Meet Our Team
Team
Professional Staff
Selina Serna
Executive Director
Board Member
Serving on the board since 2013, Selina has been increasingly engaged until taking over the Executive Director role in 2019. Formerly a long-time team member of Whole Foods Market, Selina knows the importance of balancing social good with successful business models. Selina served in leadership roles with Whole Foods in the US and UK for 25 years until leaving in 2019 to focus full time on Project Schoolhouse. Selina is a graduate of Rice University with a degree in Economics.
Mirle Zeledon
Director of Operations in Nicaragua
Mirle is a civil engineer with 25 years of experience working on WASH projects. She has deep knowledge of working with local government and international nonprofits to execute projects benefitting community infrastructure projects. Mirle is a graduate of UCA University.
Maria Ines Bracamonte
Project Coordinator
Maria Inés has been coordinating all of Project Schoolhouse’s endeavors in Nicaragua since operations began. Her career has spanned multiple NGO’s focused on water and educational infrastructure. She is gifted at implementing community-based projects in very remote areas.
Cristian Garcia
After-School Program Coordinator
Manuel Selva Garcia
Head of Construction
Working with Project Schoolhouse since the very beginning, Manuel oversees all construction projects. Often supervising multiple projects simultaneously, he has developed a deep knowledge of water, school, latrine, and overall construction best practices.
Norma Idania Valdez
Programs Coordinator
Norma spent the first twenty years of her career working in a women’s cooperative in Mulukuku. She now oversees our growing scope of supportive programs. She brings extensive experience in community training, data collection, project management, and is skilled at navigating the complexities of working with remote communities.
Board of Directors
Sara Wagner
Board President
Sara works in Product and Portfolio Management for Whole Foods Market, where she leads technology teams. A graduate of Rice and Texas A&M, her passion for international development began with a graduate course in commercializing technology for developing countries, where she visited Liberia in West Africa.
Dennis Passovoy
Board VP
Dennis is on the faculty at the Red McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches courses in Social Entrepreneurship and Corporate Strategy. Dennis has a 35-year business career, including founding five successful companies.
Gene Bosché
Board Secretary
Gene works in Austin as a cybersecurity professional. Gene has lived, studied & worked in several countries in Latin America including a stint for a coffee company in rural northern Nicaragua. During these experiences, he saw first–hand the importance of education and health in lifting children out of poverty.
Brandon McNally
Board Treasurer
Brandon is the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Northward Partners, LLC, CEO and Founder of JLK Management Group, LLC, Chapter Chairman of American Business Network, and Featured Mentor for Elite Learning. Brandon has 20+ years as a board member and advisor, operating partner, business mentor, executive coach, CEO, CFO, and Founder. Brandon has a diverse background and experience in nonprofit fundraising, capital campaign management, financial leadership, program development and leadership, grant writing, 501(c)(3) Compliance and Regulations, and fund accounting.
Tab Barker
Board Member
Thomas “Tab” Barker graduated from Carleton College with a degree in Economics and furthered his education studying on a Fulbright Scholarship in Argentina. Tab has spent his career focusing on international development through founding Project Schoolhouse, always working to minimize outside impacts while leveraging local initiative and knowledge. Read more here for this founder’s story.
Peter Rahamnifar
Board Member
Peter is a Senior Software Development Engineer at Presidio Technologies, specializing in AWS Proserve consultancy for enterprise system modernization. Peter previously worked at Whole Foods as a Software Developer for five years, impacting social change through his involvement with foundations such as Whole Planet, Whole Kids, and Whole Cities. Peter is also dedicated to supporting women’s empowerment through his contributions to GALS and SAFE foundations. He aspires to leverage his technical expertise to contribute to the Project Schoolhouse Charity. Peter holds a degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Nevada.
Abigail Escobar
Board Member
Abigail is a Clinical Research Coordinator at Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston, MA. She has a diverse background in public health and is invested in highlighting the effects of social determinants of health on a person’s medical care and holistic well-being. She hopes to incorporate this focus into her future training to become a physician.
Angela Salas
Board Member
Angela is a versatile business management professional with over 15 years of experience in the AEC industry. Angela sees water as a cornerstone of health and is pleased to serve with PSH and support their mission.Angela is excited to apply her experience to help raise awareness and bring in additional people and financial resources to help in these efforts.
Shannon Fohn
Board Member
Shannon is an attorney who has served as in-house and outside counsel for various Austin businesses including Whole Foods Market and Green Mountain Energy Company. She has also served in education policy/finance roles in the Texas Senate. Having grown up without drinkable running water in her own home, combined with her passion for education, she is excited to help further the mission of Project Schoolhouse.
Matt Zhang
Board Member
Matt works in systems engineering and design at Samsung’s semiconductor fabs in Austin and Taylor. While attending the University of Texas at Austin, Matt worked with Project Schoolhouse to lead a team to develop and deploy a pilot project in Nicaragua. He hopes to use his background in mechanical engineering to continue to contribute to our mission and help under-served communities around the world.
Alexandra Rodrigues
Board Member
Alexandra is a Master’s of Public Health graduate from Boston University’s School of Public Health. Her passion for improving global health equity stems from her parent’s immigrant background. She worked with a group of fellow graduate students to create a mobile application for an Indian-based non-profit organization, improving their growth and sustainability.
Advisory and Emeritus Board
Walter Moreau
Advisory Board
Walter Moreau is the Executive Director of Foundation Communities, which works in Texas to create affordable housing where families succeed. During his 25-year career he has secured subsidy financing of more than $200 million to create more than 3,500 units of service-enriched, nonprofit-owned affordable housing. He holds an MS in Public Affairs from the UT LBJ School of Public Affairs.
Evan Morgan
Advisory Board
Evan joined the Advisory Board in 2019 following his 4-year service on the Board of Directors, finishing his term as President in 2018. Evan helped to broaden the donor base and was instrumental in raising significant funds to increase the organization’s impact in Nicaragua. In 2018, Evan relocated to Brisbane, Australia to serve as the Director of Advancement at the University of Queensland (UQ). Prior to UQ, Evan served as Director of Development at Rice University.
Marilyn Felkner
Advisory Board
Marilyn is on the faculty of the School of Human Ecology, University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches courses in public health. Previously, Marilyn has worked as an infectious disease epidemiologist for the Texas Department of State Health Services in Austin and in allied health education and health promotion in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Cheryl Barker
Board Member Emeritus
Cheryl is a lifelong resident of Wyoming and was one of the founding board members of Project Schoolhouse in 2004, moving to Board Emeritus in 2021. One of her main contributions has been to host the Sod Farm Festival on her farm in Wyoming raising considerable funds towards Project Schoolhouse endeavors in Nicaragua.