The committee appointed by leaders of the Federation Equestre Internationale to accomplish the restructuring of the international federation held its first meeting in Dusseldorf, Germany, on Oct. 20. The working group is a subcommittee of the Strategic Planning Committee, with Simon Brooks-Ward, as chairman.

Their discussion reportedly focused on the main principles, which include creating a more transparent decision-making process, increasing the FEI staff\’s responsibility, defining the roles and responsibilities of staff and volunteers, increasing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of programs and eliminating conflicts of interest.

Their next task is to produce recommendations on how to accomplish this broad list in time for the next FEI Bureau meeting, in December. Those recommendations are to include timelines to accomplish them.

Said Brooks-Ward afterward, “Progress was made today, and there is a definite convergence of views. It is important we get the next steps right, and this is more important than rushing the new structure through. However, I\’m confident that the process will now move forward at pace.”

The working group is composed of two Executive Board members; two Bureau members, two members of Working Group A (which began the restructuring process), two FEI staff members, and the members of the Strategic Planning Committee.

The two American representatives on the committee are Kate Jackson (the equestrian sports commissioner at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and a first American Horse Shows Association executive director) and Jim Wolf (the U.S. Equestrian Federation\’s assistant executive director for high performance).