21 Mar 2018 Annual Report of the President
The Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance (AHKGA) had a very busy, productive and successful year in 2018. While many achievements were made, and are captured in the AHKGA Executive Committee Record of discussion and subsequently in the Board Minutes, below is a brief summary of the highlights from the year.
Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance becomes a registered not-for-profit corporation
After approximately four years of operating as an unofficial organization (2014-2018), in early 2018 the Executive Committee of the AHKGA decided to have a strategic planning session to discuss the future of the organization. The Executive Committee met at the Calabogie Resort outside of Ottawa, Canada January 19-21 to discuss the structure, function, and future of the organization. It was decided that for the AHKGA to pursue its Vision (A world of Active Healthy Kids) and Mission (The Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance is committed to powering the global movement to get kids moving through thought leadership, knowledge translation and mobilization, capacity building, and advocacy. This is facilitated by sustainable partnerships and cross-sectoral collaborations that enable best-practice exchanges, networking and crossfertilization) it was necessary to be an official organization. The process to register the AHKGA as a not-for-profit corporation in Canada was pursued and on May 25, 2018 AHKGA was officially an incorporated not-for-profit organization in Canada. In the following months the organizing resolutions and special resolutions of the Corporation were adopted and the inaugural Board of Directors included: Mark Tremblay (President and Chair, Canada), Peter Katzmarzyk (Vice President and North America Representative, United States), Joel Barnes (Treasurer and Webmaster, Canada), Natasha Schranz (Secretary and Oceania Representative, Australia), Silvia Gonzalez (South America Representative, Colombia), John Reilly (Europe Representative, Scotland), Reginald Ocansey (Africa Representative, Ghana), Eun-Young Lee (Asia Representative, South Korea/Canada), Jakub Kalinowski (Marketing and Activation Representative, Poland). The Corporation fiscal year is the calendar year and 2018 will mark the first year of official operation. Congratulations AHKGA!
Partnership Memoranda of Understanding
After several months of discussion, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the AHKGA and the International Sport and Culture Association in August, establishing a lasting collaboration of working together to get kids around the world moving. In November, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Lithuania Sports University also creating a partnership to improve the physical activity of children in Lithuania. The AHKGA looks forward to collaborating with our new partners in our quest to power the global movement to get kids moving.
Movement to Move Event and Global Matrix 3.0 Release
Throughout 2018 the AHKGA and participating countries were working hard on preparations for the release of the Global Matrix 3.0. With leadership from Natasha Schranz, the Movement to Move Event was planned and hosted at the beautiful National Wine Centre in Adelaide, Australia November 26-29 and served as the venue for the launch of the Global Matrix 3.0 and 49 country Report Cards. The Movement to Move Event attracted nearly 200 delegates from 30 countries and delegate evaluations were overwhelmingly positive. The Global Matrix 3.0 release attracted significant global media attention and was considered a huge success by event organizers and Report Card leaders. 517 experts from 49 countries participated in the Global Matrix 3.0 process. Below is a picture of the Report Card Leaders at the Movement to Move Event.
Two manuscripts, one on the impact of the Global Matrices and Report Cards, and one on the country evaluations of the Global Matrix and Report Card process, are in progress and are expected to be published in 2019, with leadership by Salomé Aubert, as part of her PhD thesis. At the Movement to Move Event the first AHKGA awards were presented and the winners included: Best Report Card – Finland; Best Report Card poster – Slovenia; Best contributor to Global Matrix 3.0 – Aleš Gába (Czech Republic); Most Responsive Report Card Leader – Patrick Abi Nader (Lebanon); Best Report Card Promoter – Stephen Wong (Hong Kong).
Publication of Global Matrix 3.0 Supplement of Journal of Physical Activity and Health
In conjunction with the release of the Global Matrix 3.0, once again the AHKGA partnered with Human Kinetics Publishers to publish a supplemental issue of the Journal of Physical Activity and Health specifically on the Global Matrix 3.0 initiative and its findings. The journal supplement contains four original manuscripts (a fifth one will be added when completed later in 2019) and 49 short summaries, one for each of the participating country report cards. This journal supplement provides an academic legacy for the Global Matrix 3.0 and its accompanying 49 country Report Cards. The journal supplement is available on-line and through open access at https://journals.humankinetics.com/toc/jpah/15/S2.
Website Relaunch
Thanks to the talents and tireless efforts of AHKGA Webmaster Joel Barnes, the AHKGA website was completely redone, updated, populated with an immense amount of Global Matrix 3.0 materials, and relaunched at the Movement to Move Event in Adelaide, Australia on November 27. The website is an enormous databank of all activities of the AHKGA since its informal inception in 2014. It is a great resource for the AHKGA organization, media, researchers, child physical activity advocates, and anyone interested in getting children more active.