Keith is an attorney currently working as a part-time Administrative Hearing Officer for the City of Santa Monica, California. He retired in 2010 from full-time work with the City after 25 years with it’s Rent Control Board. He received a Bachelor’s degree in political science at SUNY College at Buffalo and completed law school in Fullerton, California. Keith began his association with Global Volunteers in 1998 as a volunteer on a team in Puglia, Italy. Since then he has participated in 15 other Global Volunteer programs all over the world, most of them with his partner of 25 years, Timothy Cunniff.

Barbara is a practicing geriatrician and serves as Medical Director for Centura Health Physician Group in Denver. She and her husband participated on their first Global Volunteer program in Ecuador in 2008. She fell in love with the philosophy and art of volunteering in partnership with local communities and organizations. She’s since volunteered in Vietnam, India, and Peru and has lead teams in Montana and West Virginia. At home in Colorado, she volunteers with several community-based organizations. She is honored to serve as a commissioner for Serve Colorado, the Governor’s Commission on Community Service.

Since 1994, Julie has responded to prospective and Encore volunteer requests, questions and recommendations, and monitored service program developments. She shares her extensive history with Global Volunteers through recommendations on strategic direction and volunteer relations. Julie has a Bachelor‘s Degree in Media Communications and Marketing, and has worked in specialized reporting, writing, event coordination and public relations positions. She’s served on 18 service programs worldwide, and was named Staff Person of the Year in 2010.

Diane manages all aspects of the daily activities of and motivates Global Volunteers’ outstanding team of volunteer coordinators. Before joining the staff in 1997, she held executive and management positions in the resort and hospitality industries in Florida and Mississippi. Diane has led 14 teams to Tanzania, India, Vietnam, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Montana, Ghana, South Africa, Greece and Brazil.

Jennifer manages front desk operations - phone, email, mail and fax communications; staff meetings and events; office maintenance; and a wide range of administrative functions. Before joining Global Volunteers, Jennifer worked in customer service for retail and banking institutions. She earned a Master’s Degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and International Studies from Texas Lutheran University. She studied abroad in Cape Town, South Africa and Sorbonne, Paris, France.

Ruth Curran, MS, initiates and manages our educational and institutional partnerships. She is an author, writer, and speaker with more than 28 years of experience as a strategist, business development executive, and organizational behaviorist in the for-profit, not-for-profit, and governmental sectors. She is the author of two books on brain health and injury, and contributes to the Reaching Children’s Potential board/volunteer committee. She‘s served on both the St. Lucia and Tanzania demonstration programs.

Jack Bryan is responsible for the coordination and creation of Global Volunteers’ digital content from concept through delivery. Prior to his current position, Jack was Global Volunteers’ Digital Media Intern for over a year. He’s a graduate of Hamline University in digital media arts and communication studies, where he previously worked producing videos for social media and marketing.

Patty recognizes and engages alumni volunteers through projects to sustain their support for Global Volunteers and our partner communities. She reviews service program photos and maintains our image library, and blogs about volunteer‘s experiences on site. Patty has a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts, a professional background in real estate sales and marketing, and has been a volunteer and board member for local non-profit organizations. She’s traveled internationally as a volunteer on Global Volunteer’s St. Lucia service program.

Laura reviews and processes volunteer service program payments, evaluations team leader packets. She has 11 years of accounting experience working in banking, reconciling accounts, running checks and data entry. Before joining Global Volunteers, she worked for 12 years in education. Laura earned an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in Accounting from Century College in Minnesota.

Adam is responsible for web development and management, media design, and in-house video production. Adam also serves as on-site IT systems support for our local offices. Adam has spent over a decade working in technical support and systems management in the print media world. After earning his Bachelor of Science degree in 2006, he began to become more involved with web and visual media, focusing primarily in web development.

Samantha was born and brought up in the south of England and graduated from a London school of performing arts with honors.She spent 10 years traveling the world with various dance groups. Her last group took her to Crete in Greece, where she met her husband of 16 years. They now have five children. Samantha volunteers to help mentally and physically handicapped children in her hometown.

Stephen provides service program information to new volunteers and responds to their pre-departure questions. He was born and raised in Bangalore, India, and now lives in Porur. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in commerce, and owns a tour business in Chennai. Stephen served as our Country Manager and on-site consultant for our India Service Programs until February 2018.

