Our Team
Staff - Board of Directors - Board of Advisors
Manna Project International (MPI) is a volunteer driven 501(c)(3) non-profit organization serving international communities through holistic development. The MPI network is made up of three international sites, twelve university campus chapters, and a growing base of volunteer alumni.
Our international sites are run by 13-month volunteers called Program Directors, who currently come from twelve different universities across the US and Canada. Over the last five years, our Program Directors have represented over 22 different universities.
Additionally, MPI’s university chapters serve communities near their campuses through local programs in addition to promoting our international sites by sending Spring Break trips and 4-week and 8-week summer volunteers.
MPI Staff
Lori Scharffenberg, Executive Director
Katie Messick, Nicaragua Director
Darcy Phillips, Ecuador Director
Dana Zichlin, Guatemala Co-Director
Greg Welch, Financial & Administrative Manager
Lori Scharffenberg
As one of Manna Project's founders, Lori has been a vital part of the MPI team since graduating from Vanderbilt University in 2004 with a degree in Childhood Education. Lori's involvement began when she helped charter the organization in January of 2004. Soon after she went on to teach pre-school in Nicaragua. In the years that followed, she has both overseen the organizational growth and development of the Nicaragua site for three years and has spent the past three years as MPI's Executive Director.
Joel Griffith
After graduating from Palm Beach Atlantic University with a degree in Biology, Joel went a completely different direction helping at-risk youth in the non-profit world for 7 years. Spending half of his childhood internationally in the Caribbean and Europe, Joel was ready to integrate this with his non-profit experience and spent several years as Executive Director for an organization working in Haiti and Nicaragua. This lead to a recently completed M.A. in Intercultural Studies with an International Development concentration from Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, CA. Joel, his wife and their two boys are excited to be back in the Nashville area, while still connected to the international work at Manna. As US Director, Joel handles campus chapter oversight and stateside administration.
Katie Messick
Katie did her undergraduate degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Mary Washington College and then moved to Boston, MA. where she worked for Cultural Survival, an indigenous rights organization. Next she lead 3 international youth travel and service programs for her YMCA in the Berkshires. After doing sales and marketing for an international educational travel organization, Education First, Katie joined Peace Corps and served as an Urban Youth Development Volunteer in Paraguay. Katie graduated in May 2011 with a Masters in International Development Policy from Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy. While at Duke, Katie interned for Save the Children and Restless Development in Uganda. Katie became our Nicaragua Director in the summer of 2011.
Darcy Phillips
Darcy graduated from Xavier University with a degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies and then moved to Ecuador to volunteer with Rostro de Cristo. During her time in Ecuador she taught English, ran an afterschool program and taught a literacy course to children. This experience led her to earn her Master´s degree in Social Justice from Loyola University Chicago, while continuing to work in the field of international development with buildOn. Darcy now brings her passion for service and community development to MPI Ecuador.
As Ecuador Director, Darcy oversees all programs and volunteers at our Ecuador site.
Dana Zichlin
Dana Zichlin, the trailblazer who led the eight-week feasibility trip that preceded the founding of the Guatemala site, hails from Westfield, New Jersey. A long-standing NY Yankees fan and avid candid photographer, she helped build a dam alongside Engineers Without Borders in Tsuraku, Ecuador during college. This confirmed her interest in international development and inspired her to continue working in the field with MPI. Dana brings her leadership skills and fluency in Latin American culture to our newest site, and hopes to continue working abroad in the future. Dana is a graduate of Connecticut College, where she majored in Green Psychology.
Greg Welch
Prior to joining Manna, Greg spent 17 years as a CPA, with the majority of that time being spent as an auditor. He has worked for several public accounting firms in Nashville, ranging from small, local firms, to top 10 largest firms in the country. During this time, he worked with numerous not-for-profit entities in the area, as a service provider and a volunteer. Greg completed both a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Accounting from the Univeristy of Tennessee. Recently he felt a calling to use his talents to help others and joined Manna. Greg, his wife and two children live in Franklin, Tennessee.
Board of Directors
Zak Schwarzman: Board Chair
MBA candidate, Columbia Business School
New York, NY
Zak Schwarzman has served on MPI's board since 2008. Zak first became involved with MPI as a founding Program Director at MPI's Ecuador Site in 2007. He is currently pursuing his MBA at Columbia Business School and is an active member of New York's entrepreneurial community, working with several venture capital firms and startups in the technology and education spaces. Prior to Columbia, Zak spent six years launching and raising institutional funding for international and economic development ventures. Most recently, Zak worked as a senior associate with Seedco, designing and raising over $25 million for job training and small business lending programming, with an emphasis on the green economy. Previously, Zak worked as the Central and South America Regional Field Director for the Obama campaign, designing and executing a pilot initiative to organize American voters living abroad in Latin America. He earned a B.A. in Political Economy with a minor in Business from Tulane University in 2005.
