Leo Club Advisory Panel
The Leo Club Program Advisory Panel is a communication vehicle for Leos and Lions to share their ideas about the Leo Club Program with Lions Clubs International.
Advisory panelists represent Leos and Lions in their respective constitutional area and serve as ambassadors for the Leo Club Program. If you have ideas about the Leo Club Program, share them with your panelists.
The Leo Club Program Advisory Panel is comprised of two Lions and two Leos from each constitutional area. Each fiscal year, one Lion and one Leo from each area are selected to serve a two-year term.
Advisory Panel Resources
The Advisory Panel is separated into three committees, Recruitment, Membership Experience and Transition. On their committees, panelists use their combined knowledge and experience to create resources on best practices for Leo clubs. Check out their resources below:
Recruitment
- Starting a Community-Based Leo Club (ppt)
- Starting a School-Based Leo Club (ppt)
- Smart Recruitment (ppt)
- Recruit in 90 Seconds (pdf)
- Recruitment in a Glance (ppt)
- Tips for Good Orientation Session (ppt)
Membership Experience
Transition
- 5 Reasons to Create a “Former Leo” Lions Club Branch (pdf)
- Leo Advisory Panelist Talk Leo to Lion Transition (video)
- Preserving the Future – Leo to Lion Transition (ppt)
- Overview of Leo to Lion Transition (ppt)
- How I Became a Leo-Lion - Hong Kong Success Story (video)
- Encouraging Leo to Lion Transition (ppt)
Panelists also write individual blogs on success stories from their Constitutional Areas. Check out the Lions Blog to see what they’ve been up to.
Current Advisory Panelists
Constitutional Area I
Lion Diana Grise
USA – Lion Diana brings 43 years of service as a Lion to the panel, serving in almost all of the club and district offices, including District Governor. She was instrumental in forming eight new Leo clubs in her District, one of which she is still a Leo club advisor of for over 25 years! On the panel, she is looking forward to learning more about the perception of Leos in other countries and sharing her experiences with other panel members.
(English) Email Diana
Leo Angela Li
Recruitment Committee Chairperson
USA – Leo Angela is the charter president of the Quantum Auxilia Leo Club and immediate past Leo District 4 C4 President. She is looking forward sharing her Leo Club Program experience and excited to collaborate with other experienced Leos and Lions around the world on the advisory panel.
(English, Mandarin) Email Angela
Leo Nichele Smith
Membership Experience Co-Chair
Sint Maarten – Leo Nichele has held several leadership positions at the Leo club and district Levels. As a charter Leo district president, she has encouraged innovation and creativity in the way her club members serve their community as well as the way they engage their own members. She is looking forward to inspiring more Leos to take on leadership roles and using their skill sets to create innovative projects and ideas, while enhancing the membership experience.
(English) Email Nichele
Leo-Lion Brandon Johnson
USA – Leo-Lion Brandon is a former Leo club charter president who is passionate about supporting Leos in their leadership journey and helping them to serve side by side with Lions. “We must continue to listen to young members of our Lions International family and give them a seat at the table where decisions on our association's future are being made,” he says. He is most looking forward to empowering Leos to serve in leadership positions, and working to make the Leo to Lion journey as seamless and attractive as possible.
(English) Email Brandon
Constitutional Area II
Lion Claude Gilbert
Canada – Lion Claude brings 30 years of Lions experience to the panel. He is the Multiple District U Leo Chairperson and helped restart the Leo Club Program in Quebec after almost 30 years of inactivity. On the panel, he is looking forward to helping Lions navigate Leo clubs with social distancing and health safety measures in place due to Covid-19 and help build on the Leo to Lion transition process.
(French, English) Email Claude
Leo Javishaa Thiyagarajah
Canada – Leo Javishaa is a globally connected Leo leader with 10 years of experience as a Leo in multiple countries, even being recognized for her leadership in 2018 with the International President’s Leadership Award. As a Leo Advisory Panelist, she is looking forward to sharing her experience and inspiring passionate Leos to step up into leadership roles in their clubs.
(English) Email Javishaa
Leo-Lion Sophia Nguyen
Canada – Leo-Lion Sophia has been a part of the Leos club since she was 13, and has grown her love of community and volunteerism through this program. As a Leo Advisory Panelist, Sophia is looking forward to meeting individuals who share a common goal and being able to learn from the experience and expertise of others. She is excited that there are varying perspectives which can help her understand more about our society.
(English) Email Sophia
Lion Tim Beer
Canada – Lion Tim has lived in three different countries on three different continents. He has served as a lions club president, a leo club advisor and a multidistrict leo chair. He also serves on the host committee for the USA/Canada Leo leadership forum. He is looking forward to sharing his experiences and ideas and learning from others around the globe.
