Bill Thornton sitting and holding a golden retriever puppy.

William (Bill) Thornton (Chair)

Chief Executive Officer
BC & Alberta Guide Dogs, Canada

Bill Thornton is a devoted Guide and Service Dog provider and proven advocate for those with disabilities. His interest in dog training began when he first trained dogs as an Officer with the National Police Force of Rhodesia. An encounter with Guide Dogs for the Blind, UK on a trip in 1977 inspired his apprenticeship and training as a Guide Dog Mobility Instructor.

Following a move to Ottawa, Canada in 1984, Bill founded Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind and served as President / CEO until 1996. A need for Guide Dogs in British Columbia inspired Bill to co-found BC Guide Dogs, the province’s first Guide Dog School for the Blind.

A passion to help more of Western Canada led to the expansion of the organization to Alberta in 2002. Seeing also a great need of Service Dogs for children with profound autism and their families, Bill founded Autism Support Dogs in 2008 and served as Chair of that organization until it amalgamated with BC Guide Dogs in 2014.

Bill has utilized his leadership qualities to contribute on a global scale. From 1986 to 1989, Bill participated in the development of the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF). Since then, he has taken on many responsibilities with the Federation and has served on accreditation, finance and communications committees; as well as undertaken the role of International Assessor, completing 28 accreditations in 13 different countries. Bill has been appointed to the IGDF Board of Directors from 1990-1996, 1998-2006, and again in 2019 (serving currently). In partnership with Paul Keymer, Bill and Paul co-founded the IGDF “Derek Freeman Scholarship”, which has awarded 23 scholarships since 2006.

He has been a mentor and advisor for many Guide & Assistance Dog schools. In particular, Bill worked alongside Vancouver Island Compassion Dogs (VICD) as it formed in 2013 to ensure that PTSD Service Dogs were provided to Canadian Veterans living with Post Traumatic Stress. VICD has since amalgamated with BC Guide Dogs and together they have expanded their mandate to include assistance for First Responders living with Operational Stress Injuries.

Bill’s career reflects a lifelong commitment to providing life-changing dogs to those in need. His achievements were recognized with the IGDF’s “Ken Lord Award” in 2006. His dedication continues as he guides his organization through expansion and growth, and as he contributes his knowledge and experience to other training schools and like-minded organizations around the world.

Christine Baroni Pretsch with a yellow lab puppy and adult golden retriever.

Christine Baroni-Pretsch

Chief Executive Officer Foundation Romande pour Chiens Guides d’Aveugles, Switzerland

Christine Baroni-Pretsch started her guide dog career in 1988 as a GDMI apprentice in the German speaking part of Switzerland. She is the founder and current CEO of Foundation Romande pour Chiens Guides d’Aveugles which currently has two training centres in the French and Italian speaking part of Switzerland.

Christine is particularly interested in breeding better guide dogs and founded the European Breeding Network in 2007.

Working together, sharing and learning from each other is something which is really important to her. She was elected to the IGDF Board in 2004 and has been active in various positions, including vice-chair until 2012. Currently she is an IGDF assessor and has previously served as the board-elected chair of the Accreditation Committee from 2012 until 2016.

Christine feels passionate about helping blind and partially sighted people to build effective partnerships with excellent guide dogs. Working with these teams is incredibly inspiring.

She was co-opted to the IGDF Board in October 2019, and appointed by the membership for a term of four years at the AGM in September 2020.

Christine Benninger

Christine Benninger

President & CEO
Guide Dogs for the Blind, USA

Christine (Chris) joined Guide Dogs for the Blind in April of 2014. Chris brings a wealth of non-profit and for-profit experience to her role. Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) is the largest guide school in the United States and the second largest in the world. Chris manages a yearly budget of $54M, 300 employees and two campuses … one in San Rafael, California and a second campus in Boring, Oregon.

Under Chris’ leadership, Guide Dogs for the Blind has expanded its program offerings to include Orientation and Mobility training for individuals with insufficient skills to qualify for guide dog training, a companion dog program for visually-impaired children and advocacy in support of GDB’s visually-impaired communities. In addition, annual fundraising has tripled since 2014 and a new state-of-the-art Puppy Center has been built. Current organization-wide initiatives include Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as well as full accessibility throughout GDB and its communication channels.

Prior to joining GDB, she spent 17 years leading the Humane Society Silicon Valley. During her tenure there, she and her team’s progressive approach helped save the lives of tens of thousands of animals and greatly reduced pet overpopulation problems in Santa Clara County. Under her leadership, the organization was also able to raise $25.5 million to build The Animal Community Center — the first facility of its kind in the country. 

Chris honed her business skills as an auditor with Arthur Andersen & Co. as well as in her 15 years with Hewlett Packard Corporation. At HP, Chris held managerial positions in the U.S. as well as in Europe. She holds an M.B.A. from Stanford University. 