Marcela Camargo: Treasurer
MBA Candidate, Kellogg School of Management
Evanston, IL
Marcela graduated from Vanderbilt in 2007 and joined the MPI Nicaragua team that summer. As a Program Director, Marcela ran Manna’s Child Sponsorship Program in La Chureca, taught math and literacy classes, and led groups of weeklong volunteers. After leaving Nicaragua, Marcela spent three years working in the education sector first as a recruitment associate with Teach For America and then as growth strategy & development associate with Teach For All. Marcela stayed involved with Manna by participating in MPI’s first Chapter Leadership Conference and helping with PD recruitment efforts. In 2008 she joined Manna’s board as Treasurer of the board.
Chris Taylor
MBA Candidate, Yale School of Management
New Haven, Connecticut
Chris is currently pursuing his MBA at the Yale School of Management and looking to enter a career in healthcare strategy and operations. Before business school, Chris spent four years with MPI in several different capacities. He first served as a Program Director in Nicaragua and later became MPI’s first U.S. Director. He has continued to be actively involved in an advisory role with the Guatemala site and is excited to participate in this new role contributing to the organization’s strategic vision and oversight.
Simon Bowers
Senior Account Executive, Marketing & Public Relations
Boston, MA
Simon Bowers is a public relations and marketing professional with 6+ years of experience. He is currently a Senior Account Executive in Cone Communication’s Corporate Responsibility (CR) practice in Boston, where he does everything from strategic planning to social media outreach and media relations for a variety of clients.
Simon was first introduced to Manna Project International (MPI) two years ago in a microbus on the dusty roads of Guatemala, as the directors were scouting for the next international site. Shortly thereafter he was exploring the MPI Nicaragua site and, well, the rest is history. Though never an in-country MPI volunteer, Simon has been an advocate since day one and is excited to put his professional skills to work for the organization.
Mark Hand
Investment Associate/Venture Capital
Mumbai, India
Mark is an Investment Associate at the First Light Ventures, an Atlanta-based seed-fund that invests in for-profit startups focused on poverty alleviation and access to energy. Before that, Mark founded the MPI-Ecuador site, co-founded and led MPI’s chapter at Vanderbilt University, and co-founded the Consortium for Student Global Service. Mark has advised nonprofits, for-profit social enterprises, and government agencies, including an HIV hospice in Botswana and a startup coworking space in his native Louisiana. Mark studied International Political Economy at Vanderbilt as a Fleming-Hayes and Ingram Scholar, and he will attend Saïd Business School at Oxford in the fall of 2012 as a Rotary and Skoll Scholar. He writes at firstlight.vc and has guest-blogged for nextbillion.net and devex.com.
Lauren Burgweger
MBA Candidate, George Washington University
Washington, D.C.
After graduating from Syracuse University with a BA in Psychology, Lauren began her career at GADC, a non-profit in her hometown of Greenwich, CT. There she explored and gained experience in many aspects of non-profit management, including fundraising, volunteer coordination, program development, events planning and marketing. She ultimately assumed the position of Director of Marketing and Special Events. In this position, Lauren worked closely with the Board of Directors and managed all events, communications and marketing strategy.
Currently, Lauren is getting her MBA from George Washington University School of Business and is looking forward to graduating in May. There she has taken an active role in the GW MBA community and served on the student governance board as the VP of Events and she also served as the Executive VP for National Association of Women MBAs. Non-profits and volunteerism have always been an important aspect of her life; Lauren is looking forward to being a part of the Manna Project Board.
Jo Anna Faith
Boulder, Colorado
Jo Anna Faith lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband Greg Faith and practices law in Denver, Colorado. She has a daughter who lives in Brooklyn and works for Friends of the Children, a not-for-profit in Harlem. She also has a son, daughter-in-law and grandson who live in Denver.
Jo Anna's interest with Manna Project International began in 2004 when her daughter Jessie was one of the first program directors in Nicaragua. She visited that year and then also five years later as a member of Manna's Advisory Board. While on the Advisory Board, she worked on some of the not-for-profit issues.
She graduated from the University of Colorado in 1972 and University of Denver law school in 1980. Presently she serves on the University of Colorado Public Interest Internship Experience Advisory Board and the University of Colorado William Goddard Endowment Fund. Recently she served on the St. Elizabeth's School board and in the past has served on the University of Denver Law Review Alumni Advisory Board and the Colorado Womens BAR Association Board. She was a member of Leadership Denver and has been active in professional and parent/teacher organizations.
Advisory Board Member
Anne Dugan
