Lauren joined the Olancho Aid team in March 2021. She brings over 10 years experience in grassroots leadership, strategic partnership management, and international development along with a strong background working with NGOs that serve the people of Central America and the Caribbean. She completed a Masters in International Management and Policy from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service. Lauren resides near Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Jessica first connected with Olancho Aid in 2007 as a volunteer teacher in Honduras. In 2016 she rejoined the organization and has served as Director of Advancement and Director of U.S. Operations. Her efforts have supported the volunteer program, fundraising, strategy development and stabilization of operations in the U.S. Jessica resides near Pittsburgh, PA.

Carlos has devoted his life to the Olancho Aid Foundation for over 20 years. Early on he managed everything from volunteers and mission teams to fundraising and strategy development. He worked closely with Olancho Aid’s founder to manage operations and grow the organization. Today he manages the partnership between Olancho Aid and the Diocese of Juticalpa. Carlos and his wife Reina live in Juticalpa with their 4 children.

Meagan founded and developed Nasdaq’s ESG advisory services team which advises corporate issuers on all ESG issues including disclosure, ratings agencies, frameworks (SASB, GRI, TCFD, SDG’s etc) and investor engagement. Meagan received her MBA from  the University of Notre Dame where she was the President of the Net Impact Club, a national organization aimed at reimagining capitalism for a sustainable future.  While at Notre Dame she lead a team of MBA Students on a consulting project with Fundacao Amazonas Sustentavel a leading environmental agency in the Amazon in commercializing their PIrarucu Supply chain to impact fisherfolk in remote regions of the Amazon.  Prior to her studies she worked as a Development Manager at Fair Trade USA where she focused developing relationships with mission-driven philanthropists who wanted to transform and invest in agricultural supply chains around the world.

Jacqueline is a Honduran and French citizen with a 35-year history of working internationally in key strategic roles across cultures and industries facilitating alliances in public and private sectors. She is passionate about leading change and challenging the “status quo”. Jacqueline’s mantras are: be creative, be thought provoking, be forward-looking, have common sense, and be sustainable. This is her DNA.

Aside her business career Jacqueline was Secretary of the Board of Directors of Honduran Red Cross during five years and is an active equestrian (Dressage) in Honduras and Wellington (FL).

She resides between Tegucigalpa, Roatan and Wellington (FL).

Jacqueline joined the Olancho Aid Foundation board of directors in 2021.

Jim Flanagan is the Director of Youth Ministry for Holy Name Parish in West Roxbury, MA. He is the husband to Paula of over 17 years and the father to Liam (12 years old – 7th grade).

Jim boasts having the best vocation ever and consideres it an honor and a blessing to serve junior high, high school and college age youth and young adults through the Catholic Church for almost 30 years.

A highlight of Jim’s ministry has been leading and participating in mission trip service, his first experience was in 1995.  Since then he has coordinated trips in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, West Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, the Virgin Islands, Bolivia and Honduras.

Jim’s first trip to Juticalpa was in 2006 with a wonderful group of college young people and Olancho Aid Foundation quickly secured a special place in his heart. His love for the organization comes from his love for the people, the communities that he and his groups have worked with over the years, supporting the funding of five water filtration systems, and the mission of the Foundation. All of these things and more have helped him commit to and have a passion for Christian service and Catholic Social Teaching.

Jim enjoys sharing his expertise and experiences with others who are interested in leading youth or young adults to Honduras. He joins the Olancho Aid board of directors in 2022.

Jackie is the owner and director of Casa de Amigos Bilingual Preschool. She is a graduate of Louisiana State University and has a Master’s degree in Elementary Education (K-8 & Spanish). She has been an educator in the Ascension Public School System since 1998. In 2007, she and her husband built the first bilingual preschool (Casa de Amigos Preschool) in Ascension Parish. Their 3 year old son, Matthew was one of the first students enrolled. She firmly believes education is the key to transformation.

At the age of 3, Jackie and her parents left their home in Havana, Cuba in the pursuit of religious and political freedom. They left their home with only the clothes on their backs and the love of Christ in their hearts. Her parent’s hardships and sacrifices have always served as her driving force to support those in need.

Due to the similarities between Cuba and Honduras, Olancho holds a very special place in her heart. She first visited Honduras in 2008 and Juticalpa in 2012 as a member of the St. John Mission Team. She has been an active member of the Olancho Aid Board since 2014. Jackie and her husband of 30 years, Jan, live in Prairieville, Louisiana with their son, Matthew. Their daughter Marissa served OAF as a Summer Immersion Counselor in 2014 and Summer Immersion Camp Coordinator in 2015 & 2016.

Being a member of Alpha Delta Kappa-Beta Eta Chapter Sorority, has given Jackie the opportunity to facilitate the partnering in education between ADK-Beta Eta, St. John’s mission team, special needs professionals, and Olancho Aid’s Escuelita Nazareth. Jackie is a member of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Prairieville, LA, and a committee member for their mission team.

