- ATD Fourth World

In February 1988, before undergoing heart surgery from which he never recovered, Fr. Joseph Wresinski appointed three Volunteer Corps members to ensure the continuation of his work: Gabrielle Erpicum, Claude Ferrand and Eugen Brand. After Wresinski’s death, these three people formed a General Secretariat and continued to carry out this responsibility supported by a group of founding members of the Volunteer Corps. Wresinski involved these founding members intensely in the development of the organization because of their experiences working with families living in extreme poverty, both in the emergency housing camp of Noisy-le-Grand, France, where the Movement started, and in other parts of the world where people were living in extreme poverty.

In 1993, this group of founding members chose a second team of full-time Volunteer Corps members to manage the General Secretariat: Gérard Bureau, Bérengère Lesonneur and Stuart Williams. Assisting them were James Jaboureck, responsible for overseeing the Fourth World Volunteer Corps, Antonius Redegeld, head of administration and finances, and Didier Robert, Secretary General of the French branch of ATD Fourth World.

In the late 1990s, the time was ripe for introducing new ways of developing a cohesive movement, capitalising on both the cultural and socio-economic diversity of its members around the world. All of the senior Volunteer Corps members chose a temporary Discernment Group composed of the founding members and 10 others. They directed this group to design a new approach to Movement leadership, specifically to:

• Work together to identify the strengths and the weaknesses of the organization and the requirements for working alongside the very poorest members of society.

• In the context of the changing world, seek new opportunities that could help people in extreme poverty to transform their lives, and to create a more integrated and neighbourly world for everyone.

• Delegate one or more people to lead the International Movement ATD Fourth World.

In early 1999, this temporary Discernment Group named an International Leadership Team of three people. Eugen Brand was named Director General, with Bruno Couder and Susie Devins appointed Deputy Director Generals. While they were asked to serve for a long period of time, the Leadership Team insisted on being able to take stock and report back to a discernment group every four years. A second Discernment Group in 2003 confirmed their term in office for another four years (through December 2007).

Consultations initiated by the organization’s Regional Support Teams led to the formation of a third Discernment Group which began working in 2006. This time its members included both long-term Volunteer Corps members who have previously worked together internationally, as well as other members of the organization whose commitments stem from their own first-hand experience of extreme poverty and/or their solidarity with people living in poverty.

From November 2006 to March 2007, the third Discernment Group worked together, consulting many others. It met twice (in Belgium) and conducted an ongoing dialogue, mainly on-line. The group’s work concluded last March by naming the current International Leadership Team.