Chemida handles the day-to-day logistics and volunteer management of The St. Lucia Project. Formerly teacher and acting principal at Anse la Raye Primary School, Chemida has lent support to volunteer teams since Global Volunteers’ partnership in Anse la Raye began in 2012. Born and raised in St. Lucia, Chemida has dedicated over 20 years to educating the children of Anse la Raye. She received her associate degree in Teacher Education and Education Administration from Sir Arthur Lewis Community College in St. Lucia. In 2011, she graduated magna cum laude from New York City College of Technology, with a Bachelor’s degree in Teachers Technology Education.

Barladian by birth, Dan grew up in the same city and went to school there. He assists Mihaela with her photography and Internet needs, and with the children at the Tutova Clinic. Dan worked as a metrologist for 17 years at the Ballbearing factory in Barlad, one of the fewest of the kind in Romania, and of the biggest in Eastern Europe. He is currently studying to become a social worker.

Constanta (Coca) Petcu joined Global Volunteers in 2007 to provide continuity of care for the children we serve. She has lived all her life in Tutova, near Barlad. Coca nurtures the special needs children at Barlad‘s municipal hospital in between service programs and works with volunteers throughout the year. An exemplary caregiver, she’s always patient, smiling and kind - loving the children like her own.

Before joining our staff, Mohamed was a guide at the State Travel Service, a park ranger at Ngorogoro Conservation Authority Area and a conservation education specialist. In 1996, he was hired as a driver for Global Volunteers teams, and became a program assistant in 2009. He completed training in Minnesota in 2009.

Regina Mhagama works with volunteers and local mothers on strategies to provide the 12 Essential Services through our Tanzania Reaching Children’s Potential (RCP) Demonstration Project. Raised in the Iringa District, she now lives with her family in the village of Peramiho, where she graduated from the Secondary School for girls. Regina then earned a degree in Community Development from the University of Tumaini in Iringa. She previously was a bank officer in Tabora.

Mike first served with Global Volunteers in Montana in 2016, and was trained as a volunteer team leader four months later. He earned an MA degree in School Administration and worked as a special education teacher, a director of special services and an elementary school principal. For the past 12 years Mike has been the superintendent of schools in Southampton, New Jersey and was recently named Superintendent of Schools for Burlington County in 2017.

Lucy Heegaard is a licensed teacher who first served in 2015 with her son on Global Volunteers’ St. Lucia Service Program. In October 2017 she served in Seidlce, Poland. In Feb. 2018 she served in Ciego de Ávila, Cuba. Lucy loves the service element of Global Volunteers. She lived in Spain for 2 years and has been fortunate to travel extensively on all continents except Antarctica. Two of her favorite hobbies are playing tennis and photography.

Julie began leading Global Volunteers teams in 2007 after serving on two U.S. service programs. Since then, she‘s led teams in Montana, West Virginia, St. Lucia and Vietnam. Julie’s a licensed clinical social worker and currently works as the only social worker for a large urban PA school district. She is the mother of three daughters and enjoys traveling, the outdoors and yoga. She also serves as the Board President of her county’s Department of Behavioral Health/Developmental Disabilities, is a board member of the Montgomery Child Advocacy Project, and is a Youth Aid Panel Volunteer.

Mindy served on her first service program with Global Volunteers in 2014. She first travelled with a group of pharmacy students to the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana, and has brought additional groups of students on Global Volunteers trips every year since — participating on programs in Peru, Tanzania, and on additional programs to the Blackfeet Reservation. Mindy is an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Wegmans School of Pharmacy, St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY where she focuses on Global Health education and outreach.

Kathleen has traveled with GV since 2013, serving in the U.S. and Caribbean islands. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Child Development and two graduate degrees in education. During her career, she has taught infants to adults and internationally. Kathleen lives in Southern California with her husband, and they have a son and a daughter. She enjoys Broadway musicals, nonfiction books, film festivals and photography. During baseball season, she loves cheering on the Anaheim Angels.

Jeff has served on two Global Volunteers service programs in Italy, and been a Volunteer Executive on USAID-funded projects in Armenia and Georgia.He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in History from John Carroll University and an MBA from the University of Tampa. Two of his three “careers” have provided him with the opportunity to work with volunteers. He has worked in trade association management and government affairs and served as Alumni & Development Director for Jesuit High School in Tampa. His third “career” was radio broadcasting.