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.

Carol is a cultural anthropologist at the University of Colorado-Boulder, where she is the Associate Director for the Global Studies Academic Program and Faculty-in-Residence for the Sustainability and Social Innovation Academic Program. She conducts ethnographic research and directs a summer Study Abroad program in the Yungas of Bolivia, and teaches courses on Latin America, globalization, democracy, development, drug policy, immigration, and community engagement. Carol first volunteered with Global Volunteers in Costa Rica in 1994, and she completed her first Volunteer Team Leader Training the next year in McAllen, TX. She has served as a Volunteer Team Leader since 1995 in Jamaica, Ecuador, Italy, Tanzania, Ireland, and Cuba. She chairs the board/volunteer Reaching Children’s Potential committee.

Pamela is a highly experienced Organization Effectiveness Consultant focused on organization strategy and design, effective sourcing and selection, change management, succession planning and developing and implementing broad solutions to more effectively manage human capital. She currently is a Director at SSA & Company. She began her career in IT consulting at Cap Gemini, and then transitioned to Management Consulting in 2003. Pamela enjoys travel and has visited many cities across the U.S., Canada, Europe, Russia, China, Hong Kong, Australia, Tanzania, Mexico and the Caribbean for both business and personal adventures. Pamela’s favorite vacations are those spent with Global Volunteers visiting the village of Ipalamwa Tanzania in 2008, 2009 and 2010; the village of Pommern, Tanzania in 2012; and the St. Lucia program in 2014.

Peter has spent over 30 years in Marketing and Advertising positions. Most recently, he was the Vice President of Brand and Advertising for the Unum Group, A Fortune 500 insurance company. Before that, Peter worked in a number of large Madison Avenue ad agencies including Grey, Bozell, J. Walter Thompson and Ogilvy. He is a graduate of Boston University’s School of Management.

Peter volunteered in Greece during the summer of 2014. He lives in suburban New York with his wife, two daughters and two Jack Russell terriers.

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.

Erin counsels volunteers to select service programs which match their skills and interest. Before joining Global Volunteers, she worked in customer service for a Colorado rafting company. Erin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Parks and Recreation Management and a Masters Degree in Tourism Management.

Erin has traveled internationally to Scotland and Canada, and hopes to include her husband and daughter in her future journeys.

Sherry responds to incoming communications, directs registrations and information requests, manages office logistics and building maintenance, manages routine employment requirements and reporting, and submits required non-profit state registrations nationwide. With more than 20 years of human resources, payroll, accounting and general administrative experience with Boston Health Care Systems, the National Marrow Donor Program/BeTheMatch and on the Maplewood City Council, Sherry is uniquely qualified to oversee the needs of staff in our busy home office!

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.

Dimitra "Millie" Pinakoulaki works with volunteer coordinators on materials to help interested individuals and groups choose a service opportunity from her home in Greece. Millie began assisting her mother, Country Manager Sam Pinakoulaki, as a child on Global Volunteers teams in the early 2000s. She earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics and a Master’s in Economic Theory and Policy from the University of Crete. She also recently finished a two-month internship in Istanbul, where she developed a needs assessment for an NGO.

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.

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 was born and raised in Bangalore, and now lives near Chennai in the suburb of Porur. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in commerce, and before becoming Country Manager, he served as our on-site consultant in India for almost a year. Stephen owns a tour business in Chennai, which he runs when teams are not on-site.

Rani prepares nutritious and flavorful traditional meals for volunteers at Global Volunteers’ guest house in Chennai. After lovingly cooking for her family of origin, and later her husband and children for over 30 years, in 2003, at the time she was widowed, Rani accepted a staff position with Global Volunteers.

Maru is an International Affairs Major from the American University of Paris, France. She has lived in eight different countries and speaks four languages. She is half Peruvian and half Venezuelan. She completed her internships with UN Geneva and the UN Refugee Agency. Prior to joining Global Volunteers, she worked for more than 10 years as an ESL teacher. Her biggest passion is helping others and taking care of her 10 y/o daughter.

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.

Anna Victor Mwenda was born, raised and educated in Iringa. She earned a certificate in records management from Tanzania Public Service College and has trained with the Community Bible Study (CBS) to obtain a certificate to teach children and youth. Before joining Global Volunteers as a Rural Caregiver with the Tanzania Reaching Children’s Potential (RCP) Demonstration Project, Anna was an insurer with Prighose Insurance Agency and also worked for the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlement Development as a record manager.

Andrea participated in her first Global Volunteers service program in Lima, Peru in 2007. Since then, she has volunteered in West Virginia and Cuba and completed Team Leader Training in 2015. After many years as a corporate attorney and in-house counsel for an international investment banking firm, Andrea now spends her time pursuing coursework in International Development, Impact Investing and Social Enterprise Management and leading volunteer teams around the world.

"KK" has served on 10 Global Volunteers programs worldwide, and is looking forward to a future of leading many teams - making them "fun filled and exciting." She graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Children’s Drama. She currently is a part time manager of a popular Italian restaurant in Seattle. She also spends her time volunteering at a local animal shelter, sailboat racing, running and doing Pilates.

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.

Kristina was a volunteer coordinator with Global Volunteers from 2002 to 2008. She was fortunate to participate on service programs in Minnesota, Ghana, Hungary, China, Poland, and Tanzania, and has led teams in Quito, Ecuador in 2010 and 2011, and a Cuba Now! program in 2013. Having taught English on many of these programs, she discovered a love of teaching, which led to her decision to pursue a new career as an English as a Second Language teacher. Kristina says she now has the “best of both worlds” because having her summers off as a teacher allows her to serve as a Volunteer Team Leader.

A native Texan, Ann first participated on Global Volunteers‘ teams in Greece and Spain in 1999. Thereafter, she completed Global Volunteers’ Team Leader Training, and served as our country manager and team leader in China in 2000, and in Mexico in 2005-2006 and has also led teams in Peru, Costa Rica, the Cook Islands, Greece, Italy, Australia and the United States. Now retired after 32 years as a corporate public relations professional, she is feeding her passion for learning about cultures around the world, including in the U.S.

Patty first participated on a Global Volunteers program in Ghana in 2008 and loved her experience so much that she returned to Ghana with her son in 2010.She leads McCartan Consulting and is a certified business coach with extensive global human resources executive experience. She has a number of professional certifications, serves on not-for-profit boards and is a graduate of Stonehill College, North Easton, MA.

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.

As a former staff member, Jim led over 50 teams to nine host countries during his 12-year career at Global Volunteers. He served 3 1/2 years as our China Country Manager, and as a volunteer team leader to the Cook Islands, Poland, and Vietnam, and also joined teams in India, Minnesota, Texas and Mississippi. Jim had a career in human and economic development, working in both public and private organizations. He has managed a Subcommittee for the US Congress, and recently helped lead efforts to expand U.S. federal support for international volunteer service. He currently works in Washington D.C. for Congressman Nick Nolan.

Joe first joined a Global Volunteers service program to Guatemala in 1991. He completed Global Volunteers Team Leader Training in 1993, and has since led more than 50 teams worldwide. Joe earned an MBA and built a highly successful ground water and water purification business. He sold the company and now serves as General Manager so he can spend more time with two beautiful grandchildren, volunteer as an ESL tutor, and continue as a “big brother” to the same “little brother” he’s had for 20 years with "Big Brothers, Big Sisters."