Photo courtesy of Kevin Rennie

Kevin Rennie began in 2008 as part of the Voices Without Votes coverage of the USA presidential election. He is a retired secondary teacher and union activist. Most of his GV work has been for the Newsroom and Advox.

His 300+ stories have ranged from advocacy for the release of prisoners such as Julian Assange, Peter Greste, Kylie Moore Gilbert and Cheng Lei, to covering efforts to save endangered species. According to Kevin, finding the best in our local communities has been a highlight, such as the heartwarming story of the Spiderman jogger during Melbourne’s COVID lockdown.

He has been a regular participant at GV summits, including regional ones. He has represented GV at several progressive conferences in Australia, producing multi-media coverage.

He also helps with social media, plus some editing, translation related activities and mentoring.

All candidates in the 2026 board elections have been asked to answer the set of questions listed below. Feel free to ask Kevin additional questions in the comments area below this post!

What appeals to you most about the prospect of serving on the GV board?

The chance to apply some of my experience and knowledge to the ongoing challenges facing citizen journalism and to foster the extraordinary GV family.

What talents, skills, networks, and expertise can you offer Global Voices in your role as board representative?

My interests such human rights, freedom of expression, Indigenous issues, and the environment have involved extensive networks both within GV and the wider world.

As you look ahead to the next three years, what, in your opinion, should be GV’s overarching priorities as an organization?

The recent developments in broadening our scope as an organisation, such as the Spotlight series, are very welcome. Nevertheless, it is vitally important that we continue to support the newsroom and translators, which are essential elements of GV.

We need to further explore ways of increasing our audience and the number of return readers.

What aspect of GV’s work interests you the most?

The newsroom, advox and lingua are continuing priorities.

What would you like to get out of this board service experience, both professionally and personally?

The privilege of being part of an unique team.

How will you fit board service into your personal and other professional work commitments?

My main commitment is my work as a citizen journalist with GV so it would be a ready fit.

What methods would you use to engage and listen to the community in order to represent them effectively at board level?

The community blog, google group emails, social media such as What’s App and Slack, plus the regular online meetings. Teamwork amongst board members is also a key to fostering communication. Ultimately, one-to one is vitally important.