Board of Directors
Chair
Rachel Hoy, Co-Founder
rachel@efainternational.org
Rachel believes that one’s destiny should not be determined by the circumstances of his or her birth. Upon graduating with a BA in French and Business from Georgetown University, she served as a Peace Corps community health volunteer in northern Cameroon, advising a CARE International project on rural development and malaria prevention and treatment. Since Rachel first worked with members from EFA’s original HIV+ youth support group in February 2005, she has been impressed by their leadership, potential to grow, and the necessity for community of psychosocial support. She completed her M.Sc. in Global Health and Population at the Harvard School of Public Health in June 2009. Rachel’s areas of expertise include reproductive and sexual health, program management, monitoring and evaluation, and health systems analysis. Rachel and her husband currently live in Washington, DC where she works for the World Bank’s Africa region on health projects.
Treasurer
Andrew Koleros, Founder
andrew@efainternational.org
Andrew works as a Technical Advisor in Monitoring and Evaluation for the National AIDS Control Commission (CNLS) of Rwanda, assisting in the implementation of the National HIV Strategic Plan, as part of the MEASURE Evaluation project. Andrew has a B.S. in Biology from Stonehill College and an M.P.H. in International Health and Development from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Andrew is an avid traveler and music lover. Andrew was inspired to start EFA International serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon. Assigned as an HIV/AIDS Technical Advisor for CARE International in Maroua, he was approached by a few HIV+ youth in February 2005. From their conversations, Andrew realized they needed a support group that addressed the needs of HIV+ youth and their futures and helped them found AJEPS. Once this youth support group was started, he immediately saw members’ spirits and confidence rise. Youth who were scared to speak at the first few meetings were soon conducting community education activities. The success of AJEPS to support and empower these youth inspired Andrew to establish EFA International in order to extend the benefits of these collaborations.
Secretary
Becca Schendel
becca@efainternational.org
Becca currently works as the Director of Programs for Orphans of Rwanda, Inc (ORI), a small non-profit focused on providing university scholarships to orphans and other socially vulnerable children in Rwanda. Becca has a B.A. in African History from Brown University and an M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration from Harvard University. Becca’s love for Africa began in 1999 when she first visited Kenya with her family. During the subsequent summer, she applied for an undergraduate research fellowship to support a three-month project in Ifaty, a small fishing village on the southwest coast of Madagascar. There, Becca examined the natural and human effects of tourism development on Ifaty and its surrounding villages. Before working in Rwanda, Becca worked in Washington, DC at the Population Institute, the Institute for International Education, and the University of Maryland’s Study Abroad Office.
Members-at-Large
Kathryn Dickens
kayt@efainternational.org
Kathryn’s involvement with EFA started in 2006, in a guidance role with the first youth group while she served as a Peace Corps Information/Technology volunteer in Maroua, Cameroon. She was smitten with West Africa and vowed to return. In 2008, with money earned in a social enterprise business plan competition, Kathryn and a group of women in Maorua started an international social enterprise for local seamstresses. She continues to be closely involved with several projects with Cameroonians. Kathryn has a B.A. in International Relations from the University of California at Davis, and an M.Sc. in Public Policy & Management from Carnegie Mellon University. She currently works at the American Himalayan Foundation in San Francisco.
Michael Nilon, Co-Founder
mike@efainternational.org
Mike studies religion and anthropology at Harvard Divinity School. Michael graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida in 2001 with a degree in English Literature and a minor in Classics. He has worked as a youth development and education facilitator with AmeriCorps NCCC and in the United Methodist Church in the United States and as a youth development and capacity building project manager as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon. He is most interested in understanding the religious belief systems that inform people’s moral decision making. He believes that such understandings promote more appropriate and well targeted project interventions. Mike currently lives in Boston with his wife Erin.
Heather Weiss
Dr. Heather Weiss is the Founder and Director of the Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) and is a Senior Research Associate and Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Dr. Weiss is well known for her work building the demand for and use of evaluation as a cornerstone of social change. Her recent publications focus on reframing research and evaluation to support continuous improvement and democratic decision making, examining the case for complementary learning from a research and policy perspective, and assessing new ways of providing and evaluating professional development. She received her doctorate in Education and Social Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Yale Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy. Dr. Weiss joined EFA’s Board of Directors in December 2009.
Board Alumni
Erin Nilon, Co-Founder
erin@efainternational.org
Erin works as a Program Officer for virtual learning programs at Management Sciences for Health, within the Center for Leadership and Management. Erin graduated magna cum laude from the University of Florida in 2003 with a degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition, specialization in Dietetics, and a minor in Health Science Education. She has worked as a Registered Dietitian in both community and clinical settings in the United States, and as a public health project manager and health educator in rural communities in Cameroon while in the Peace Corps. Her work focuses on serving children and people living with HIV/AIDS. She always seeks to combine her love of public health, nutrition, and education.
