Our Team
Honduras Child Alliance is an International Effort
The heart of our program lies in the combined passion of our volunteers, managers, interns, donors, and directors. In collaboration with Honduran community members and supporters from around the world, our diverse perspective is our greatest strength.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Eve Horowitz(USA-PA)
As the founder and Executive Director of the Honduras Child Alliance, Eve is always looking at ways to build relationships. Both within Honduras and around the world, her philosophy for engaging supporters is to grow connections that allow each of us to be part of something together that truly makes a difference. Her goal is not to see how large Honduras Child Alliance can grow but to always consider what kind of organization we will grow to be, and how each person who participates can be nourished as a result.
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In addition to focusing on development and fundraising, Eve coordinates the recruiting and placement of our international volunteers. Although it’s obvious that there's great satisfaction from bringing volunteers to work with children in Honduras, she is also motivated as she observes the impact on each volunteer as they return to their home countries. They are transformed and never quite view their lives in the same way as before. Their impact is not just on Honduras, they gain a perspective to help in changing the world!
Eve brings a blend of creative and operational strengths to Honduras Child Alliance. With 25+ years of management & leadership experience, she is an accomplished fundraiser and commercial writer, and specializes in manager training and professional development. With a B.A. in Education from Goddard College, she also has a Certificate in Organizational Practices and a Certificate in Fundraising from the University of Pennsylvania. When not in Honduras, Eve resides in Pennsylvania, USA.
First visiting Honduras in 1992, Eve initially considered sponsoring Honduran children in need as a cross-cultural experience for her own two kids. As she gained a more objective understanding of the social issues facing children in Honduras, her involvement grew. Recognizing that her actions and support could create immediate, tangible improvement in the children’s lives she began developing volunteer-powered programs that have evolved to become HCA. Eve travels to and from El Porvenir 4-5X each year and considers Honduras her second home. She views the Honduras Child Alliance as, “a wish come true”.
DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING AND FINANCE
Elizabeth (Liz) Bender(USA-OR)
Liz is HCA’s Director of Programming and Finance. Liz started working in El Porvenir by doing four volunteer stints from 2009-2012, spending about one-year total volunteering before returning as our on-site Program Manager for an additional year in 2015-16. During her time in El Porvenir, she’s realized that beyond teaching basic academics, she is passionate about providing education and support in keeping the children healthy, sparking her recent completion of a degree in Public Health.
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Liz says, “Since my first time volunteering with HCA, I have felt connected to El Porvenir, the programs, and the kids! This program means so much to me and the opportunity to continue this work in a leadership position is immensely satisfying!” Liz brings a broad range of skills to HCA and returns regularly to help train volunteers, implement curriculum, and give support to our in-country Leadership Team. Liz has been the impetus behind our new scholarship program to help students who have attended our elementary-age programs continue to graduate high school.
DIRECTOR OF VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT
Edwina (Eddy) Moran(Australia)
Eddy is HCA’s Director of Volunteer Engagement. Currently working in community resilience programming for local government in Melbourne, Australia, Eddy first volunteered in El Porvenir in 2016 and then returned as the 2017-18 Program Manager. As a director, Eddy is active in strategic planning, and in the oversight of HCA's grant applications. With a wealth of multi-talented volunteers who wish to remain connected from afar, Eddy’s role also includes the development of committees and...
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individual projects to support. Fundraising, Grant Writing, Volunteer Recruiting, PR, Finance, Technology, and more. Whether you’re an artist or an accountant, your help is valuable and needed. Please check in with Eddy to let her know you’re interested. Eddy returns to El Porvenir annually to help develop our in-country team, and especially to help host ourshort-term work-groups. Her cooking is legendary!
TREASURER
Rustom Dalal(Ireland)
HCA’s Treasurer. Currently working with KPMG as an International Tax Consultant, Rustom has been associated with HCA since December 2015 when he came to El Porvenir for a month as a volunteer to help with budgets and finances, and draft up a report on HCA’s Healthy Snacks program!
