Executive Committee 

Lisa Frederick, Mali ’04-’06, President 

Lisa served as a Health Extension Volunteer in a small health center and an NGO in Mali.  Her career before and after Peace Corps has been focused in the nonprofit field.  After returning from Mali, Lisa worked at the Massachusetts Service Alliance, the State Commission on Service and Volunteerism, which administers the AmeriCorps grants in Massachusetts.  In January 2011, she began work in public sector serving as the Chief of Staff for State Senator James Welch.  Lisa joined the board in May 2011.

Olga Shvayetskaya, Morocco '07-'09, Vice-President

Olga served as a Small Business Development Volunteer in Peace Corps, Morocco, where she worked with a local NGO to design and implement a product development capacity building project, funded by USAID through the Small Project Assistance grant. The initiative aimed to increase income generation potential of NGO members comprised of women and unschooled youth by expanding their existing product development skill-sets and shifting marketing goals towards the local economy. As part of the project Olga led a variety of craft classes, which culminated with the production of screen-printed jellabas (traditional Moroccan dresses). After returning from Peace Corps Olga began working with CMPartners, a conflict management firm, where she remains today.

Marcus Rozbitsky, Zambia ’06 –’09, Treasurer

Marcus served as a Rural Aquaculture Volunteer in Chiwala Village, Northern Province, Zambia. After completing his service Marcus attended Tufts University and in May of 2011 he received his M.A. in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning. Since August of 2011 he has been a Project Manager/Planner for the Brockton Redevelopment Authority.  

Cara Lane-Toomey, Morocco '05-07, Secretary

Cara served as Youth Development Volunteer in Morocco from 2005-2007. Cara served in Qelaât M'Gouna, an indigenous town on the edge of the Sahara, working on community projects ranging from photography to women's rights education. After Peace Corps, Cara worked for several years for a U.S. Congresswoman and also led high-school education trips in Morocco during the summers. From 2009-2011 Cara lived in the heart of the Arab world while she completed her graduate studies in Cairo, Egypt and now works for AMIDEAST, a non-profit that supports educational and training projects in the Middle East. Cara joined the BARPCV Board in June 2012. 

Board of Directors

Courtney Ayers, Zambia, Community Service Chair

Courtney served as a Health Extension Volunteer in Costa village in the Luapula Province of Zambia. After finishing her service,  Courtney moved to Massachusetts and worked as a Health and Nutrition Coordinator for a Head Start program in Malden. She currently attends Tufts University in the Master of Biomedical Science Program.

Joe Ferguson, Bulgaria '04-'06, Community Grants Chair

Joe served in Kolarovo, Bulgaria, a village located in the southwestern part of the country near the borders of Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. His primary assignment was TEFL and he taught students at the primary and secondary levels. In addition to his teaching duties he focused on securing funding for and implementing small community development projects in Kolarovo and other communities. Originally from Missouri, Joe relocated to New York after his Peace Corps service to attend graduate school. He and his wife, also a RPCV, moved to Boston in 2010. Outside of work and BARPCV he enjoys playing golf, snowboarding, and being outside with is dog Louie. 

Brent Goulding, Costa Rica, Careers Chair

Brent joined Liberty Mutual in July 2010 as a Senior Business Consultant in the Corporate Development Program after completing his MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Phoenix, Arizona.  Brent did his MBA internship at Spring Capital, a venture capital firm based out Salt Lake City, Utah.  Prior to business school, he worked in financial services and education. Brent also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica, leading infrastructure projects to facilitate economic development at a community level.  Brent received a BA in Government and Spanish from Georgetown University.  He enjoys studying languages, volunteering, and a variety of sports including basketball and skiing.

Andrew Johnson, Moldova '06-'08, TGIF Co-Chair

Originally from Kansas, Andrew served as a TEFL volunteer in a regional high school in northern Moldova.  In addition to classroom teaching, he coached the men's and women's high school basketball team, the latter of which to a national championship.  In addition his Model UN teams placed first and fifth in the country, and his Odyssey of the Mind team placed first nationally, and were invited to the European Championship in Berlin, placing third.  (Don't give him too much credit, though, they were all the same group of students)  Also, Andrew and his wife Sarah did a book collection project at the local library, importing and organizing English language library books for students.  The project has since continued to grow.

Jan Le, Guatemala '00-'02 & Peru '02-'03, Membership Chair

Jan is originally from San Diego, California. She served as a Peace Corps Volunteer through the Master’s International Program at Loma Linda University School of Public Health. Her countries of service were Guatemala (2000-2002) and Peru (2002-2003). As a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala, she worked with three rural primary schools to help them achieve “Healthy School” status. She taught health, nutrition, and hygiene education to students and teachers; empowered communities to play an active role in their children’s education; and participated in community functions and traditions that enriched her life. While in Peru, as one of the first volunteers to be welcomed back in-country after 28 years of PC hiatus, she was assigned to work in a rural community healthcare clinic. As the Healthcare Promoter, she worked on building capacity; supporting clinical staff in health and nutrition projects; and laying the foundation for future volunteers to expand healthcare services throughout the country. Jan recently moved to Boston with her husband who is attending Tufts University Dental School. She works at Centering Healthcare Institute as the Professional Services Manager. They currently reside in Dorchester. During her free time, she enjoys hiking, exploring New England area, and meeting new RPCVs. 

Pamela Lepkowsi, Chad '95-'97, Events Co-Chair

Pamela served as a Community Health volunteer in a small town in southern Chad. There she worked on several health projects including the building of 6 latrines, working with a woman’s group for self sustaining soap development and working at the local clinic. Pamela currently is an assistant Editor for the Journal of Radiology. She joined the BARPCV board in 2011 after working on the Events committee for the 50 anniversary. Pamela has been a member of BARPCV since 2000.

