About us

The IEC currently has permanent members living in different countries who pay an annual fee. While the IEC is officially registered in the United States as a non governmental, non profit organization, its work relies on a broad and flexible network of “IEC friends” in Cuba and other countries that support the organization in multiple ways and participate in some of its activities. Members in Cuba include a wide range of professionals from different backgrounds. Since 2007 the President of the IEC, Dagoberto Valdés, is a Cuban with permanent residence in the island.

Organizational Structure

The organizational structure includes a Board of Directors with a maximum of 17 members and an Executive Committee of five of its Board members. These two bodies are partially-renewed every two years by an election based on the secret vote of the Bi Annual Assembly of IEC members. Members of these bodies can only serve for three consecutive terms for a total of six years.

An Executive Director and the Founding President of the IEC participate, without voting rights, in all the meetings of the Board and the Executive Committee. The Board provides general guidelines for IEC work. The Executive Committee is the body in charge of providing more detailed guidelines. The Executive Director is in charge of implementing their decisions.
 
The position of President of the Board of Directors is also elected every two years and has been occupied by relevant Cuban academics such as Jorge Domínguez (PhD and presently Vice Provost International Affairs / Harvard University), Marifeli Perez Stable (PhD and currently Vice President of The Interamerican Dialogue in Washington DC), historian award winner Rafael Rojas (PhD), as well as by other renowned academics of the Cuban Diaspora living in the United States, Mexico, Spain and other countries.

The acting President -until coming elections in June 2009- is the Engineer Dagoberto Valdés who lives in Cuba (Pinar del Río). Valdés was presented an award by the Queen of The Netherlands and is the founder of two electronic magazines Vitral and Convivencia.

When the IEC was established its main goal was to create a genuine non governmental academic institution of Cuban civil society -based on pluralism and tolerance- that could engage any Cuban anywhere and allow him/her to serve the homeland through the exercise of free academia. Electing a Cuban living in the island as President of the Board of Directors, and the emergence of a network of Cuban professionals engage in IEC activities inside Cuba, has allowed the institution to finally materialize the vision of its founders forty years ago.