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Albeit relatively short, a month with the HCA team was enough to ensure that Rustom stayed affiliated with the organization on an ad-hoc basis on any matters concerning finances, up until taking on the role of the Treasurer in January 2020.
Ever since his time in Honduras in 2015, Rustom has been convinced in his belief that education is the best way to create lasting impact at the grassroots of society and was amazed at the positive change brought about in the El Porvenir community by the organization. A Chartered Accountant by training, Rustom graduated from Brandeis University with a Masters in International Economics & Finance in 2016, and hopes to use these skills to assist HCA for the years to come.
IN-COUNTRY LEADERSHIP TEAM EDUCATION COORDINATOR
Dania Mejia Ochoa(Honduras)
Serves as HCA’s Education Coordinator. She graduated from Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán and is a teacher in La Ceiba. Dania has worked with HCA since 2018, leading PEP classes and teaching Adult English classes. She hopes to use the role of Education Coordinator to continue inspiring and motivating students in El Porvenir to follow their dreams.
IN-COUNTRY LEADERSHIP TEAM ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER
Taber Merren(Honduras)
Serves as HCA’s In-Country Admin Manager. He first became involved with HCA when he began attending our English classes. From there, he became a volunteer, then an intern, and now is an essential member of ourin-country leadership team. When he is not busy with HCA, Taber is a university student studying Business Administration.
IN-COUNTRY LEADERSHIP TEAM DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Position Available
HCA's 2021-22 Development Manager position is currently open. This is an in-Honduras role that typically is for one year.
NUTRITION ADVISOR
Lynda Lawrence(USA-NY)
Lynda serves on the Honduras Child Alliance advisory board as a nutrition mentor for the in-country Healthy Snacks coordinators. Lynda is currently a Health Coach for a non-profit clinic in NYC for the underserved population with chronic diseases.
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She gives nutrition counseling along with hosting groups for diabetes management. She is working towards her Masters in Nutritional Science to become a dietitian. She also teaches medical yoga and connects yoga teachers with non-profits around NYC. Lynda first volunteered with HCA as the first on-site Healthy Snacks Ambassador in 2017 where she fell in love with the kids, the community, and the mission to better the wellbeing of El Porvenir through nutrition. She has since put together several nutrient-dense recipes, helps create nutrition lessons tying kids to the origin of their food, and makes connections within the community to involve more locals in the making of the snacks.
DONATIONS MANAGER
Ruth Martin(Scotland)
Ruth volunteered in El Porvenir in 2017-18 and now serves as HCA's Donation Manager. In addition to making sure that all donors receive a personal thank you email, Ruth also follows up on our monthly donors to keep their payment info current.
ADVISORY - HEALTHCARE &SCHOLARS COMMITTEE
Dra. Amanda Radisic(USA-MD)
Doctora Amanda wears many hats at HCA and is actively involved with the scholars committee. She has also been the liaison for our healthcare volunteers and has previously served as our Donations Manager. Amanda made her first trip to Honduras in 2011, and from that point on, she was hooked.
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She started volunteering with HCA in 2013 and continues to return several times each year.
One of Amanda’s favorite things about working with HCA is collaborating with warm and welcoming residents of El Porvenir, and engaging them in our projects. Amanda currently serves on the HCA Scholars Committee and continues to help in a myriad of ways! A native of the Philadelphia area, Amanda graduated from medical school in May 2018 and is now completing a residency in general surgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ, with the goal of specializing in trauma and acute care surgery. Currently, she is on leave from full-time clinical work to undergo a 2 year research fellowship at Johns Hopkins University (2020-2022). She hopes to use her medical training to continue to serve the place she considers her “second home.
ADVISORY - DEVELOPMENT & SCHOLARS CO-CHAIR
Victoria (Tori) Montemurro(USA-MA)
Tori was HCA’s Development Manager for 2020 and is also Co-chair of the Scholars Committee. Tori was serving as an in-country Development Manager until COVID-19 forced her to return to the states. She continues to stay involved in fundraising and development for Honduras Child Alliance, in addition to her work with the Scholars Committee, and hopes to return to El Porvenir soon!
