Draft:Gaetan Roy

Gaetan Roy (* 1962 in Quebec City) serves as Permanent Representative for the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) at the United Nations in Geneva, chairman and political commissioner of network-m e. V. as well as mission director of the independent Evangelical church “Jugend-, Missions- und Sozialwerk e. V.” (JMS Altensteig).

Origin, Education and Private Life
Gaetan Roy was born in Quebec City on 11 August 1962 and grew up primarily in Edmundston in the Canadian province of New Brunswick.

He studied computer science with a major in software and hardware at the University of New Brunswick. In Germany, he later completed a training in international development aid and Christian mission work.

Roy speaks fluent English, French and German as well as some Spanish. He owns a Canadian Private Pilote Licence (PPL) and worked as a certified ski instructor for the Canadian Ski Instructors' Alliance (CSIA).

He has been living in Altensteig (Germany) since 1991, is married and has two children.

Professional Career
From 1984 to 1991, Roy worked as founder and CEO of a Canadian corporation with a focus on management software development, business consulting and basic research in the area of new navigation systems for the aviation and aerospace sector in Canada. He spoke on international conferences and engaged in dialogue with leading aviation companies, aerospace manufacturers as well as universities, governments, the Canadian Armed Forces and research institutes.

After several business travels to Europe, Roy resigned from his previous professional activities and moved to Germany in 1991. He started working as a controller and director of administration at JMS Altensteig. In 2005, he became the independent evangelical church's mission director, based in the Northern Black Forest. Since then, he has been carrying out projects engaging in development cooperation and humanitarian aid on five continents.

From 1995 to 2016, Roy has been working as an artist (singer and pianist), songwriter and producer. In 2000, he initiated the Worship Academy, an educational institution in modern Christian church music with university accreditation in the United States. Besides his tasks as lecturer and director of studies, he also assumed the office of Secretary General until 2018.

Since 2014, Roy has been increasingly committed as stakeholder in German federal, state and EU politics as well as at the United Nations since 2022.

Political Commitment
In addition to his scope of activities as chairman of network-m and board member of the Association of Evangelical Missions (AEM), Roy has been representing both Christian umbrella organizations since 2014 and 2017 as political commissioner in German federal, state and EU politics. Both associations comprise more than 160 member entities and count over 9,000 employees as well as 30,000 volunteer workers. Their main fields of expertise include youth and family, volunteer social work, education, migration and integration, human rights and freedom of religion, development cooperation as well as humanitarian aid.

In the wake of his political activities, Roy engages in constant dialogue with German members of parliament and speaks in committees as well as on various other occasions. In 2020, he held a presentation on religious freedoms and free churches during a conference of the German Federal Agency for Civic Education “A Century of Religious Constitutional Law: Secularity and Society in a Changing World”.

In 2021, Roy was one of the founding members of the Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) workstream of the International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD), which he co-leads to this day. Among the PaRD members are 162 governments and multilaterals, including the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), as well as international organizations and renowned NGOs.

In September 2022, Roy assumed the office of the Permanent Representative of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) at the United Nations in Geneva. The WEA presents the second largest religious movement in the world with more than 600 million Christians in 143 national alliances. Roy's global political engagement with heads of state, ministers, deputies and high-ranking officials particularly focuses on the respect and promotion of human rights and religious freedom.

His political commitment follows a relationship-oriented and pragmatic approach with the aim of contributing viable solutions instead of tuning in to mainstream criticism.

Further Honorary Offices
In September 2023, Roy became a member of the convent of the German Evangelical Alliance.

From 2004 to 2023, he was in charge of the coordination with artists for the SPRING festival, which unites about 3,500 yearly participants in the week after Easter, stemming from various German churches and denominations.

From 1988 to 1991, Roy was a co-founding board member of the National Entrepreneurship Development Institute (NEDI), a council of representatives from the industry and government as well as academics, summoned by the Canadian Cabinet. He was appointed Fellow in 1989 by the former Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism, Tom Hockin.

From 1978 to 1995, Roy assumed the following further offices in Canada:


 * Federal association of the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing (CADS): federal treasurer, member of the board, member of the technical committee
 * Regional association of the CADS New Brunswick: president, vice-president, treasurer, technical director, co-founder
 * Youth Across Canada for the Mentally Retarded, Edmundston Chapter: president
 * Atlantic Computer Technology Show, Fredericton: chairman
 * Fredericton Computer Show: president