Our highly qualified and dedicated staff are committed to bringing help and hope to the hidden and hurting. Whether they are serving alongside villagers or serving in important operational roles in one of our resource offices, each person is a valued contributor to ending extreme poverty.
SUPPORT OUR STAFF
GHNI adheres to a funding philosophy which separates staff funds from project funds. The majority of our staff raise their own funding.
Click “learn more” to contact, donate, and read a short bio on each of our amazing staff below!
Geneva International HQ Staff
Henry Deneen
CEO
Lana Jones
Co-Founder & Board Member
Wes & Suzie Brenneman
Global Leadership Team & Geneva Institute for Leadership & Public Policy
Charlie Lamento
Criminal Law & Policy Center Director
Kehaulani Uyeda
Global Human Resources, Short Term Trips Coordinator, Field Reports Director
Henry Deneen
CEO
With 30 years of experience in leadership in cross-cultural work, Henry has been an attorney, Judge, Chief Legal Counsel for the Governor of South Carolina, Exec. Director of the Center for Global Strategies, and founder of Blindspot Solutions.
Henry and his family lived in France while he and Celia worked in N. Africa to connect professionals with business/government leaders. He served for eight years as President of Greater Europe Mission. Henry’s Doctorate in Exec. Leadership focused on Emotional Intelligence enables him to connect people by bridging cultural, political, and social divides.
Lana Jones
Co-Founder & Board Member
Lana, a graduate of the University of Hawaii, worked closely with her late husband of 52 years, Hal Jones, by assisting in their very successful real estate company as a trainer, acting as campaign secretary when he ran for political office and won, and now as co-founder and board member of Global Hope Network International.
Wes & Suzie Brenneman
Global Leadership Team & Geneva Institute for Leadership & Public Policy
Wes and Suzie have worked as a team with non-profit agencies since 1964. For 33 years, they lived and worked in the Pacific Islands and in New Zealand.
Charlie Lamento
Criminal Law & Policy Center Director
Lamento is a legislative advocate, an accomplished lawyer, former criminal prosecutor, and criminal investigator with an extensive background in the investigation, prosecution, and punishment of complex crimes, including trying cases by judge and jury
Kehaulani Uyeda
Global Human Resources, Short Term Trips Coordinator, Field Reports Director
With her BA in Marketing, Kehau worked in real estate marketing and residential management before teaching elementary and middle school students for nearly 20 years. She is pleased to now work in humanitarian aid alongside her mother, GHNI Co-Founder, Lana Jones.
United States Resource Staff
Peggy Fiala
Office Manager & Editor, USA
Mary Johnston
Staff Care & Editor, USA
Dennis Morman
Video Producer, USA
Dave & Wendy Briggs
Partner & Resource Development Team, USA
Guy & Jan Piersall
Partner & Resource Development Team, USA
Peggy Fiala
Office Manager & Editor, USA
Peggy has been with GHNI almost since our inception! Peggy keeps our office running in Orlando and makes sure that our donors are well cared for. Additionally, she assists in our in-house publications, accounts receivable, and data system.
Mary Johnston
Staff Care & Editor, USA
Mary holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration. She served 17 years as editor and publisher of an arts magazine. Mary then taught at the Orange County Correctional Center for more than 10 years helping inmates with life skills, vocational testing, and acquiring their GEDs.
Dennis Morman
Video Producer, USA
Dennis is a graduate of Southern Illinois University with a BS in Cinematography. He has produced hundreds of film and video presentations in a variety of genres from documentary, to training, to promotional, to short narrative.
Dave & Wendy Briggs
Partner & Resource Development Team, USA
Dave and Wendy Briggs are from Minnesota. Dave received a degree in secondary education and Wendy received a degree in elementary education from Mankato State University.
Guy & Jan Piersall
Partner & Resource Development Team, USA
Guy and Jan both grew up in Oregon. After college, Guy entered the business world of finance and insurance. Jan became an elementary and middle school teacher. In 2003, they retired from their careers, moved to Pahrump, Nevada in 2004 near Las Vegas and worked with other nonprofits helping with development.
Africa Staff
Martins & Shade Atanda
Regional Field Leader, Africa
Fidel Akilu Wataro
Interim Field Leader, Ethiopia
Wubshet & Habiba Mengesha
National Field Leaders, Kenya
Martins & Shade Atanda
Regional Field Leader, Africa
Martins holds a Doctoral degree in Global Leadership and Shade is an attorney-at -law called to the Nigerian Bar. They both have been involved in humanitarian work in remote villages of North West Nigeria since the 1990s.
Fidel Akilu Wataro
Interim Field Leader, Ethiopia
Born in Cuba, I lived most of my life in Ethiopia with my family in Addis Ababa. I studied marketing management in Ethiopia and then got a scholarship to study informatics engineering at the University of Pinar in Cuba.
Wubshet & Habiba Mengesha
National Field Leaders, Kenya
Wubshet and Habiba direct GHNI’s work for the regional discussions and coordination efforts for the poor villages of northern Kenya. They came to GHNI with a strong background in helping the poor, having previously worked with Food for the Hungry and similar organizations.
