Board Directory

Name

Bio
Dr. Chris Bennett
Belize- Michigan Partners		 Dr. Christopher Bennett is a senior dental surgeon. He has been a member of Partners’ Belize Chapter for more than 20 years. He has held numerous distinctions and positions in Belize surrounding dentistry. However, he has also been involved in organizations such as the Belize City Lions Club where he has held positions such as district governor of all Belize City Lions Clubs.
Geno Bonaventura
Illinois- Sao Paulo Partners		 Currently, serves as N.P.I (New product Introduction) for Supply Chain Mechanical Engineering, Black Belt 6 Sigma and SME (Subject Matter Expert). Manages and leads a variety of projects with resource and development and suppliers in North America, Europe and Asia. First volunteered with Partners in 1994.
Jose Mario Corona
Jalisco- Oklahoma Partners		 Mr. Jose Mario Corona is a business owner and administrator who lives in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. He is one of the founding members of the Jalisco Chapter and has been a member of Partners for the last 30 years. Mr. Corona has a degree in Business Administration and has completed a number of training courses in a number of areas, including Administration of Public Municipalities and Transnational Analysis.
Betty Galvez de Reyes
El Salvador- Louisiana Partners		 Mrs. Betty Gálvez de Reyes is the Executive Director of the Committee for the Integration & Reconstruction of El Salvador-CIRES. Sra. Galvez de Reyes joined Partners of the Americas in 1998 and has been an active member of the El Salvador/ Louisiana chapter. She has also been involved in numerous organizations in El Salvador with focuses ranging from health system reform to displaced women and refugees.
Karen Graham
Oregon/Costa Rica Partners		 Karen Graham is a longtime school administrator and has served on several district committees. She has led initiatives to further education reform in her district and has taught education classes at Portland State University. Ms. Graham joined Partners in 1993 hosting in the Adult Cultural Exchange. She became the committee chair after retirement in 2005, continuing to the present. She also created the Volunteer English Teacher and Tutors committee, now in its fourth year, which sends retired educators to teach in Costa Rica.
Treasurer
Paula J. Laschober
Washington State- Chile Partners		 Dr. Laschober is an electric utility economist/financial manager & University Business Professor. She has been a member of the Washington/Chile Partners Chapter since 1989.
Nahir Lois
Uruguay- Minnesota Partners		 Nahir Lois is a retiree of the US State Department at the US Embassy in Montevideo, Uruguay, where she worked for 40 years. Prior to retiring in 2011 she worked as the Director of Culture at the Office of Public Diplomacy, which is the highest level position a Foreign Service National can hold at an Embassy. Nahir also coordinates a State Department Access program at the US Bi-national Center in Uruguay for low-income families. For approximately 10 years Nahir has been supporting Partners and collaborating with the Embassy in Uruguay to facilitate culture exchanges of youth, artists, and other professionals.
Chair
Tasso de Castro Lugon
Espirito Santo- West Virginia Partners		 Mr. Tasso de Castro Lugon is a retired Judge from the Brazilian State of Espirito Santo, in the state’s capitol Vitoria and a participant in the Kellogg Fellows program. During the last 30 years Tasso de Castro Lugon has been highly involved in all aspects of the Espirito Santo/West Virginia chapter.
Antonio Marcos Carvalho Machado
Espirito Santo- West Virginia Partners		 Member of the Espirito Santo-West Virginia Chapter since 2004. Trained in Economics (UFES), and received an M.A. in Management (UFMG). Is a consultant to companies, government and is a university professor at Centro Universitario Vila Velha in his home state of Espirito Santo, Brazil.
Ms. Alison McKellar
Florida - Colombia Partners		 Alison McKellar is a consultant and founder of the non-profit Global Opportunity Garden. She has been a member of the Florida - Northern, Eastern, Central Colombia Chapter since 2003. She received the Presidential Award for over 1,000 hours of volunteer domestic and international service through Partners; she has also received the Kimball Award for Chapter Volunteer of the Year 2006. She has served as her chapter's webmaster from 2006 to present; participated in Leadership Orientation at the Partners Convention in Brazil, 2007; directed and coordinated a cultural and educational exchange between elementary students in Colombia and Florida through the study of migratory bird patterns; and has served as Chair of the Youth Development and Recruitment Committee from 2007 - 2008.

Secretary
Yraima Méndez de Delgado
Tennessee - Venezuela Partners

 Member of the Venezuela-Tennessee Chapter since 1989 and has served as Vice President and President of the Chapter. Yraima is an economist with post graduate studies in Tax Administration, Municipal Administration, and Tourism. Yraima is Vice President of DM Turismo Academico, C.A., and Secretary of Institutional Relations of the Association of Retired Professors of the Colegio Universitario de Caracas.
Tibério de Paula Pedrosa Monteiro
Pernambuco- Georgia Partners		 Member of the Pernambuco-Georgia Chapter since 2003. Over the last 10 years he has devoted his work as an attorney to issues related to non profit institutions in Brazil. He made an outstanding effort in 2008 to coordinate the event “40 years of Partnership” that included a trip to Pernambuco by 23 Georgians.
Vice Chair
Maurice A. Sterns
District of Columbia - Brasilia Partners		 Mr. Maurice A. Sterns is the Founder and Executive Director of QSD International- consulting for the international development community. He joined the DC/Brasilia Chapter of Partners in early 2005. He has extensive experience in conducting training programs in most countries in Latin America, and has achieved the World Bank’s Presidential Award for Excellence.
Francis Wardle
Colorado - Minas Gerais Partners		 Dr. Francis Wardle is a writer and a professor at Red Rocks Community College and University of Phoenix where he teaches education and psychology classes. Dr. Wardle’s academic background is in education. He joined Partners of the Americas Colorado/Minas Gerais Chapter in 1996 and has been active ever since.
Legal Counsel
Alan J. Berkeley, Esq.