(English) Email Tim
Constitutional Area III
Lion Guilherme Manenti
Brazil – Lion Guilherme credits his 15 years as a Leo to developing his personal and leadership skills. He has helped form and organize 10 Leo clubs in Brazil, promoting Leo and Lion relationships in his region. He hopes to bring his experience encouraging young people to join Leos and Lions to the Advisory Panel.
(English, Portuguese) Email Guilherme
Leo Hygor Nunes
Brazil – Leo Hygor comes from a family of Lions, forming a Leo club in 2010 that was sponsored by his parent’s Lions club. He hopes to bring innovation and creativity to the Leo Advisory Panel and be a bridge to Constitutional Area 3 Leos and Lions Clubs International.
(English, Portuguese) Email Hygor
Leo-Lion Verónica Pérez Caballero
Colombia – Leo-Lion Verónica, as a Lion leader and former Leo, has worked to bring youth closer to our association. As the GAT liaison in Latin America, she has managed to integrate and position the Leos of her constitutional area with the Leos Latinoamerica brand, promoting opportunities and advancing new goals through the signing of the Leo Friendly area manifesto, signed by all CA III Lions and Leo leaders.
(English, Spanish) Email Verónica
Leo Adriana Godoy
Guatemala – Leo Adriana founded her Leo Club in 2013. Since then, she’s been working in various positions and roles, starting in her club, then in her district, and now collaborating in Leos Latinoamérica. In these various roles, she sought to help create ways to link and involve all the countries for the constitutional area, while supporting the clubs and members. She is looking forward to helping the Leo program to grow and become united.
(English) Email Adriana
Constitutional Area IV
Lion Luc Debois
Belgium – Lion Luc returns for a second term on the Leo Advisory Panel, bringing 16 years of experience in the Leo Club Program. As a Leo Chairperson and past panelist, he helped organize the first Leo Lion Summits in Belgium and increased Leo participation in CA 4. On the panel, he hopes to share his experience with other panelist and bring information to his area.
(English, Dutch, French) Email Luc
Leo İncisu Donmez
Turkey – Leo İncisu has been a Leo since 2017 serving as president, vice-president and secretary of Zeytinburnu Leo Club. She participated in the Youth Camps and Exchange Program, which allowed her to connect with other Leos and Lions all over the world. She is excited to connect with other Leos and Lions and learn from their experiences.
(English, French, Spanish, and Italian) Email İncisu
Leo-Lion Dorina Szalagyi
Transition Committee Co-Chair
Hungary – Leo-Lion Dorina has been a Leo for six years and a Leo-Lion for two years. She has served as a district vice-president four times, and was the ILO of Hungary for three years, including one year as an ILO Board Member. She is currently district vice-president and president of the first Hungarian Leo-Lions Club. Lion Dorina is looking forward to building a bridge between Leos and Lions to improve connections and reach more people in need, as well as developing more service activities. She believes it is essential to find the “common voice.”
(Hungarian, English) Email Dorina
Leo Patrik Sandu
Romania– Leo Patrik is the past district president of D124 Romania and is one of the founding members of Leo Young Spirit Timisoara, the first Alpha Leo club in Romania. He is a long-standing Leo member, giving him much experience and knowledge about the Leo and Lions program. As a Leo Advisory Panelist, he is excited to share project ideas and experiences between international Leos and Lions and to improve the communication between the members on an international level.
(English, Romanian, German) Email Patrik
Constitutional Area V
Lion Maylyn V Enriquez
Philippines – Lion Maylyn started as the charter Leo president in 1999 and moved all the way up to the Leo Multiple District President for MD 301 Philippines. Now as a Lion, she handles projects for youth as the current District Leo Chairperson in District 301D2. As a panelist, she wants to ensure that Leos have the best experience and show them the strength of the Lions spirit. (English, Filipino) Email Maylyn
Leo Bernard Tang
Malaysia – Leo Bernard credits the Leo Club Program for giving him the opportunity experience leadership through service and mentorship and broadening his views and perspective. He is looking forward to strengthening the connection between Leos and Lions and being the voice of Leos in CA 5 on the Leo Advisory Panel. (English, Malay, Mandarin) Email Bernard
Leo-Lion Timothy Chan
Recruitment Committee Co-Chair
Hong Kong – Leo-Lion Timothy was the district president of Leo District 303. He is an an active Leo-Lion, having attended the Lions Clubs International Convention, OSEAL forum and Leo forum several times. In his role as Leo Advisory Panelist, he is looking forward to inspiring Leos clubs in their service activities.
(Cantonese/Mandarin) Email Timothy
Leo-Lion Rhea Maringal
Philippines – Leo-Lion Rhea joined the Leo Club Program in 2015 and is proud to be able to showcase her skills and leadership abilities through this organization. She says she feels as if she became a new person through serving her community and being a member of her club. She is looking forward to making meaningful connections and collaborating with her fellow panelists.
