017, IBA was fortunate to be offered pro-bono services of the world-renowned management consulting firm, Oliver Wyman. The Oliver Wyman Management Consulting firm spent three months interviewing IBA members and other similar non-profits to develop a plan for IBA to move forward with growth while maintaining the core values of a professional scientific organization. This became known as the transition process and its purpose is to increase our ability to deliver on our core goal: conservation and restoration of the world’s bears through science-based research, management, and education.
Using the material provided to IBA from Oliver Wyman, Council and several other IBA members participated in a facilitated workshop for beginning the process of implementing Oliver Wyman’s transition plan. The workshop was conducted by Diana Pound of 
on 15 September 2018 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. From this workshop, the Structural Change Working Group developed a plan for the Structural Evolution of IBA. This plan was adopted by Council on 24 June 2019 and can be downloaded with the link below.
This page is dedicated to providing members and the public with information about the evolving Structural Plan and transition process. IBA is committed to implementing this plan for the good not only of bears around the world but also for the professionals that dedicate their lives to understanding, managing, conserving, researching and helping bears! We always welcome member feedback and questions, please don’t hesitate to contact either the Director of Operations and Programs, Jennapher Teunissen van Manen with any questions or any Council member.
IBA Communication Team’ Column Transition Updates
Fall 2020 Vol. 29 no. 3: Change Council Standing Committees, funding update and conference presentation video highlights.
Summer 2020 Vol. 29 no. 2: Transition Highlights with information on Council Standing Committees (Structure Change Step 3).
Spring 2020 Vol. 29 no.1: Introduction to IBA’s first Executive Director and update on recent transition progress.
Fall 2019 Vol. 28 no. 3: Summary of the transition process with updates on the current process and a timeline since 2014.
Summer 2019 Vol. 28 no. 2: Update on Executive Director search process, new grant received for transition process and, new email platform for IBA Council and Committee Chairs.
Spring 2019 Vol. 28 no. 1: Introduction to transition process implementation.
IBA Member Email with Transition News and Updates
September 06, 2020: Early Fall 2020 Council and Transition News
February 14, 2020: Early Spring 2020 Council News and Transition News
November 15, 2019: Fall 2019 Council and Transition News
July 18, 2019: Mid-Summer 2019 Council and Transition News
May 31, 2019: Summer 2019 Council and Transition News
May 01, 2019: Spring Council and Transition News
March 13, 2019: Introduction of Council and Transition News Email Updates
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IBA President’s Column Transition Updates (Andreas Zedrosser, Fall 2017 – Fall 2019)
Fall 2019 Vol. 28 no. 3: A message from the current and past IBA presidents about the exciting future of IBA!
Summer 2019 Vol. 28 no. 2: Revisiting the 2015 Strategic Member Survey results and discussion how the results helped Council shape the future direction of the transition and IBA.
Spring 2019 Vol. 28 no. 1: A continued detailed report on the transition, including announcement of Director of Transition position hiring, new IBA Secretary, and introduction of teams developed for implementing transition work.
Fall 2018 Vol. 27 no. 3: Report on workshop held in Ljubljana, Slovenia (September 2018) for future development of IBA based on Oliver Wyman report.
Summer 2018 Vol. 27 no. 2: Council votes for IBA to develop and adapt the Oliver Wyman plan, summary of the Oliver Wyman plan with details of tasks ahead for implementation.
Spring 2018 Vol. 27 no. 1: Initial report on results from Oliver Wyman three-month process of assessing IBA and providing a blueprint for development of IBA.
Fall 2017 Vol. 26 no. 3: Introduction to the Oliver Wyman process to assess IBA and develop a plan for IBA to be more effective in promoting science-based management and conservation of bears on a global scale.
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IBA Executive Director Updates
Fall 2020 Vol. 29 no. 3: IBA’s strategic plan, vision and mission, and program development plan.
Summer 2020 Vol. 29 no. 2: COVID-19, adapting to a new funding landscape, transition process plans.