Joseph Philippe, CSSp, Board member.  Fr. Joseph is a Haitian Spiritan priest who has dedicated his life to helping the poor of Haiti help themselves. He is the founder of the Association of Peasants of Fondwa (APF), Haiti, the founder of FONKOZE-HAITI - the “alternative bank for the organized poor” – and the founder of the University of Fondwa – 2004.  He trained in commercial accounting at the Ecole du Commerce Andre Laroche in Port au Prince, Haiti.  He studied theology and politics at the Chicago Theological Union and cooperative credit management at the Centre Lebret in Paris. He is the Provincial for the Spiritans in Haiti and is fluent in Kreyol, French, English, and Spanish.   Richard A. Gosser, D.A., Executive Director. Rich holds an earned doctorate in mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA and is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA. He taught mathematics and theology in a university pilot project in San Pedro Sula, Honduras in 1989-90. A veteran of more than 25 trips to Haiti, Rich has been active in Haiti related projects since his first trip there in 1987. A former board officer of the Washington Office on Haiti, he studied Haitian Kreyol at the Kreyol Language Institute in Boston and has been an accredited election observer in seven national elections in Haiti since 1990. He and his wife Daneen are co-founders of the Rich in Mercy Mission Institute, the “faith based” division of Partners in Progress. Together they have led many “reverse mission pilgrimages” to Haiti.   Leigh E. Carter, Board President.  Leigh holds a BS in accounting and an MS in political science and is the founding executive director of FONKOZE-USA the US based support organization for FONKOZE-Haiti, the “alternative bank for Haiti’s organized poor”. She currently serves on the board of FONKOZE-USA. She is a former board member and treasurer of Witness for Peace, and now serves as the full-time Director of Development for Witness for Peace. She is also a former program associate and board member of the Washington Office on Haiti. She has traveled extensively in Haiti and has coordinated numerous delegations for Witness for Peace and FONKOZE. She is a skilled administrator, fundraiser, and political analyst and resides in Washington, DC.   Rosemary Edwards, MD, Board Secretary/ Treasurer.  Rosemary, a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is a pathologist in Pittsburgh, PA. She is currently enrolled in the Multidisciplinary Masters in Public Health Program at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. She has worked in Haiti as part of a primary care medical team organized by the Eastern Mercy Health Network and has collaborated with faculty in Anatomic Pathology at the University Medical School in Port au Prince. She has designed and is implementing a clinical laboratory project using locally available renewable energy sources in collaboration with the Association of Peasants of Fondwa (APF), Haiti. She received the College of American Pathologist Foundation 2003 Humanitarian Grant Award for this project. She is also working on a “Cervical Cancer Prevention” project in conjunction with the Duke University Medical Center and Hospital St. Croix (in Leogone, Haiti). She is the author of “Windows on Our Worlds”, an educational module relating Haiti and world hunger. She has participated as a guest lecturer in educational programs for community health promoters in Fondwa and healthcare professionals in Port au Prince.   Katherine Franchett, SCL, Board member.  Kay is a Sister of Charity of Leavenworth (Kansas) and works as the treasurer of her religious community. She has extensive experience in Catholic school administration in Montana and Kansas. She has served on numerous hospital, mission, and education boards and committees. She has visited the Fondwa community in Haiti and works with the Sisters of St. Antoine of Fondwa in their community formation program.   Mary Healy, RSM, Board member. Mary is a Sister of Mercy from the Connecticut Province and former executive director of the Washington Office on Haiti.  She holds a DSW and works as a prison chaplain in Storrs, CT. She was the creator of the Women to Women project, a women’s solidarity program linking groups of women in Haiti with women’s groups in the US. She has coordinated numerous delegations to Haiti (including fact-finding, educational, and solidarity delegations) and has been an accredited election observer in Haitian national elections.  She brings to the board an extensive knowledge of contemporary Haitian history as well as fund-raising skills, and insightful political analysis.   Joyce Kim, Board Member. Joyce worked as volunteer in Fondwa from 2001-2002, helping to develop APF's first vocational training program, in carpentry. She has interned for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), where she researched issues related to children affected by the AIDS epidemic. Joyce recently received her Masters in Public Policy (MPP) degree with a concentration in international development from the Ford School of Public Policy, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She received her BA in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. Recently, she has been named a 2005 Presidential Management Fellow (PMF).   Ray Torres, Board Member. Ray is the Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator of Witness for Peace, and also has a long history of work in Haiti through the First United Methodist Church of Germantown, PA (FUMCOG). FUMCOG has been “twinned” with the Peasant Association of Fondwa for more than a decade. He received the Martin Luther King Social Justice Award from FUMCOG in 2004.   Nicholas Wilson, Board Member. Nick is currently a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz School of Public Policy and Management located in Pittsburgh, PA. His current educational goals are to apply effective communication, financial analysis, and quantitative skills in dynamic and innovative ways to promote economic development and health care access in developing nations. He graduated from St. Vincent College in Latrobe PA in May 2004 with a BS in Mathematics and Economics and a Communications minor. He received the distinctive St. Vincent College President’s Award, which is given to a single graduating senior. Nick was a summer intern for Partners in Progress in both 2004 and 2005. He has participated in six trips to Haiti.     Family Health Ministries (FHM), Advisory Board Member. FHM is a 501c3 corporation based in Chapel Hill North Carolina with a primary mission to develop long-term relationships with people and communities 'in need'. They currently support programs in maternal & child health, education and church development in Haiti, Guatemala and North Carolina. Like Partners in Progress, FHM has made a deep and longstanding commitment to the Fondwa community and values collaborative relationships with other organizations engaged in the areas of common interest.   Sister Anita Von Wellsheim, RSCJ, Honorary Board Member