TEAM
Board of Directors
Adele Negro, MA
Founder, Executive Director
Adele is a conference interpreter, a certified Federal and State of California court interpreter and a State Department translator. She holds a bachelor's degree in French Language and Literature from the University of Michigan and a master's degree in Conference Interpretation from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS), where she directed the immersive learning, graduate-level practicum, Team El Salvador, for ten years. She co-authored the study, Mozambique and Tanzania: Asking the Big Questions (IFDP, San Francisco, 1980) and is the president of the Western Regional Chapter of the national Italian American Studies Association.
Marielena Andino, MA
Board Chair
Marielena Andino has 30+ years’ experience in the energy, oil, and gas industry, most of it in the international arena. This experience includes global leadership in technical project management, developing organizational capabilities of the international employees; creating change management strategies for system, technology and business process changes; working with a culturally diverse workforce, and living in over 8 different countries. Marielena was born in El Salvador, lives in California and retired from Chevron Corporation in June 2019, after 35 years of service.
Katharina Breme, JD
Vice-Chair
Katharina is the Founder of an international consulting firm providing strategic advisory to academic and corporate clients in the United States, Europe and Asia. As the Managing Director she engages as an entrepreneurial consultant, lecturer, investor and board member. Prior to starting her company in 2007 she was a senior executive at Deutsche Post DHL group. Katharina holds a JD and a global corporate degree in leadership and management.
Brett Melone, MA
Treasurer
Brett works with farmers in California and Latin America to support their business and natural resource management and leading nonprofit organizations that serve farmers. He currently serves as Director of Lending at California FarmLink, where he oversees a $6M loan portfolio and lending activities to farmers throughout California. Brett has been advisor to Team El Salvador and serves as a board member for MEarth, Feed the Hunger Foundation and the Oak Heights Road & Water Co.
Nathan Weller, MA
Secretary
Nathan has 15+ years of experience in rural development and policy in the United States and abroad. At California FarmLink he assists this agricultural Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in fundraising strategy, program delivery and policy strategy. Nathan worked in El Salvador for 8 years serving over 100 coastal farming and fishing communities. As Program & Policy Director at EcoViva, Nathan was instrumental in establishing policies in El Salvador toward coastal restoration and fisheries management.
Maggie Peters Gómez, MBA, MA
Maggie Peters Gómez works as a project manager for the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency Institute for Security Governance. Under her guidance, a team of contractors are dedicated to providing finance, operations, and logistics support to global education efforts and resident seminar programming. She has 15+ years in international education management, team leadership, alumni communication and volunteer coordination. Maggie is also a proud Team El Salvador alumna (’08) and team leader (’09).
Mike Atoria, MA
Mike is a Team El Salvador alumnus (’11), earning his MA in International Environmental Policy from the Middlebury Institute (’12). Based in San Francisco, he has held fundraising roles at the Rainforest Action Network, the California Academy of Sciences and now Earthjustice—advancing the climate movement with foundation, government and business partners. Mike also brings volunteer recruitment and coordination experience to ECOPA as a former volunteer programs staff member at the Central Park Conservancy in New York City.
Emeritus Board Directors
Amy Sands, PhD
Board Director, Emerita
Dr. Sands served in various senior administrative positions as Provost, Dean and executive director during her 20-year tenure at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Prior, she was Assistant Director at the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and had led the Proliferation Assessments Section of Z Division at LLNL. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and president of the Gathering for Women, a non-profit dedicated to helping homeless women.
Tate Miller, PhD
Board Director, Emeritus
Dr. Miller's professional life spans both the private sector and higher education. In addition to being a successful entrepreneur, he was the founding Dean of the Center of Careers and Academic Advising (CACS) at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, after a successful commercial diplomacy career in China where he lived for five years. He holds a bachelor's degree in Economics, a master's in Commercial Diplomacy and a PhD in Educational Leadership.
Acting Staff
Amy Moore, MA
Acting Director, Development & Fundraising
Amy is a Team El Salvador alumna (’09, ‘10), earning her MA in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in 2010 and BS in Business from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio in 1998. Amy brings 15 years of sales, development and cross-cultural experience, working in both the for-profit and non-profit spaces. She has a special place in her heart for El Salvador, sea turtles and connecting with new people and places around the world.
Advisors
Ed Laurance, PhD
UNDP Consultant, Professor Emeritus and former Dean of the Middlebury Institute (MIIS)
Dr. Laurance is Professor Emeritus at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS). He spent 10 years as a professional soldier and was a teacher of graduate students in public policy for 46 years: 20 at the Naval Postgraduate School and 26 at MIIS. Ed was a consultant to the United Nations for 26 years, focusing on the impact of armed violence on human rights and development.
