The Seeds for a Future Board Members
Suzanne de Berge, Founder and President:
Oversees SFAF management staff, budget, planning and financial functions and control, record keeping, fundraising, new Board member search, long-range planning, and chairs Board meetings. She also handles legal affairs in both the US and Guatemala Suzanne is the daughter of a national ACLU board member who owned an independent editorial news service for more than 120 newspapers across the U.S. Suzanne is an experienced business manager, a real estate investor, and an very prudent and no-nonsense manager of funds. Suzanne has always pursued her interests, as seen in her appointment to the Phoenix Arts Commission, the first public (non-veterinary) Arizona State Veterinary Board member. She was a member of the advocacy group “Businesswomen at the Top,” the Appaloosa Horse Breeders Association, and a founding member of the Family Business Form at Arizona State University. She worked as a curator at the world-famous Heard Museum of Primitive Art in Phoenix. She also served as comptroller, business manager, and president of Behavior Research Center, Inc., and managed Stonehoe Farms. Suzanne is a graduate of Antioch College in Ohio where she earned a B.A in fine arts.
Earl Vincent de Berge, Founder:
Earl is a market and business research professional and farmer. As Research Director of BRC consumer research, he enjoyed national status as chief of one of the most accurate regional political polls in the US. At the peak of Earl’s business career, he was regularly interviewed and quoted in the US media. He authored polling reports and business research for 36 years. In Guatemala, Earl coordinates research programs with INCAP, helps with Board recruitment, searches for fundraising opportunities among major donors in the U.S. and Guatemala, conducts program analysis, supports the chair in business negotiations, writes press release articles and contributes to staff morale with photo and bio articles. Earl also pioneers alliances with other NGOs, and has been visiting, living, and doing business in Guatemala for 35 years. He has served on numerous boards and commissions including Maricopa County Planning Commission (two terms as Chair), Arizona State Board of Land Appeals, Phoenix Chamber of Commerce Board, Tesseract and VVS School Boards, and the Phoenix Symphony Board. Earl is also a poet, writer, photographer, and metal sculptor.
Karen Kahn, Founder:
Karen is a graduate of Verde Vally School in Sedona which is connected to SFAF in many ways. She retired after 37 years as a captain for a major commercial airline, which makes her one of the first women to break through that industry’s glass ceiling in 1977. Since 1988 she has run a career counseling service for current and future pilots to help them navigate the competitive airstreams of commercial aviation.
She has been an active member of the SFAF for a Future Board since its founding and has brought experts to consult with us on uses of bamboo to build low-cost garden structures and unique ways to cut large caliber bamboo for use as hanging beds for seedling germination. SFAF continues to use bamboo to edge grow plots, as hanging plant starter tubs, and for frameworks to hold up rain and sunshades.
Karen is a keen observer of the strengths and weak points of project proposals brought to the Board. Karen provides excellent tough-minded program assessments. She is a door opener to opportunities inherent in her “outside the box” thinking.
Mark D. Walker, Member:
Mark is an indefatigable world traveler, Peace Corp veteran, and author of award-winning books about travel in Latin America, especially in Guatemala where he met and married his wife, Ligia. His recent award-winning Guatemala travel guide is, I may say after my 35 years exploring that country, clear and accurate. Mark has considerable NGO/nonprofit fundraising experience. He has deep Guatemala experience as an executive and consultant for organizations such as CARE International, Plan International, and the Cooperative Housing Foundation. He also helped set up the grassroots development group in Quiché, FUNDACED.
He was an Executive Fundraiser with these International organizations: World Neighbors, Food for the Hungry, CARE, PLAN, MAP, and Make a Wish. He was CEO of Hagar USA, (which supports survivors of human trafficking. He is a graduate of the Institute of Latin American Studies at the U of Texas in Austin. Mark’s influence extends beyond organizational work. He is a respected speaker at fundraising and international conferences such as the Hemispheric Congress of Fundraising in Mexico City the Phoenix Writers Club and the Arizona Professional Writers Group.
Mark is not just a member of various organizations, but a committed contributor. He is a founding board member of Advance Guatemala. His leadership roles include President of the Greater Arizona Association of Fundraising Professionals and Scottsdale North Rotary.
Books: Different Latitudes: My Life in the Peace Corps and Beyond, and My Saddest Pleasures: 50 Years on the Road, his most recent book, The Guatemala Reader: Extraordinary Lives and Amazing Stories, is a Best Seller.
His honors include the Rotary International "Service Above Self" award and interviews with Global Talk Radio and Global Connections Television. His wife and three children were born in Guatemala. To learn more about Mark and his publications, visit www.MillionMileWalker.com.
Joanne Ralston, Member:
Joanne is a highly respected and nationally recognized expert on public relations for corporate and non-profit organizations. She is highly skilled in crafting compelling news and feature stories for target audiences and media. She has also served on the boards of directors of The Foundation for Blind Children and Make-a-Wish Foundation of America, for which she also served as National Vice President of Media & Public Relations, among others. Her experience in PR is unequaled.
She adds depth to our deliberations and gives us solid guidance to help SFAF expand its visibility and brand name among key news media, corporations, civic organizations, and others. Joanne lives on the Big Island of Hawaii where she has four dogs and enjoys riding her horses. Like many of us, although "retired," she has a loyal following of multinational business officials who subscribe to her three newsletters a week on terrorism information, critical government changes and public policy issues. She was the first woman and fifth inductee of Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism Hall of Fame and was named to ASU’s School of Public Policy Hall of Fame.