Susan is a nationally recognized emergency medicine physician executive with expertise in the development and implementation of health policy. She’s an experienced data scientist facile in the use of predictive analytics derived from national and local data sets to provide clinical and business intelligence to healthcare entities. She is actively engaged in assisting emergency service providers adapt to payment models that support the alignment of patients, physicians, providers and payers to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care. Susan is a former Regional Chief Medical Officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Over twenty years of experience participating in and leading non-profit organizations working in Latin America has led her to teaching global health courses and she is currently engaged in building sustainable communities in Honduras through ecological and educational initiatives.

Susan resides in Hinsdale, Illinois.

Ignacio is a Director in the Securitisation Products Team (Capital Markets) at SMBC Bank, London. He has over 15 years experience across Structured Finance field.

He is currently responsible for co-managing the securitisation facilities providing financing to Corporate and Institutional clients across the United States, United Kingdom, France, Switzerland and Spain.

Before joining SMBC Bank, Ignacio worked for 9 years at Lloyds Banking Group and almost 4 years at Moody’s Investor Services. Being a Spanish national, he has a strong academic background, having studied a double degree: BSc. in International Business (ICADE, Madrid) and BSc in Business Administration (Northeastern University, Boston). In addition, Ignacio obtained his Private Pilot License at the Euro American School of Aviation (Ormond, US). Ignacio is currently undertaking his Executive MBA at London Business School.

Ignacio has played an active role in the volunteer initiative “Give and Gain” project, and will joins Olancho Aid as a Board Member in 2022.

Colleen Scopano is an educator with over 15 years of experience in corporate learning and development, K-12 teacher training, instructional coaching, and face-to-face & virtual classroom teaching. She is currently a learning and development consultant, partnering with corporate clients to develop impactful and engaging adult learning experiences.

Colleen was a volunteer teacher with Olancho Aid from 2007-2008. She is passionate about helping people and teams learn, grow and reach their full potential. Colleen resides in Marietta, Georgia with her husband and children.

Colleen joins the Olancho Aid Foundation board of directors in 2022.

Kerry is a 3rd grade English Language Arts teacher at Fairview Elementary in Dayton, OH. Over the past 8 years, she has taught Kindergarten-5th grade students in the general education and English Language Learner settings at Warner Arts Magnet School in Nashville, TN and now in Dayton, OH.

At Warner, she led the school leadership team for two years and served as the Title I grant coordinator during the 2018-2019 school year. For Dayton Public Schools, she has been a member of the school leader ship team for three years, as well as a Lead Teacher during virtual learning for the 2020-2021 school year. She attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, graduating with a degree in Early Childhood Education. Additionally she received her master’s in Reading Specialty & Administration from Lipscomb University.

Kerry’s first experience with Olancho Aid was with a mission team from Holy Family Catholic Church of Brentwood, Tennessee, in the summer of 2012. She has returned on several trips with the team. In 2014, she moved to Juticalpa, Honduras, to work for the Olancho Aid Foundation, volunteering as a 4th-6th grade teacher.

Kerry joined the Olancho Aid Foundation board of directors in 2019.

Stephanie Fore serves as a strategic advisor to the Foundation on the volunteer program. She lived in Honduras for over four years as a volunteer and worked to develop a strong volunteer community as Volunteer Coordinator for Olancho Aid Foundation from 2017-2019.

Stephanie recently returned to her hometown of Saint Paul, MN and plans to pursue a masters degree.

Dr. Oswaldo Lastres serves as a strategic advisor to the Foundation on medical mission work. He has been active in medical missions since 2001 and has served populations in Peru, Bolivia, and Guatemala.  Most recently, he has been helping to identify new ways to the improve the health of the Juticalpa community as a liaison to the Hospital San Francisco. In 2019, he facilitated the donations of medications and supplies to the hospital by OAF donors in response to the dengue epidemic.

Dr. Lastres is of Cuban descent and is a heritage Spanish speaker. He resides in Hinsdale, Illinois and is an active parishioner of St. Francis Xavier parish in Lagrange where he serves on the peace and social justice committee.

Jim Walker is a strategic advisor to the Foundation on accounting. He has an MBA from the Western New England University and a B.S. in Accounting from Old Dominion University. Across his career, he has held the positions of Chief Financial Officer, Controller, and Director of Operations. These roles have allowed him to gain a broad knowledge of organizational structure, business finance and accounting controls.

Jim resides in Gorham, Maine with his wife of 43 years, Kathy. They have three children and seven grandchildren. Jim has been an active member of his church and town finance committees, as a Eucharistic minister, and with Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). He served on the IMA Global Board of Directors and chaired the IMA’s Committee on Ethics.