Allison Hand has worked with English language learners for the past eight years in the public school system. She taught English Language Arts and Reading for ESL and language learning students at both the middle and high school levels. Allison was an Instructional Coordinator for the English Language Development Academy at a local middle school, focusing on building language through content area classrooms. Currently she works for Region 13 in Austin, TX, as a Bilingual/ESL Instructional Specialist, providing professional development and classroom coaching to teachers and administrators who focus on understanding second language acquisition and instructional modifications that are beneficial for their English learning students.
Allison holds a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education with an endorsement in Communicative Arts Education from the University of New Mexico and received a Masters of Education in Teacher Leadership from Lamar University in Beaumont, TX. She is a certified teacher in the state of Texas in English Language Arts and Reading grades four through twelve and in English as a Second Language.
Audrey Hand Thomas has over 15 years of experience working in the field of education for children with special needs as a teacher and diagnostician. She currently is a Coordinator for the dyslexia program and evaluation staff in the Educational Support Services department of the Arlington Independent School District in Arlington, Texas. She is a nationally certified educational diagnostician and holds Texas certifications as a special education teacher, educational diagnostician and principal.
Audrey obtained both a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Arts in Special Education from New Mexico State University. Affiliations include membership in the Council for Exceptional Children and the Texas Educational Diagnosticians’ Association. She resides in Mansfield, Texas, with her husband and two children.
Austin Hand has a doctorate in statistics and over 5 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Currently, he is a Senior Statistician with Quintiles, one of the leading Clinical Research Organizations in the world. Austin also has a passion for volunteering and teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). Most recently, he has volunteered his time to teach adult immigrants English at LifeWorks, a non-profit organization in Austin, Texas. He also spent a couple years in his young adulthood teaching English to various ages in Guatemala and Thailand.
Austin has a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics from the University of New Mexico and a Masters and Doctorate of Statistics from Baylor University. He is a member of the American Statistical Association and resides in Austin, Texas.
Briana Havey, co-owner of Earth Lodge, has been supporting the El Hato school for many years by providing school supplies, and fruits and vegetables through the Earth Lodge healthy snack program. Briana has lived in El Hato with her family for the past ten years, and has been integral in several community development projects in the village along with providing job opportunities at the lodge. She brings with her the respect and trust of the El Hato community and years of experience working with the families of our students.
Jeremy Hand has over 12 years of experience working as an international development practitioner in diverse environments such as Kenya, Angola, Uganda, Somalia, Armenia, Nicaragua, India and the United States. As Managing Director at Innovations for Poverty Action, he guided the expansion of the program across eight countries while leading the establishment of a new spin-off organization. During his years in Somalia as Country Director for Population Services International, he negotiated and implemented a $17 million project that worked with the private and government sectors to expand access to health products and services across the country. Jeremy also has expertise in quality assurance, finance, procurement, and logistics.
Jeremy holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of New Mexico and received a Master of Arts in International Relations from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC.
Leslie Stolz holds a Bachelor of Business Administration. She was a Manager at Starbucks Corporation for several years and also spent time as a substitute teacher in the Austin, Texas public school system while pursuing her teaching certificate. Leslie volunteers in the office at Ada Vista Elementary where her children are enrolled in a public school Spanish Immersion language program. She also helps with school fundraisers and classroom events. Leslie is currently President of the Board of Directors for her Homeowners Association.
Leslie holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing Management from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM. She is married, has 2 children and lives in Grand Rapids, MI.
Peter Harben is President of Peter W. Harben Inc., an international mineral market consulting firm he founded in 1986. The consulting work has involved visits to more than 50 countries on behalf of clients ranging from individual land owners through major multi-nationals to the World Bank and United Nations. A former editor of Industrial Minerals, based in London and then New York City, Peter Harben has spoken extensively at international conferences and seminars and has written several books on the subject of mineral markets. He is the 2005 recipient of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration’s Hal Williams Hardinge Award, the mineral industry’s prestigious annual award dating back to 1965.
Born in Liverpool in the UK, Peter holds a BS in Geology and Mining Engineering from the University of Wales, Cardiff, and an MS in Mineral Exploration from the Royal School of Mines at Imperial College, London. He lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and is married with two children.