Chris was elected to the IGDF board at the 2021 IGDF AGM.

Tim Stafford outdoors smiling at the camera.

Tim Stafford

Director of Canine Affairs The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, UK

Tim has worked for Guide Dogs (UK) since 1985, qualifying as a guide dog mobility instructor in 1989 working in the UK and New Zealand.  Tim holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Animal Behaviour and a master’s degree in Anthrozoology.  Tim progressed through a succession of management roles before being appointed as Director of Canine Assisted Services in 2014 to lead the re-design and development of the canine system of breeding, puppy development, dog training, behaviour, welfare, and partnership services. Tim moved into his present role as Director of Canine Affairs in 2020 to strengthen engagement and collaboration with national and international partners and provide executive directors with subject matter expertise. Tim represents Guide Dogs and IGDF as part of the European Consortium on European Standards for Assistance Dogs (CEN/TC 452) where he is also the co-convenor of the working group for Lifetime Welfare.  In addition to being a Director/Trustee of the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF) he is the current Chair of Assistance Dogs UK (ADUK).

A smiling Seishi kneels next to a golden labrador in harness

Seishi Tanoue

Vice President
Japan Guide Dog Association, Japan

Japan Guide Dog Association (JGDA) is the largest guide dog organization in Japan, providing not only guide dogs but also comprehensive rehabilitation-related services to visually impaired people throughout Japan. Seishi has served on the JGDA board since 2014 and was appointed Vice President in June 2024. He is passionate about learning about the needs of the visually impaired in Japanese society and the key points of raising, breeding, and training high-quality guide dogs that meet the requirements of Japanese guide dog users.

He is also an external auditor for Japan’s largest trading companies. Before this, he held management and auditing positions at a major printing company and was a textbook publisher for 30 years. He is a qualified, certified internal auditor.

Passionate about track and field since his college days, he currently serves as Vice President of the Japan Masters Track and Field Federation, which has over 10,000 members ranging in age from 35 to over 100. He enjoys interacting with members while exercising. He has completed about 60 full marathons, including two each of the New York City Marathon and the Boston Marathon.

Founded in Tokyo in 1967, the Japan Guide Dog Association operates four training centres throughout Japan, employs more than 100 staff, and certifies 30-50 pairs of guide dogs annually. It is Japan’s leading guide dog training organization, working closely with seven other Japanese guide dog schools through the National Federation of Guide Dog Institutions for the Blind.

JGDA has been a member of the IGDF school since 1997. We had the honor of hosting the 2014 IGDF seminar in Tokyo, where 289 delegates attended to learn from each other, have fun, and experience Japanese hospitality. This was not only for JGDA officials but also for our colleagues in the Japanese guide dog movement. It was a rare opportunity for the IGDF members to see firsthand the different styles, structures, and cultures of the IGDF members.

Seishi is pleased to serve on the IGDF board and is committed to providing equal benefits to its member organizations regardless of language, location, or size. He looks forward to working with everyone to achieve the IGDF’s goals.

Seishi was elected to the IGDF Board of Directors at the 2021 IGDF AGM and currently serves as Treasurer.

man standing by the coast

Antoine Bouissou

Director
Association des Chiens Guides Grand Sud Ouest, France

Antoine has made a successful career working with the Airbus Group from 1995 to 2016.

At the end of his professional life, he joined, as a volunteer, the Association des Chiens Guides Grand Sud Ouest in 2016. 

He started as a host family for guide dogs and was elected as a Director of the Association in 2019, representing all host families at the Board. 

Antoine was elected to the IGDF Board at the 2022 IGDF AGM.

Man in a grey suit sitting next to a golden labrador

Dale Cleaver

Chief Executive Officer
Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, Australia

Dale is the CEO of Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, the leading provider of Guide Dogs and orientation and mobility services that enable people with sight loss to move around their communities independently.

Dale’s history of working in the health, not for profit and charity sectors includes positions as CEO of Campbell Page, the Royal District Nursing Service as well as Australian Red Cross, where he led the organisation through the 2004 Tsunami Disaster.

At the helm of Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, the organisation is growing to meet the demand for services as more people across NSW and the ACT are affected by sight loss.

Dale was elected to the IGDF Board at the 2022 IGDF AGM.

David Maynard headshot smiling.

David Maynard

IGDF Company Secretary

David has over 12 years of experience in governance and board support roles in the private and not-for-profit sectors, including the British Medical Association, Heritage Lottery Fund, and Link Asset Services. He is an Associate of ICSA – the Chartered Governance Institute of the UK and Ireland.

David manages the IGDF Office in the UK. He works closely with the IGDF Board and Committees to deliver IGDF’s Vision and strategic priorities. David joined IGDF in March 2020.