(Filipino English) Email Rhea
Constitutional Area VI
Lion Sandeep Kasaudhan
Nepal – Lion Sandeep has attended 8 international Leo and Lion forums during his 12 years as a Leo and now Lion. He is looking forward to meeting more Leos and Lions on the panel and sharing his experiences to motivate and spread service around the world.
(English, Nepali, Hindi) Email Sandeep
Leo-Lion Akshit Bagla
Advisory Panel Chairperson
India – Leo-Lion Akshit has been a Leo for over a decade, and sat on the LCI Leo Strategic Plan committee this past year to help determine the next 5 years of the Leo Club Program. On the panel, he is looking forward to increasing the awareness of the Leo Club Program and exchanging ideas with the other panelist.
(English, Hindi, Bengali) Email Akshit
Leo-Lion Muhammad Arslan
Pakistan – Leo-Lion Arslan is looking forward to promoting, strengthening and uniting the Leo Club Program even more as a panelist. He believes in supporting youth to become better leaders and helping them achieve their goals by giving young people the opportunities to show their potential and working for a common cause.
(English, Urdu, Hindi) Email Muhammad
Lion K H Lasantha Gunawardana
Sri Lanka – Lion K H Lasantha joined the Lions Club of Colombo Mid City in 1993 and was appointed to district Leo chairperson in 2001-2003 period. During this time, he helped develop 25 new Leo clubs, helping revive the Leo Club Program in the district. In 2019, he was again appointed as district leo chairperson and increased the membership from 900 to 5,000. He is looking forward to encouraging more Leos to become Leo-Lions, as well as finding opportunities for Leos and Leo-Lions to collaborate internationally and gain recognition at the district and club level.
(Sinhala) Email K H Lasantha
Constitutional Area VII
Lion John Clare
Australia – Lion John has been a Leo advocate in his District ever since he chartered his first Leo club in 2016. Since then, he helped start 4 other Leo clubs and put together the first Leo conference in his area. As a panelist, he is looking forward to growing the Leo Club Program and expanding its influence on young people around the world.
(English) Email John
Leo Katie Townsend
Membership Experience Committee Chair
New Zealand – Leo Katie credits Leos for helping her find her purpose and confidence as a leader. She is a charter member of two Leo clubs in her district and helped form the first Omega Leo Club in New Zealand. On the panel, she is looking forward to seeing her fellow Leos show potential and providing others with the opportunities for leadership development.
(English) Email Katie
Lion Andrew Roberts-Thomson
Australia – Lion Andrew spent the first four years as a Leo as club secretary and served as Leo district secretary. He is looking forward to getting to know how other Leo clubs serve their communities so he can share that information with the Leo clubs in his district.
(English, NIL) Email Andrew
Leo John William Candra
Indonesia – Leo John has been an active member of Leo Club Citra Phoenix since 2013. He is known for his out-of-the-box ideas, and contributes in new and creative ways on serving the community. Leo John is excited to learn more about the Leo Club Program and is interested in seeing the ideas he and his fellow Leos could exchange and apply in their respective clubs.
(Bahasa Indonesia, English) Email John
Constitutional Area VIII
Lion Geila L Wills
Transition Committee Chair
South Africa – Lion Geila has been a passionate advocate of the Leo program throughout her Lions career, carrying her love of Leos through her positions as a Leo Multiple District President and a Past District Governor. On the panel, she is looking forward to increasing the visibility of Leos and being a mentor and guide. She hopes to inspire others with her Lions quote “If a difference needs to be made, you are that difference. Make the difference. If nothing else, make someone smile."
(English, Afrikaans, German, Spanish) Email Geila
Leo-Lion Anita Boakye-Yiadom
Ghana - Leo-Lion Anita has experienced leadership in various capacities through the Leo Club Program, including serving as a charter president, leading projects, working in committees, giving back to society and creating impact. She is excited about effectively contributing to the Leo Club Program and is looking forward to sharing her culture, experiences, skills, knowledge and ideas on furthering the panel’s vision.
(English) Email Anita
Leo-Lion Naphtali Chilenga
Malawi – Leo-Lion Naphtali’s life was changed after joining his Leo club and growing his leadership skills. He feels he has become a productive citizen who sees the world differently through mentorship by Lion leaders. He is looking forward to bridging the information gap between Leo clubs in various districts and the International Board of Directors. He is also excited about being an important part of leadership, mentorship, membership growth and transitioning of Leos to Leo-Lions.
(Chichewa, English) Email Naphtali
Leo Djibrilla Yaye Moussa
Niger – Leo Djibrilla has experience in various levels of leadership within the Leo club program. He is proud to serve as a Leo, working as “co-actors” with his fellow Lions. He is most looking forward to sharing his experiences and learning more from other members from around the world.
(French) Email Djibrilla
