Chair, Fredrick C. Cooper, PhD, P.E. - Professional engineer and President of Cooper Zietz Engineers, Inc., a civil and environmental engineering company working in the field of water supply, wastewater disposal, and public infrastructure projects in the U.S. and abroad.
Vice Chair, Joni Foster - Freelance consultant on community economic development. 25 years experience including 11 years as Executive Director of the Jacksonville, Florida office of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a national financial intermediary for community development. Joni was the former in-country project manager for El Porvenir in the early 1990s. Prior to that, Joni worked with small communities in the Sacramento Valley to develop community water and wastewater systems.
Secretary, Gonzalo E. Guerra, MPP, MAE – Specialist for Monitoring and Evaluation, United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office Montevideo, Uruguay. Gonzalo was born in Nicaragua, educated at University of Michigan, and has over 14 years experience in program management and evaluation. He currently lives in Uruguay.
Treasurer, Richard Whitmore - Professional forester (retired); consultant for El Porvenir silvacultural practices
David M. Arnolds, J.D. - Senior Counsel with Chevron; Founder of Colorado Friends of El Porvenir
Chris Conway – Spanish teacher at Albany Academy, NY. In his former position at The Rensselaerville Institute, he had extensive experience in small-community, self-help water and sewer projects in the United States. He lived in Nicaragua 1986-87, teaching at the University of Central America and serving as a social anthropologist at the National Museum.
Raymond P. Finney, BA, MRE - Century 21 Realtor; affordable housing advocate; 35 years of experience in Housing and Com. Dev., including Denver Regional Office of HUD; Rocky Mountain Regional Director of Habitat for Humanity International; Renewable energy advocate; bilingual
Joe Sloan – Joe facilitates public involvement and community outreach at Denver Water (public water utility). Prior to Denver Water, he worked for social service organizations in Chicago and in Esquipulas, Nicaragua (1989-1992) on community-based development projects.
Mark Smith - Health economist with Thomson Reuters. As a Board member, he focuses on fundraising and developing a long-term monitoring and evaluation plan.
Liz Specht - Founding Board member of El Porvenir; Board President emeritus of St. John‘s Educational Center, San Francisco; local environmental activist
Gabriela Tinoco, MS– Gabriela is an environmental engineer who worked with Montgomery Watson in the 1990s; she served as Finance Director and Executive Director for El Porvenir from 2003-6. She is a native of El Salvador, and has visited El Porvenir staff and projects in Nicaragua many times.