Jerry Hildebrand, MA
Founder and Executive Director of the Social Impact Lab, Lynn University
Gerald (Jerry) has an extensive background in public service, international and domestic community development, microfinance and social entrepreneurship. He was a pioneer Peace Corps volunteers in the 1960s and developed the first rural Economic Development Corporation in the U.S. Jerry directed the Center for Social Impact Learning at Middlebury Institute, was the founder of the Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship at the University of the Pacific and today is the founding director of the Social Impact Lab at Lynn University.
Ana Luisa Ahern, MAS
Executive Director, EcoViva
Ana Luisa completed her master’s degree in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the UC San Diego, and worked there as a researcher on a collaborative project with the Gulf of California Marine Program monitoring fish spawning activity in Cabo Pulmo National Park, Mexico. She is also a co-founder of the Organization for Youth Empowerment (OYE), a youth leadership initiative in Honduras.
Max Rohm, MLA
Landscape Architect and Professor of Architecture, University of Buenos Aires
Max is an educator, architect and landscape architect. He received his Diploma of Architecture from the University of Buenos Aires and his master's degree in Architecture & Landscape Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He is a professor at the Universities of Buenos Aires and Torcuato DiTella as well as Visiting Professor at Harvard and the Roger Williams School of Architecture, Art and Preservation. Max co-authored the book ‘Urban Interrelations’ in 2012.
Werner Romero, JD
Ambassador and Chief of Mission, Embassy of El Salvador, Washington DC
Ambassador Romero obtained a law degree from the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas (UCA) and later, as a Fulbright Scholar, earned an MA in International Policy from the Middlebury Institute (MIIS). He went on to serve in El Salvador’s Ministry of Economy and later held a leading role at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before his current post as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy in D.C., he served as Ambassador to Israel, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Trevor Tomkins, PhD
Founder and President of Venture | Dairy
Dr. Tomkins is President & Founder of Venture | Dairy Enterprises LLC, focusing on bringing investment capital, technology and providing operational expertise in milk processing and production to emerging markets. Prior, he was CEO of Milk Specialties Global and Chairman of the Heifer International Foundation. In 2013 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the American Feed Industry Association. Born and educated in the UK, Trevor holds a Ph.D. in Animal Sciences from the University of Reading.
Pilar Beccar-Varela, MA
Educator/Teacher Coach
Pilar is a National Board Certified Teacher with expertise in literacy development in the elementary grades. She holds a teaching credential from Cal State Hayward, and certification with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards as an Early Childhood Generalist. In 2016, she received her master's degree in Education from Stanford University where she focused on inquiry-based models for teacher professional development. She currently works as a teacher coach and inquiry facilitator in Bay Area schools.
David Hopkins, BA
Director of Business Development, Sustainable Brands | Sustainable Life Media
David is a conscious business consultant, speaker and author. He met Adele at a social impact conference and immediately became a champion of her vision for ECOPA. At that time, David served as Managing Partner and Founder of Creative Expansion, a communications and business development consulting agency, which helped to launch ECOPA as a 501c3. Creative Expansion provides growth consulting for early-stage social entrepreneurs and for-benefit business leaders committed to generating profits with purpose to address systemic social and environmental issues.
William Arrocha, PhD
Associate Professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS)
William Arrocha, PhD
Associate Professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS)
Dr. Arrocha's research focuses on the intersection of immigration, nationalism, human rights, and security and his latest co-edited book is titled Compassionate Migration and Regional Policy in the Americas. He has been a consultant to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the Association of Caribbean States as well as an advisor to the governments of Mexico and Canada.
Carrie Mann, MA
Organizational Development Consultant for Nonprofits
Carrie specializes in organizational development for effective NGO’s. She has worked on immigrant and refugee issues, sustainable agriculture, food security and women’s health. Her experience includes strategic planning, fundraising, monitoring & evaluation and community outreach and network building for organizations such as Gathering for Women, Monterey and the International Rescue Committee. She is also the founder of the Transatlantic Refugee Resettlement Network (TRRN). Another important part of her life is her in-depth study and practice of Shadow yoga, as well as teaching yoga and women’s health.
Marvin Alberto Alvarado
Founder of the Coordinating Committee of Fishing Communities of Puerto Parada
Marvin Alberto Alvarado is the founder of the Coordinating Committee of Fishing Communities of Puerto Parada, El Salvador, and a founding president of Association CINCAHUITE, having participated in the design of its mission, vision and international agreements. He has served as a community representative to the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, and is a cofounder of the Ramsar and Biosphere Reserve UNESCO committees in El Salvador. He has also driven the formation and legalization of the Pesca Limpia cooperatives in Puerto Parada, and is a committed defender of women’s rights. He currently resides in Texas.
We are a 501(c)(3)
EIN: 81-3398239
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