Executive Director:

Peter Adolphus Gbelia

A little about the Director:

Peter Gbelia is a proud graduate of the US Air Force Academy, class of 1993. Currently, he is a C-17 Pilot with the 313th AS, AFRC, and also flies commercially as a 737 First Officer (FO) for Alaska Airlines.

Peter is a LEED Accredited (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), and also HERS Certified (Home Energy Rater System). In addition to his accrediations, Peter is a Graduate Student at Arizona State University, studying Sustainable Sciences.

He founded Empowerment Society with the goal of introducing Sustainable Development to the war torn regions of Africa. It is his true belief and goal that his cause is essential to the growth and survival of these devastated regions.

Board of Advisors

DEBORAH DEE VICINO

Dee Dee Vicino earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Florida Atlantic University in 1988. She completed her graduate studies in Liberal Arts at Duke University in 2006 and where she was awarded a Graduate Certificate from the Program for International Development Policy (PDIP) from the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University. At present, Dee Dee is the Vice President and Director of Love in Motion-Global (LIMG) and serves as the Project Manager for all development and education programs initiated by LIMG. Dee Dee specializes in recording field and office research, reporting research findings for future policy directives, grant writing, and effective teamwork training. In addition, Dee Dee is as an active member of ESI’s Board of Advisors.

Dee Dee has served on myriad Boards of Directors in Broward County, Florida, including homeless and foster care organizations. In addition, she spent six years advocating on behalf of abused and neglected children in Broward County as Guardian Ad Litem. In the international arena, Dee Dee has been involved with international projects related to human trafficking of women and girls, child labor, and indigenous issues. Her adult life has been dedicated to fighting for the rights of vulnerable populations and she is committed to continuing that fight in the international arena. Dee Dee is well versed in the laws and government efforts to reach UN Millennium Development Goals in Liberia, has a comprehensive understanding of Liberia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy and knowledge of and experience in Western Africa.

DR. SYRULWA SOMAH

Syrulwa Somah, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Environmental Health and Occupational Safety & Health and Coordinator of Graduate Studies in the School of Technology at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University (NCA&T) State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. His Ph.D. is in policy studies with concentration on environmental health and occupational health. He also has two graduate degrees in healthcare administration and liberal studies (history and religion). Dr. Somah has been involved with health and safety issues for the last seventeen years as a health and safety professional in areas of policy studies, municipal government, health education, environmental health and safety education, lead risk assessment and abatement, and international health issues such as malaria and HIV/AIDS. He is a former Senior Occupational Safety & Health Specialist with the City of New York, New York, and Senior Environmental Compliance Specialist with the City of Greensboro, North Carolina. He has spent the last nine years teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in occupational safety and environmental health at the university level. Dr. Somah is author of several books, including The Historical Resettlement of Liberia and Its Environmental Impact; Christianity, Colonization and State of African Spirituality, and Nyanyan Gohn-Manan: History, Migration & Government of the Bassa, a book about traditional Bassa leadership and cultural norms, one of the sixteen major ethnic groups of Liberia.

Dr. Somah is also Executive Director of the Liberian History, Education, & Development, Inc. (LIHEDE), an organization he co-founded in 2003 with fellow Liberian compatriots Nat Gbessagee and Siahyonkron Nyanseor. Under Dr. Somah’s leadership of LIHEDE, the organization has hosted several annual symposiums and periodic workshops in the U.S. and Liberia on various development aspects in Liberia, particularly education, health, and safety. For instance, in 2005, LIHEDE signed a memorandum of understanding with two Liberian universities to begin a degree program in Liberian Studies based on a curriculum developed by LIHEDE, and one of the universities commenced a first degree program in Liberian Studies in 2006.

RICHARD A. NISBETT, PhD, MSPH

Richard A. Nisbett, PhD, MSPH (Landscape Epidemiology), is Adjunct Assistant Research Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Institute for Global Health at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. His primary areas include cross-cultural context of health, illness & medicine; evolutionary medicine/epidemiology; public-health biology; epidemiology & global health; Human ecology of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs); vector & reservoir ecology; community-based health assessment/evaluation in low-resource settings; global HIV/AIDs.

For the past 18 years, his geographical Foci has been West Africa and the Circum-Caribbean; primarily Liberia, Jamaica and Costa Rica. His ongoing field has been landscape epidemiology & ethnomedicine of EIDs; Epidemiology and prevention studies of reproductive health (including obstetric fistula); HIV/AIDS/STIs awareness and substance abuse among CSWs, ex-combatants and adolescents.

He has led several projects in Liberia including participatory, community-based assessments, health promotion and outreach. His research goals have been to better understand: (1) the human ecology and cross-species transmission of vector-borne & zoonotic EIDs; (2) the determinants of adolescent risk behavior for HIV/AIDs/STIs in post-conflict Liberia; and (3) the health-decision frameworks employed by those living in absolute poverty (especially in rural communities). His humanitarian goals and advisory role with ESI seek to work for social-justice medicine: (1) empowering the urban & rural poor; and (2) facilitating multi-sectoral partnerships to improve global health diplomacy and deficits in LDC healthcare workforce

MICK DALRYMPLE

a.k.a.Green co-founder Mick Dalrymple helped start the Arizona Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and now serves on the national Board of the organization. He created the TV series Build It Green! which PBS seeks to distribute nationally and organized the first Cinema Verde Sustainable Film Festival as part of the 2006 Green Building Expo in Scottsdale, Arizona. Dalrymple worked with a task force to update the Scottsdale Green Building Program’s residential checklist, which launched in September, 2006. He is a frequent speaker on green building and LEED to citizen groups and professionals.

