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 comprises 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. Panel membership is the highest international office for the Leo Club Program.
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
- On the Spot Recruiting: Elevator Speeches (ppt) 2023
- Elevator Speech resources (pdf) 2023
- Recruitment in a Glance (ppt) 2022
- Tips for Good Orientation Session (ppt) 2022
Membership Experience
- Leos’ Leadership Development and Opportunities (ppt) 2023
- How to Organize a Leadership Workshop (pdf) 2023
- Connecting Leos (ppt) 2022
- Activity Ideas for Connecting Leos (pdf) 2022
Transition
- Beyond Leos: Continuing the Service Journey (ppt) 2023
- Encouraging Leo to Lion Transition (ppt) 2022
- Previous Resources
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- Smart Recruitment (ppt) 2021
- Recruit in 90 Seconds (pdf) 2021
- Collaborating with Your Sponsoring Lions Club (ppt) 2021
- Collaborative Activities for Leos and Lions (pdf) 2021
- Overview of Leo to Lion Transition (ppt) 2021
- Preserving the Future – Leo to Lion Transition (ppt) 2020
- Starting a Community-Based Leo Club (ppt) 2020
- Starting a School-Based Leo Club (ppt) 2020
- Leo Club Officers Overview (pdf) 2020
- Leo Club Program Awards Handbook (pdf) 2020
- 5 Reasons to Create a “Former Leo” Lions Club Branch (pdf) 2020
- Leo Advisory Panelist Talk Leo to Lion Transition (video) 2020
Current Advisory Panelists
Constitutional Area I
Leo Nichele Smith
Panel Chairperson
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
Leo Shannon Murg
Suriname – The personal growth and friendships that Leo Shannon has experienced during her journey as a Leo are for a lifetime. As a panelist, she is looking forward to connecting with all the Lions and Leos that she will meet during this journey. Motivating others is her passion and she believes that improving the program together will be fun.
(English, Dutch) Email Shannon
Lion Ava-Loi P.R. Forbes
Jamaica – Since 2007, Lion Ava-Loi has been a servant leader for youths, by advocating for and helping to improve their experiences as a Leo. As a former Leo leader who has had the privilege of representing Leos from Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Lion Ava-Loi is also a past Leo-Lion, district Leo (associate) chairperson and district and MD Lions Opportunities for Youth chairperson. She was also instrumental in the formation of the first cyber Leo club in MD60, as well as the first ever formed Leo District 60B. Lion Ava-Loi is now looking to explore ways in which she can collaborate with Lions and Leos in improving the shared experiences of Leos.
(English) Email Ava-Loi
Constitutional Area II
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 multiple district Leo chairperson. 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
Lion Claude Gilbert
Canada – Lion Claude brings 23 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. He believes that Leos will be the main part of the second century of Lions and wants to fill the generation gap between Leos and Lions.
(French, English) Email Claude
Leo Rusheen Takhtani
Canada – Leo Rusheen Takhtani is the charter president of Leo Club of Toronto Centennial who has his roots from India. He has learned a better way of understanding the perspective of Leos while working very closely with past Leo Advisory Panelists and Lions leaders during his involvement in various international events of ISAME as a committee member. A digital marketer and a student of artificial intelligence, he is looking forward to creating major awareness about the Leo Club Program in constitutional area II while sharing his own experiences in the journey of achieving new opportunities.
(Hindi, Gujarati, Sindhi, French, English) Email Rusheen
Constitutional Area III
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 constitutional area III Lions and Leo leaders.
(English, Spanish) Email Verónica
Leo Kevin Francisco Marroquín Rosales
Peru – Leo Kevin started with Lions International as a Cub when he was 11 years old. To him, the Leo Club Program and Lions International is his second family. He is looking forward to improving the organization of Leo districts and multiple districts during his time on the panel. Leo Kevin is excited to represent and be the voice of Leos from CA III.
(Spanish, English) Email Kevin
Leo-Lion Jorge Augstín Garcia Cerna
Peru – Being a Leo has given Leo-Lion Jorge the opportunity to generate change in society and strengthen his leadership skills through service. He hopes to propose initiatives and actions that will be reflected in the benefit of the members and Leo clubs of constitutional area III to provide a better service. Jorge is always ready to listen and help you when you have a problem as he carries Leoismo as a philosophy of life.
(English, Spanish) Email Jorge
Leo-Lion Wilson Mathias Morinigo Soria
Paraguay – Leo-Lion Wilson started as a Leo at the age of 12 and since then he has not stopped activating within the program. He has served as the club, district and multiple district levels, supporting the creation of 12 Leo clubs. Wilson is part of the council as Leo-Lion liaison, supporting the strengthening and fulfillment of the of the strategic plan of Lions International. He hopes to be able to serve his entire constitutional area and the world through his contribution to innovative sustainability and creativity thanks to the experience gained. Additionally, he hopes to be able to exchange ideas on how to continue improving the Leo Club Program in Latin America.
(English, Spanish, Portuguese) Email Wilson
Constitutional Area IV
Leo-Lion Dorina Szalagyi
Member Experience Committee Chairperson
Hungary – Leo-Lion Dorina has been a Leo for six years and a Leo-Lion for three 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 was the president of the first Hungarian Leo-Lions Club. 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, French, Spanish, Finnish, Polish) 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
Leo Maria Melina Panteli
Greece – Leo Maria Melina believes it is an honor to be part of this large community of Leos! Her Leo club stays active to help and serve our community and is looking forward to learning how Leos all over the world give back as well. She describes herself as a positive, active and focused person in providing what's best for the community in order to help it evolve. Her motto is to make the world a better place for everyone.