Shelly Liebetreu, Western Samoa, '92-'94, Fundraising Chair 

Shelly Liebetreu served as a secondary science and English teacher on the island of Savaii in Western Samoa. Since returning she has been raising funds and awareness for environmental and social service agencies in Milwaukee, WI, Monteverde, Costa Rica and Chicago, IL. Two years ago she landed in Boston, MA and currently works with several local and national not-for-profits as a  fundraising/grant writing consultant. 

Joan Marshall-Missiye, Togo, 2004-06, Communications Chair

As a Peace Corps community health volunteer in the canton of Atchinedji in Togo, West Africa, Joan facilitated educational sessions in schools and farming communities that resulted in mass awareness of village health issues such as nutrition, vaccination, family planning, water and sanitation, and HIV/AIDS. After the Peace Corps, Joan lived in South Korea as an English teacher, received a Master's degree from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, traveled to Cote d'Ivoire and Rwanda to do research on women as peacekeepers, and worked as an international development fellow for Catholic Relief Services in DR Congo. Joan currently works for Management Sciences for Health in Cambridge as a senior project officer supporting the Integrated Health Project in the DR Congo. She lives in Somerville with her husband, Koudjo. 

Erin Morehouse, Uganda '06-'08, Events Co-Chair

Erin served as an Education Volunteer in Uganda, where she worked with primary school teachers to build a library and to put on a music, dance, and drama performance which reached out to 37 rural village schools with messages about safe and respectful behavior.  Being a PCV opened her eyes to the field of public health, and she now is finishing her MPH at Boston University.  Erin joined the BARPCV events committee in 2010, this is her first time on the board.  Currently Erin manages a research laboratory at MIT which is working on research projects related to novel cancer treatments and vaccines to HIV and malaria. 

Anna Omura, Togo '04-'06, Speakers Bureau

Anna Omura served as a Natural Resource Management (NRM) Extension Agent in Togo, West Africa. Her work included reforestation, energy conservation techniques, training on eco-tourism and agro-forestry. She assisted Togolese women's groups to start small enterprises and she also built, stocked, and staffed a rural health clinic. Currently, Anna is the Operations Manager at the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT, which promotes for-profit enterprise in low-income countries by assisting aspiring entrepreneurs to develop and commercialize their business plans through education, conferences, lectures and networking opportunities. Anna spent six years as a founding partner of a candle manufacturing company in Denver, CO.

Doane Perry, Uganda 1966 - 1969, Member at Large
Doane served as an education volunteer in Uganda after training at Columbia University Teachers College. He taught African and world history at secondary schools in Sebei on the side of Mt. Elgon and in the capital Kampala. He created a Uganda Peace Corps Magazine for volunteers and added to the African history pre-colonial curriculum. Starting with BARPCV as board member, secretary and vice president in the early 1990s, Doane served as president from 1994 to 2007. He organized a BARPCV environment committee and a film festival and played on the softball team. He led celebrations of the five year anniversaries of the Peace Corps at the Kennedy Library and of the thirtieth anniversary of BARPCV. After retiring as BARPCV president in 2007, he has served on the board and has been on the events committee of the BARPCV Peace Corps 50th anniversary celebration. He hopes his historical experience contributes to the on-going operation of this excellent organization which is among the best in the country and continues to improve. 

He co-founded Friends of Uganda in 1991 and is a leader of that country of service group today. 
As a former anthropology teacher at Lasell Jr. College in Newton who specializes in visual communication, he tracks and reviews film and video by current and former Peace Corps Volunteers. From 1994-1999, he represented New England on the National Peace Corps Association board of directors, where he was secretary and vice-chairman and chaired the advocacy committee. He was on the board of directors of the issue group RPCVs for Environment and Development during the 1990s. Before and after Peace Corps, he worked in education as a teacher of social studies and anthropology at Anatolia College in Thessaloniki, Greece, the United Nations International School in New York, Meadowbrook and Newton South in the Newton public schools and at Lasell Junior College in Newton, Mass.He worked in the information technology industry as a consultant in the cable television industry for Westinghouse and Comcast, as a telecommunications industry analyst for International Data Corporation in Framingham and in marketing and sales for Digital Equipment Corporation in Marlboro and Acton. Currently he is an innkeeper who owns A Bed and Breakfast in Cambridge [cambridgebnb.com] near Harvard Square.

Mike Toomey, Morocco, '05-'07, Photo Contest Chair

Mike was a Natural Resources and Development volunteer in Morocco from 2005-2007 where he lived in a Berber-speaking village in the Atlas Mountains. After the Peace Corps, Mike pursued a PhD in Geography at the University of California Santa Barbara, studying tropical forests by satellite - and on the ground occasionally. Since the winter of 2011-2012, he has been serving as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and has joined the BARPCV board this summer.

Michael Vivaldi, Guatemala '96-‘97, Sports Coordinator

Michael served as an environmental education volunteer in three rural Guatemala villages of San Agustin, Acasaguastlan, El Progreso in eastern Guatemala. Michael also worked with an NGO to promote the importance and ecological significance of the unique equatorial cloud forest to the local people living and dependent on the high elevation rain forest. The cloud forest is disappearing at an alarming rate and once it has been cut, it does not regenerate itself. After completing his service, Michael earned a graduate degree from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst in Regional Planning in 2003. Michael is currently working for the Town of Wilmington as Assistant Planner. As Sports Coordinator, he gladly accepts new opportunities for BARPCVs to participate in group sports activities throughout Greater Boston. 

Currently Recruiting

BARPCV is currently recruiting for people to organize our 2012 Annual Photo Contest. To nominate yourself or a fellow RPCV to one of these positions or to learn more, please contact info@barpcv.org.