Mark Winheld, Member:
Retired journalist and author of books and commentary on issues of the day. His interest in and empathy for the everyday people in Latin America is experientially derived from jobs in central Mexico, lengthy expeditions in Baja California and hiking on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru. A supporter of SFAF for many years, he visited our Chocola HQ to interview employees and participant families. He is writing a book on the history, mission, and evolution of SFAF. He and Earl were classmates at Antioch College and later earned graduate degrees at the U of Arizona, Mark has a philosophical nature, is a romantic adventurer at heart and exceedingly well-read, and would be an excellent chronicler of the SFAF humanitarian cause. Mark’s life-long love of Hispanic culture is reflected when he boldly sings songs of the Mexican Revolution while strumming a mean guitar. He is an avid competitive archer and a volunteer to his church and to hospitals and nursing homes in upstate New York. His adventurous nature is also seen in his volunteer work in Russia and Alaska for his church.
Bruce Hernandez, Member:
Bruce served as Behavior Research Center, Inc.'s Senior Vice-President of Quantitative Research and was senior project director on the Center's research projects for government agencies and in the areas of transportation, public policy, tourism, behavioral health, and facility/audience development. In this role, he designed and completed projects on a local, regional, national, and international scale.
Among Bruce's activities and affiliations are the following: Bureau of the U.S. Census Subcommittee on Population Characteristics; American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR); Vice Chairman of the Community Advisory Board, PBS Station KAET; Advisor to Arizona Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Performance Review; Board of Directors, Arizona State University Alumni Association; American Statistical Society; Valley Forward Urban Concepts Committee; American Marketing Association.
Bruce has special skills in sample and questionnaire design, data analysis and interpretation of large databases. He was co-leader of ground-breaking studies focused on the growing Hispanic consumer market and their concerns and responses to public and private media campaigns on topics such as smoking, boat safety, and nutrition. Bruce did all the sample design for BRC’s “HispanicTrack,” a pioneering study of Hispanic consumer and voter behavior and concerns, with a particular focus on health care, banking, and travel. Bruce is a trusted research specialist for government, business, and universities and will be an invaluable resource for work with INCAP and other institutions we attract to the efforts of SFAF. Bruce is a recognized expert in his field and his familiarity with cooperative studies with universities and government is legendary. Bruce has a well-deserved reputation for solving difficult sample challenges.
Benjamin Lee, Member:
Head of Verde Valley School (VVS) in Arizona. An English major, Ben says his studies in Scotland “were life-changing as I explored another culture while looking at the United States from the outside, an experience he would repeat over the next couple of decades while teaching in China and Japan. Lee earned a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in East Asian studies, both from Yale University and a doctorate in Education from Seton Hall. He has taught English in China and Japan and at schools in Louisiana, Florida, and Washington. In China, he served as principal of the Shanghai American School in Pudong beginning in 2016.
Ben and his wife Lixue Lin are animal lovers, a trait that for him traces to his experiences growing up on a farm in New York, where he enjoyed riding horses and was involved in 4-H showing livestock and poultry.
Lee sees his role as that of being a small, but steady force for good by helping people get past their differences and learn how to identify common goals and work together to achieve them. “The SFAF program does that as well. There is a dynamism and “get it done” spirit in SFAF that think I is astonishing."
Patrick Paterson, Member:
Patrick is a successful attorney and longtime supporter of SFAF. His education includes Juris Doctor, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall); his practice was primarily in the areas of contract law, partnerships, and banking. Master of International Management American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird). Bachelor of Arts, Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara and Master Gardener, The University of Arizona - Cooperative Extension.
It is important to know how he redirected his life in recent years. Almost two decades ago, he had the brass to hang up his successful legal career, sell his farm in Phoenix, and change his life course to something of greater meaning to him. He closed his law practice and retreated to a mountain farm in a California forest to explore his interests in biology, botany, and self-awareness as explored in Zen Buddhism and other philosophies, theologies, and science. He is the happiest man I know. He swears that his hermit and meditative lifestyle has resulted in breathtakingly clear thoughts.
Pursuing his interest in botany, gardening, animals, science, wilderness ecologies, and more, Patrick truly is a man for all seasons. Patrick is the only man I know who has raised llamas, sheep, emu, guinea hens, pythons, and boa constrictors. Emus or not, you will enjoy Patrick’s unique ways of thinking.
Joy Mee, Member:
Joy Mee is a professional land planner and a veteran advocate for the advancement of women’s rights, and equity in the workplace and for improving methods to achieve inclusive dialogue between citizens and government. She is skilled in program design and management with a strong emphasis on open communications. Joy has considerable experience in dealing with government agencies and is well-positioned to identify and build connections with universities that have an interest in Latin America. Joy is also an experienced small businessperson. A retired City of Phoenix Senior City Planner and women empowerment advocate, Joy is a smart, open-minded and forward-thinking humanist. Her down-to-earth philosophy of life, plus her professional planning experience in government will be an asset to our efforts.
Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, Master of Urban Planning: University of Illinois. Employment: City of Phoenix Planning Department (31 years) and City Management and Budget Department (2 years). Senior Planner for long-range planning; training citizen planners in land use advocacy; Oversight of budget and personnel functions and contracts; lobbyist for the city to state legislature; Chair of Women’s Issues Committee; Preparation of Community Block Grant federal applications; Recipient of many Arizona Planning Association awards. American Institute of Certified Planners since 1976 and elected a Fellow in 2001, the highest honor in planning.
A member since 1980 of Soroptimist International of Phoenix, a worldwide organization promoting education and training for women and girls. Joy chaired many grant and award committees and served as President 1997-98. (Researching if there is a club in Guatemala). Chair Arizona Women’s Town Hall on “Women and Aging in Arizona.”
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