(English, French) Email Maria Melina
Lion Galeno Rossato
Italy – Lion Galeno believes that working with Leos has always been a source of mutual inspiration to do positive things together. As a panelist he is looking forward to suggesting new ways to develop and strengthen membership through teamwork. As a basketball player, Galeno has realized that playing on a team is more important than working alone.
(English, Italian) Email Galeno
Constitutional Area V
Leo-Lion Timothy Chan
Recruitment Committee Chair
Hong Kong – Leo-Lion Timothy was the district president of Leo District 303. He is 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.
(English, 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.
(English, Filipino) Email Rhea
Leo Luk Hoi Yan (Nicole)
Hong Kong – Leo Nicole is proud to be a Leo from the age of 15. She enjoys every moment as a Leo, especially organizing service projects and participating in international events, where she sees a different side of herself. Nicole would like to collaborate with different districts for more knowledge and experience with Alpha Leos, Omega Leos and Leo-Lions development.
(English, Chinese) Email Nicole
Leo-Lion Andrew Jing Xiang Lim
Malaysia – Leo-Lion Andrew joined the Leo Club Program in 2008 as an Alpha Leo, continued as an Omega Leo in 2013 and then chartered the first Leo-Lion club in Multiple District 308. He is looking forward to strengthening the connection between Leos and Lions and reaching more people in need. Andrew hopes to bring his experience on the Leo and Leo-Lion journey to inspire more young people to join our moment.
(English, Mandarin) Email Andrew
Constitutional Area VI
Leo-Lion Muhammad Arslan
Panel Co-Chair
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 for 2001-2003. 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 9,500. 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.
(English, Sinhala) Email K H Lasantha
Leo-Lion Ritwik Bhawsinghka
India – Leo-Lion Ritwik has been an active member of the Calcutta Park Avenue Leo Club since 2014 and the Kolkata Leo-Lions Club since 2020. He has managed several leadership portfolios over the last eight years, including Leo multiple district treasurer, Leo district president, Leo-Lion cabinet liaison and Lions club president. Ritwik looks forward to helping bridge the gap between Leos and Lions and strengthening diverse cultural ties binding the association.
(English, Hindi, Bengali) Email Ritwik
Leo Rita Giannelli
Membership Experience Committee Co-Chair
United Arab Emirates – Leo Rita is a globally connected Leo with more than 10 years of experience as a Leo in multiple countries. She founded her Leo club in 2012, and since then she has been covering different roles and leadership positions, while working to strengthen the communication between many Leo clubs internationally. On the panel, she is looking forward to sharing her experience, bringing new ideas and inspiring more Leos to take leadership positions. She has lived in four different countries in four different continents.
(English, Italian) Email Rita
Constitutional Area VII
Lion Andrew Roberts-Thomson
Australia – Lion Andrew spent the first four years as a Leo 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
Leo Georgia Bailey
Recruitment Committee Co-Chair
Australia – Leo Georgia is a passionate and positive Leo from New South Wales, Australia. She has been a Leo for 10 years and cannot wait to affect change in her local, national and international communities through Leos and Lions. She is most looking forward to broadening her network across the international branches of Leos and Lions clubs. Georgia wants to learn people’s stories and work towards encouraging people to work together for the better. She is a university student, who works full time in communications and as a small business owner.
(English) Email Georgia
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 five other Leo clubs and put together the first two Leo conferences in his area. He has served as the district Leo chair for six years and one year as the Leo state coordinator. He’s looking forward to bringing in lots of new ideas to further expand Leos in Australia and worldwide, as well as to encourage Leos to become Leo-Lions or Lions.
(English) Email John
Constitutional Area VIII
Leo-Lion Naphtali Chilenga
Transition Committee Chair
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 Leo Advisory Panel in order to fully experience and contribute towards leadership, mentorship, membership growth and ensuring smooth transitioning of Leos to Leo-Lions at both district, constitutional area and global level.
(Chichewa, English) Email Naphtali
Leo Issouf Zerbo
Burkina Faso – Leo Issouf is looking forward to participating in the panel to help continue building up Lions International and the Leo movement. He was the president of Leo District 403 A3 and is committed to community service. He enjoys coordinating to ensure success and the well-being of his community. Leo Issouf will soon be a doctor!
(French, English) Email Issouf
Leo Priscilla Koramah Anim
Transition Committee Co-Chair
Ghana – Joining the Legon Leo Club in 2017, Leo Priscilla has risen through a variety of club positions and is currently the district president of District 418 in Ghana. Through the Leo Club Program, she has had the opportunity to grow as a leader and better understand service to the community. She is looking forward to sharing ideas with other panelists, motivating Leos to expand their leadership skills and encouraging impactful service activities throughout Africa.
(Twi, English) Email Priscilla
Lion Sara Taleb
Morocco – Lion Sara has been responsible for Leos in Morocco since 2020 and has been so close to them in many aspects. The first thing she’d like to do is share her experience in Morocco, and then create a real Leo community in constitutional area VIII and the world to serve better.
(French, Arabic, English) Email Sara
