A smiling Seishi kneels next to a golden labrador in harness

Seishi Tanoue (Treasurer)

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.

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.

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.