Dalrymple has extensive experience in logistics and high-speed start-up environments, including Associate Partner in an Internet Consulting firm (clients included Sprint, National Airlines, Honeywell, Harrahs); production for major studio feature films; and producing national commercials.

Dalrymple received his MIM from Thunderbird, an MBA from Arizona State University, and studied Spanish in Mexico. His BA with High Distinction comes from the University of Arizona (Electrical Engineering, Math, and International Relations).

DR. GREGG MCNEIL

Gregg is a dual trained (Internal Medicine/Pediatrics) physician. He graduated from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland in 1988. Residency was done at the William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas and was completed in 1992. Since then he have served in the U. S. Public Health Services/ Commissioned Corps as an active duty physician on reservations in South Dakota and in Southeast Alaska. He retired from the Corps in 2005 and returned to school to obtain my masters degree in International Policy and Practice from George Washington University in Washington, DC. He now expects and hopes to take some of what he’s learned about care of remotely located indigenous people and apply these lessons on an international basis

ANTHONY FLOYD, City of Scottsdale Green Building Manager AIA, LEED-AP

Anthony Floyd is a registered architect, LEED TM accredited professional, and served as building official for the City of Scottsdale from 1988-1995. He took an educational leave of absence in 1995 to participate in a one-year international study program that focused on the issues of sustainability, development, and global ecology in the countries of England, India, Philippines, New Zealand, and Mexico. Upon his return in 1996 he worked in a capacity to promote sustainable building practices in Scottsdale and the greater Sonoran Desert region of the southern Arizona. In 1998, as city liaison to a local citizen group, Anthony helped to establish Arizona’s first Green Building Program.

As Scottsdale Green Building Program Manager, Anthony integrates green building into the Scottsdale planning and development process. As such, he oversees the city green building certification process, outreach programs, energy code compliance and the review of alternative materials, systems, and methods of construction. Anthony maintains the city green building rating standards for residential and commercial construction as related to the environmental context of the Sonoran Desert. He also serves as a liaison with the Capital Project Management Department to help facilitate the city LEED TM Gold resolution for certifying green city facilities. Anthony serves as co-chair of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Greening the Codes Committee and helped establish Arizona’s LEED for Homes provider group. He is also a member of the National Association of Home Builder’s Green Building Standard consensus committee. Anthony has a civil engineering and architecture degree from Penn State University and a master’s degree in public administration from Arizona State University

SEAN DONOHUE

From a young age, Sean Joseph Donohue was drawn to activities involving public service and child protection. While in high school, Sean served for two years as a member of the “Explorers,” a program sponsored by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Explorer’s mission included creating employment opportunities for young men and women opportunities within their communities and creating an environment conducive to improving relationships between local youth and law enforcement officers. As an adult, Sean continues to express his innate tendency toward protection and service in both his personal and public life.

Sean has served as a foster parent for children with physical and mental disabilities that had been both physically and emotionally abused. In addition, to child protection, Sean has continued his dedication to public service. Sean has undergone extensive training in water distribution and wastewater treatment and was responsible for coordinating the transportation of hazardous materials from public landfills. Sean has continued his connection to the environment and is currently working as a Land Surveyor Technician for a civil engineering firm.

More recently, Sean traveled to Liberia with a US based non-profit organization. For several weeks he assisted a team of volunteers conducting trauma counseling with former combatants in conjunction with an in-country organization, The Tufeia Foundation. Following this trip, Sean felt compelled to continue his connection with the Tufeia Foundation and it’s founder, Caleb Dormah. Sean has joined both ESI and LIMG in an effort to help Caleb and his foundation to bring health and healing to the nation and children of Liberia.

At present, Sean is LIMG’s Procurement Specialist and field consultant and is busy obtaining supplies and conducting research for upcoming projects.

RICK MARTINEZ

Rick is a CERTIFIED FINAINCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner for Ameriprise Financial covering the Phoenix and southern California regions. Rick offers personal financial planning for retirement, tax management strategies, small businesses, investments, estate planning strategies, and protection planning/family security. Rick helps his clients achieve their financial objectives through a long-term relationship based on personalized, knowledgeable advice.

Rick has been instrumental in fundraising and networking activities in the Phoenix area. With his tremendous network of donors, Rick has enabled ESI to raise funds for equipment to send to Liberia, such as GPS devices, as well as funding for Tufeia Executive Director, Rev. Caleb Dormah, to attend the ECOSA Institute of Prescott’s Fall 2008 semester, to gain a certificate in Sustainable Planning.

TUFEIA FOUNDATION EXEC DIR REV. CALEB DORMAH

Reverend Caleb Dormah received a MS in Math from the University of Liberia in 1985. Reverend Dorman also attended the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary and holds a bachelor's degree in Religious Education. He has worked with children and youth for the past 21 years. In 2003, the United Methodist Church at the Liberia Annual Conference asked Rev. Dormah to expand his ministry to include displaced members of the community in Ganta Nimba County. Community building is now the focus of his work.

ESI TOKYO GOODWILL AMBASSADOR HARUMI SUGIYAMA

Tokyo singer and celebrity Harumi Sugiyama has supported ESI’s mission since 2003, spreading the word about ESI to her audiences and acting as goodwill ambassador between Japan and ESI.

Her current hits can be sampled on her website at http://haru-web.com as well as information about her upcoming performances.