ADVISORY - FINANCE
Eduan (Eddy) Nieuwoudt(South Africa)
Currently working with KPMG Ireland as a Financial Services Auditor, Eddy joined the Honduras Child Alliance team in 2020 and is assisting in general presentation and finance-related matters.
ADVISORY - SCHOLARS CO-CHAIR & REFERENCES
Maggie Dekker(USA-PA)
Serves as Co-chair of the Scholars Committee and as a Reference Reader for incoming volunteers. She first volunteered at HCA in 2016 and returned for a full year in 2017-18 as HCA’s first-ever Outreach Manager. Maggie’s big heart translated to great success in Outreach as she...
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spearheaded several fundraising initiatives including renovating PEP-Centro and greatly increasing HCA’s monthly donors. A graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, PA where she majored in sociology. Maggie is currently working as a Client Advocate at the Defender Association of Philadelphia while she is applying to study Law. Maggie is extremely passionate about and connected with the children of El Porvenir and regularly returns to see all of their happy faces. Maggie helps check references for incoming volunteers.
ADVISORY - CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
Erin Dowd
(USA)
Serves on the HCA Advisory Board in the area of Curriculum Development and has an ongoing involvement in the implementation of the PEP+ curriculum. In her professional life, she is a global education consultant and founder of JRNEY, a website dedicated to amplifying teacher voice through global stories from the field.
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She is also a founding member of Teach SDGs and currently serves as Committee Liaison for the organization, the professional learning chair for the ISTE Global Collaboration PLN, and was named an ASCD Emerging Leader for 2017. A former teacher and curriculum director of over 13 years, Erin has spent her career working to provide equitable education for students all over the world.
ADVISORY - FIRST-AID & COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
Rikke El Ofir - Soendergaard(Denmark)
Has done a broad range of humanitarian work, and research in Honduras since 2005. Currently, Rikke coordinates our training partnership with the Bomberos Porvenir (firefighters) which focuses on first aid, pre-hospital care, and community service.
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Rikke also advises on fire safety at our volunteer houses and gives first aid instruction to our volunteers and interns. In addition, she assists HCA with composing and proofreading legal documents and contract translations in Spanish.
Rikke served as the HCAs very first Project Manager and launched the first Vacation Activities Program (VAP) back in 2010. Rikke emphasizes the importance of immersing oneself into the local culture and she strives to ensure that our projects meet the actual needs of the local people, and that we always foster their involvement and ownership.
Fun fact: Rikke has two heart-adopted families in Honduras, one in La Ceiba and one in El Porvenir. The youngest daughter in her family in El Porvenir was named after her, something that has touched Rikke very much.
In Denmark, Rikke has worked many years in the emergency management field. She has also managed youth firefighter projects at both national and local level, focusing especially on at-risk youth.
She holds a Master’s Degree in Development and International Relations and a Bachelor’s Degree in Languages and International Business Communications (English/Spanish). She's been a volunteer firefighter since 2004 and is an experienced Instructor within Firefighting, First Aid and Youth Leadership.
REFERENCES
Andy Long(Australia)
Andy started volunteering with HCA in October 2013 and ended up returning on 3 separate occasions since, for 7 months total. Andy continues to support HCA by helping with our volunteer recruitment. He says, “I support volunteers going to Honduras because it is important to experience...
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and understand other cultures and situations, and participate in improving them if that is a possibility. Also, El Porvenir is a wonderful town with some beautiful people.” Thanks, Andy and we’ll be waiting to see you in El P sometime again soon!
REFERENCES
Christina Durso(USA)
Christina volunteered at HCA in 2014. Prior to coming to Honduras, Christina was an elementary school teacher. Her passion for education and desire to help expand opportunities for children in underserved populations is what led her to volunteer.
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Since her time in El Porvenir, Christina has received a Master’s Degree in School Counseling and is currently a school counselor at the elementary level. Some of her favorite memories in El P include planning and teaching kinder classes, VAP, and playing with the kids at the beach and in el campo. Thanks Christina, we’re happy to have your help!