Elections 2024: Candidates

Gavin Bruce Gavin Bruce was born in Buenos Aires. He studied at the Asociación de Productores de Seguros (Argentina) and the Chartered Insurance Institute (UK). Since 1983 he has directed the family insurance business, founded in 1948. He is also a trustee at the Asociación Civil Educativa Escuela Escocesa San Andrés (ACEESA) and the British Hospital. Gavin is a member of the Irish folk music group "The BA Kings" and has three children.

Janet Bruce, a Reydon Boarding School former pupil, has taught English and History for many years, first in Buenos Aires and then in Mendoza. She is now retired and teaches privately. Janet also lived in Scotland for a few years, where she worked for a charity. As the former Mendoza ABCC District Representative, and having moved to the Coast, she is trying to bring the community together to found another District in the Mar del Plata-Bahía Blanca Region.

Denise Enright is a Lawyer from the University of Buenos Aires. She also has a Master`s Degree in Corporate Legal Advice from the same university and an MBA from Universidad de San Andrés. Her work experience developed within the corporate sector, where she discovered her interest in the area of administration. She held permanent positions at several multinational companies (Atlas Copco, Hoechst, Clariant). She is presently Chief Executive of ESSARP, a non-profit organization that assembles English bilingual schools in Argentina.

Veronica Hortis, brought up in Rosario, studied at the  British Hospital Nursing School, is a “Licenciada en Enfermeria” (Universidad Austral) and took courses at the University of Manchester. She initially worked at the British Hospital and was then the Head Nurse at St George's College North. In 1999 she returned to the British Hospital to understudy Matron Doreen Dover`s functions previous to becoming full-fledged Matron of the British Hospital until 2021. Both Veronica and her husband are active in British community activities.

Helen Judd, the North Riverside Chairwoman since 2021, was born in London and returned to Argentina when she was one month old. She is a qualified pre-school teacher and has a degree in Administration from the University of New England, Australia. She currently is on the board of the British Cemetery and of the Asociación Civil Amigos y Socios del Román Rosell. Helen is a very active member of the community and you can always see her at the parrilla of the Car Boot Sales in San Isidro.

Ronnie MacGaul is a lawyer, prosecutor and mediator with a wide working experience in the fields of Civil , Commercial, Employment and Family law. He has worked at banks (Banco Roberts, HSBC) and, since 2010, in the justice sector and the Tribunal de Faltas in Almirante Brown. Ronald is currently the Chairman of the English Club in Lomas de Zamora and the Secretary of the Santa Catalina Protestant Cemetery in Lomas de Zamora. 

Penny Ortner has a teaching degree and a Licenciatura en Educación from the Universidad de Quilmes. She also participated in Project Zero at Harvard University. She has taught at many schools, including St George's College and Barker College, which she headed until 2018. Penny has also been active at the English-Speaking Scholastic Association of the River Plate (ESSARP) and the Southern Suburbs ABCC. She is currently on the board of the Comisión Administradora of the Llavallol Cemetery and of the University Women's Club. 

Guillermo Santana MacKinlay is a clinical psychologist and holds an MSc (University of Liverpool), a PhD (Universidad de Belgrano) and a BAH in Gaelic Language and Culture (University of the Highlands and Islands). Over the course of his professional career in Human Resources, he has worked for Citibank, Banco de Galicia, Molinos Río de la Plata and INTA. Guillermo is most well known in the British community for his dedication to Scottish traditions and music as well as the promotion and teaching of the gaelic language. 

Marianne Vibart was the Head of Secondary at St Alban's College between 1998 and 2018. She currently is the Principal of the school together with Johnny and Paul Viabrt. As well, she has been very active at the English-Speaking Scholastic Association of the River Plate (ESSARP) on the Executive Committee, which she joined as a member many years ago and has chaired since 2020.

Juan Wood has lived and worked in both Buenos Aires and Madrid. Five years ago he moved back to Bariloche. He’s specialised in business models, online marketing, cost-reduction strategies and cloud platform adoption. Looking into the future and the growing importance of technology, Juan can make a great contribution to the ABCC and its online presence. Added to this, he is a beer homebrewing enthusiast. He was a full member of the ABCC Committee between 2019 and 2021.