Board of Directors

The AIDG Board is currently engaged with Korngold Consulting in the transformation of its board for organizational growth and development. This is an exciting development for the organization and the new board will be announced December 2009.

Adam Hyde, Chairman		Adam Hyde works for Blu Skye Ventures, Inc, a leading consulting group that helps the world's top companies transform strategically and operationally toward social and environmental sustainability. Adam earned his Masters (with distinction) in Holistic Science from Schumacher College-UK, and a BS in Environmental Studies from the University of Vermont. Previously, Adam has worked with government agencies and community-based nonprofits on natural resource conservation and land stewardship initiatives. He has also started and managed a successful Community Supported Agriculture project. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.
Grey Lee, Clerk		Grey Lee is the Executive Director of Land's Sake, Inc, a community stewardship non-profit enterprise in Weston, Massachusetts, with a mission to connect people to the land. Their model is to engage the public with conservation land through organic farming, active forestry and environmental education programs in order to foster a strong conservation ethic. He holds a Master's in Real Estate Finance from the London School of Economics and a BS cum laude in Environmental Studies from the University of Vermont's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He has worked as an extension agent in Brazil with the MST (Landless Peasant's Movement) and is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish.
Will Decaneas, Treasurer		Will Decaneas graduated from Boston University in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Italian Literature. Will currently works in the Research Operations Department for the Transplant Research Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a Harvard University teaching institute in Boston, MA. He has over 5 years of experience in non-profit finance and administration with an emphasis in sponsored programs. He has a strong passion for leaving the world a better place and strongly supports AIDG’s mission. Will is currently matriculating into the 2010 Masters of Management program at the Harvard Extension School.
Peter Haas,Executive Director		Peter Haas received a B.A. in 1998 from Yale University in philosophy and psychology. Before founding AIDG he worked both in the information technology field as a consultant in network provisioning, telecom wiring, RF and wireless consulting, and programming, and on an organic farm / horse ranch doing infrastructure improvement work. He has experience in water systems, electrical systems, electronic systems, masonry, plumbing, drainage, erosion control, irrigation, welding, metal casting, carpentry and sustainable building.
Elizabeth Liedel		Elizabeth Liedel is a joint degree candidate at Duke University, pursuing an MBA and a Master of Environmental Management. She is involved in the Duke Microfinance Leadership Initiative and Fuqua’s Net Impact chapter. Prior to returning to school, Elizabeth worked in major gifts fundraising at Combined Jewish Philanthropies. She also has experience in small business consulting, experiential education, strategic planning and cooperative housing. Elizabeth holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Smith College. Her prior non-profit board experience includes serving on the Board of Trustees of Smith College and on the Executive Board of Boston Community Cooperatives.
Benny Lee		Benny Lee received his M.A. in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University in Boston, MA. His area of expertise is in environmental policy in the built environment, and renewable energy issues in sustainable development. After obtaining his B.A. in Science, Technology & Society from Vassar College in 2001, he worked for 3 years as a field geologist and environmental scientist with an environmental consulting firm. Benny was AIDG's first Education and Outreach Director and is now the Director of Outreach for the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, based in Oakland, CA. He is fluent in Spanish.

Board of Advisors

Pete Zink, Manufacturing Process Analyst		Peter Zink is a PhD Candidate in Manufacturing Engineering at Boston University specializing in Materials Science and a full-time research assistant working on the development of Intermediate Temperature (600-800 C) Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. Prior to returning to school he worked as a Business Systems Analyst at Commonwealth Financial Network in Waltham MA, and as a master carpenter in his own woodworking business. He holds a B.A. in Physics from the University of Colorado. Inspired by his first trip to Xelateco, he has recently taken up beekeeping.
Amy Smith MIT D-Lab		Professor Amy Smith, a mechanical engineer and former Peace Corps volunteer, designs cheap and practical technologies to address tough problems in developing countries. Among her many accomplishments, she received a MacArthur "genius" grant in 2004 and was the first woman to win the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize (2000). She also founded the D-Lab program at MIT which introduces students to technological, social, and economic problems of developing countries.
Kipchoge Spencer Xtracycle and WorldBike		Kipchoge Spencer, who graduated from Stanford University with a degree in environmental economics, is the president of Xtracycle and a consummate social entrepreneur. Xtracycle creates car-replacing sport utility bicycles. In 2000, Spencer founded a non-profit spinoff called Worldbike that unites bicycle designers, industry leaders, and international development professionals to provide transportation solutions for the world’s poor.
David Rich Aquaya Photo Not Available		David Rich has twenty years experience creating and building market-based solutions to alleviating poverty in North & Central America, Africa and Asia. David grew up in the Middle East and South Asia and received degrees from Yale, Southern Connecticut State University and the Kellogg School of Management. David is the former Country Director of IDE in India where he was responsible for developing and marketing low-cost appropriate technologies to over 250,000 rural households throughout the country.