Asia Staff
Jeff & Beth Latsa
Field Strategy Coordinator - Regional Field Leader of Central Asia
Giancarla Linera
Regional Field Leader Assistant, Central Asia
Gary & Elaine Thomas
Assistant Regional Field Leaders, Afghanistan
BAŞAK ÇELİK
Volunteer TCD Worker, Central Asia
Kiran Karki
National Leader, Nepal
Solomon Shwe Oke
National Field Leader, Myanmar
Josh & Lisa Inman
Regional Field Leaders, Southeast Asia
Trey & Madison Cason
SE Asia Support Staff
Raisa Omurbaeva
GHNI Partner, Central Asia
Regional Field Leader, South Asia
National Leader, India
Gabby Marandi
Administrative Support, South Asia
Jeff & Beth Latsa
Field Strategy Coordinator - Regional Field Leader of Central Asia
Jeff & Beth Latsa lived and worked in the Middle East for 12 years before joining GHNI in 2003. Although Jeff has been involved in disaster relief, his true passion is self-sustainable community development. He is one of the architects of GHNI’s development model, Transformational Community Development (TCD), along with the other Jeff – Jeff Power.
Giancarla Linera
Regional Field Leader Assistant, Central Asia
Giancarla serves with GHNI from her home country of Bolivia. After earning a degree in industrial engineering, she added financial management and international commerce. Later, she earned diplomas in preparation/evaluation of investments, culinary arts, and an associate’s in transcultural studies.
Gary & Elaine Thomas
Assistant Regional Field Leaders, Afghanistan
Gary is a retired full Colonel, US Air Force, serving 18 months in Afghanistan and Iraq as a career Air Force computer systems officer. Elaine is and has been the owner of a successful health and nutrition business for over 25 years, A Gift of Health.
BAŞAK ÇELİK
Volunteer TCD Worker, Central Asia
Başak graduated in History and in Education from Ankara, Turkey. She has extensive experience in various fields as she worked as an Education Specialist for a children’s publishing house, a project manager for an organization assisting disabled children in Turkey.
Kiran Karki
National Leader, Nepal
Kiran has a Master’s Degree in Sociology from Nepal and he helps GHNI with his expertise in enterprise development, government and public relations, and helping poor and orphan children. His prior experience with the NGO Winrock International is very valuable for his role as a trainer for Transformational Leadership Development in GHNI.
Solomon Shwe Oke
National Field Leader, Myanmar
Born in Chin State, my family moved to Yangon for better education and life. I graduated from Dagon University in English Specialization. I am now pursuing my Masters in Community Development in the Myanmar Institute of Theology, Liberal Arts Program.
Josh & Lisa Inman
Regional Field Leaders, Southeast Asia
Josh and Lisa met at the University of Illinois where they were both engaged in agricultural studies. Josh graduated with a B.S. in Crop Science and Lisa with a B.S. in Animal Science.
Trey & Madison Cason
SE Asia Support Staff
Trey is a postgraduate with a Master of Social Work in Community Development, and he has experience working in the fields of homelessness, refugee resettlement, international development, and public policy. Maddie holds a degree in Science and Math Education and she works as a math teacher, special educator, and coach.
Raisa Omurbaeva
GHNI Partner, Central Asia
Born in Kyrgyzstan, I am a public relations journalist by training. Our family lives in the village where my husband Zhanysh grew up. He runs a business training farmers and I organize clubs for teachers to improve their skills and personal growth.
Regional Field Leader, South Asia
Our regional field leader in South Asia belongs to one of the largest tribal groups in India called the Santals in the Jharkhand District. He is a college graduate and one of the very few to pursue education in his tribe. When he began working with GHNI in community development, he began with his own village of Dhoker Jhara where they suffered from poverty, diseases, and lack of education.
National Leader, India
Growing up in a poor rural family in India, our national leader in India experienced the needs and suffering of the community firsthand and always wanted to help them overcome the cycle of poverty. After earning his college degree, he worked as staff in an NGO for six years.
Gabby Marandi
Administrative Support, South Asia
Gabby Marandi is an ESE educator with five years of experience empowering children with
disabilities and supporting their families to thrive. Passionate about social and life skills
education, she joined GHNI to make a meaningful impact in communities in need. In her role
in administration and reporting, she gathers and shares inspiring success stories from
Transformational Community Development programs while contributing to sustainable
development and witnessing the tangible, positive changes these initiatives create.
Middle East Staff
Youhanna Adly
National Field Leader, Egypt
Sal Nassar
National Field Leader, Jordan & Assistant Regional Field Leader, MENA
Rosine Bassous
Office Administrator, Jordan
Fadi Al Sayegh
Project Manager, Jordan
Youhanna Adly
National Field Leader, Egypt
Youhanna was born in Upper Egypt and he is a graduate in sociology with a professional doctorate in human development. He worked with street children in southern Sudan for three years. Following that, he served in various places to help the poor in Jordan, Uganda, UAE, Kenya, Libya, and northern Sudan.
Sal Nassar
National Field Leader, Jordan & Assistant Regional Field Leader, MENA
Sal’s experience in humanitarian work dates back to 2012 when the country of Jordan welcomed hundreds of thousands of people finding refuge in Jordan. Since then, he became involved with GHNI’s Jordan relief work, providing Help and Hope for many refugees and locals between 2012-2017.
Rosine Bassous
Office Administrator, Jordan
I studied Journalism and political science. Before joining GHNI, I was a project manager where I was responsible for helping millennials become future leaders in their communities. My husband Marwan and I believe that the best thing we can do as a family is to always be ready to help people, especially those who are in need.
Fadi Al Sayegh
Project Manager, Jordan
Fadi has spent the past decade serving refugees and supporting impoverished communities through various organizations while also working as an officer. With training in Transformational Community Development (TCD), he empowers communities with sustainable, long-term solutions that address their most pressing needs. His wife, Maryam, an Arabic as a Second Language teacher, has been a key partner in his outreach efforts. Passionate about volunteering and continuous learning, Fadi consistently develops his skills to make a lasting impact.