• AIDG Flickr Photos
• AIDG Youtube
• AIDG Blog Archive

9. The People of AIDG

Though AIDG had a small team, we leveraged the on the ground support of over 200 workers and 1300 donors over the years. Through this group we were able to accomplish everything that was laid out in the prior pages and then some. AIDG had a team of staff and interns comitted to international development, many of whom kept working in Guatemala.

Steve Crowe started HITECA
Steve Lee runs Alterna Impact (which continues the mission of AIDG and was seeded with a grant of cash, tools and equipment from AIDG)
Dorit Leavitt started Tilde
Corrina Grace started SERES
and Jose Ordonez started SEA Solar

The following lays out exactly who was AIDG and who supported us. A huge thanks to all involved.

AIDG US Staff and Workstudy Included:

• Peter Haas, Co-founder, Executive Director
• Cat Laine, Deputy Director, Communications Director
• Steve Crowe, Guatemala Director, CTO
• Steve Lee, COO
• Dorit Leavitt, Intern Coordinator/Incubation Manager
• Benny Lee, Co-founder, Deputy Director, Tecotours manager
• Jessica Lozier, Haiti director
• Beth Myre, Haiti director
• Sarah Brownell, Interim Haiti Director
• Laura Patterson, Workstudy

AIDG Board Members Included (by duration):

Peter Haas, Adam Hyde, Grey Lee, Seth Murray, Will Decaneas, Reginald Canal, Cat Laine, Benny Lee, Elizabeth Liedel, Sarah Laroche, William volke



Our Guatemalan Foreign Staff included (contractors involved for more than 6 months):

Jose Ordonez, Julio Rocop Rojas, Carlos Alvarez, Waleska Aguilar, Daniel Buchbinder

Our Haiti Foreign Staff included (contractors involved for more than 6 months):

Nadine Mondestin, Isnido Elvariste, Edeline Estimable, Herlande Estimable, Adajah Codio, Roudelin Augustin, Noey Belony



We owe a great deal of thanks to all the interns (most of whom stayed on at least 6 months):

• Gaelle Prophete KBA (Florida International University, B.S. Marketing & M.S. Higher Education Administration (Migration, Ethnicity, and Culture))
• David Evitt Cookstoves and Biogas (Northwestern University, B.S. Mechanical Engineering)
• Sadhbh MacMahon Turbine Manufacture (Beng Mechanical Engineering, Montreal Canada)
• Sadhbh MacMahon Turbine Manufacture (Beng Mechanical Engineering, Montreal Canada)
• Ivo Oliveira Biogas (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Degree in Sanitary Engineering and Masters in Bionenergy)
• Denise Miller Incubation
• Annie Keel Grant development and management, Oct '09 - Sept '10 (University of Edinburgh , MA Geography)
  
• Peter Krige IGC Prototype; Electronics Lab, March '10 -Sept '10 (University of Cape Town, B.Sc. (Hons.) Mechatronic Engineering)
• Nidhi Teerdhala Guateverde Business Plan Competition; Social Entrepreneurship, June '10 - Aug '10 (Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, MBA 2011)
• Ben Dana Technical documentation; Solar Water Heaters March '08 - May '10 (Manchester Metropolitan University Msc Environment, Management and Sustainable Development)
• Will Stone Microhydro & Picohydro Systems; Test Benches; Foundry February '09 - March '10 (University of Adelaide, B.E. Mechanical Engineering/Science)
• Kyrea Njuguna Biodigestors and picohyrdro in Haiti September '09 - December '09 (University of Cambridge, UK MPhile Engineering for Sustainable Development)
• Christopher Salam Biodigestor, biogas & vermicompost July '09 - December '09 (University of California at Davis, M.S., Biological Systems Engineering)
• Carol Chan Business plan competition, Earned income strategy June '09 - December '09 (IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain, M.B.A.)
• Lori Flynn Business plan competition, grants, & research February '09 - November '09  (University of California at Santa Cruz – Ph.D. Computer Science)
• Daniel Moncayo Business plan competition, Tech R&D feasibility template May '09 - August '09 (University of Colorado at Boulder, M.B.A. ’10)
• Vergil Weatherford Solar Hot Water Project, Ram Pump Project Management, Biodigestors October '08 - June '09 (University of Colorado at Boulder, M.S., Civil Engineering)
• David Goosen Micro-Hydro, Solar Water Heaters & Data Acquisition June '08 - April '09 (B.A.Sc. Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia)
• James Gabriel Duncan Biodigestors/Biogas October '08 - March '09 (University of Florida, BS Environmental Science)
• Dan Hepler Micro & Pico-Hydroelectric Systems, July '08 -December '08 (University of British Columbia, B.A.Sc. Electrical Engineering)
• Natalie Bonilla Maldonado Community Outreach and Facilitation, April '08 - December '08 (The Brussels School of International Studies, M.A., International Relations)

• Katherine Metzelaar  Marketing and Business Development, August '08 - December '08  (La Salle University, BA Communication & Leadership and Global Understanding)

• Kyle Farmer TecoTours and Education Center, April '08 - October '08
  

• Kate Simpson Water Project Management, April '08 - September '08 (Sydney University, Australia – B. Chemical Engineering/ B. Arts [French, Spanish])
  

• Meg Harper UC Berkeley Batch Solar Hot Water Heaters, June '08 - August '08 (Warren Wilson College, BS Environmental Studies) 
• Sunny Pereira Haiti biodigestors & composting latrines, February '08 - July '08 (Michigan Technological University - Environmental Engineering)

• Gordon Schweitzer: Ram Pumps, May '08 - July '08 (University of Dayton, Mechanical Engineering)

• Alexandra Surasky-Ysasi: Micro-Hydroelectricity Production, September '07 - June '08 (Brown University, Mechanical Engineering)

• Chase Nelson: Dome Biodigesters, October '07 - June '08 (Michigan Technological University, Environmental Engineering)

• Carlos Poza: TecoTours & Education Center, January '08 - June '08 (Yale University, Literature and International Studies)
  
• Katie Bliss: Community Outreach, August '07 - May '08 (University of Sussex, UK, BA, Environmental and Development Studies)
  
• Corinna Grace: Intern Coordinator, June '07 - May '08 (U. of New South Wales, Sydney - Mechanical Engineering)
• Emily Freeh: Accounting, XelaTeco Business Development, September '07 - April '08 (Northwestern University, International Development)
• Liakos Ariston: Ram Pumps, September '07 - March '08 (Johns Hopkins, BS Civil Engineering)
• Beau Baldock: High Efficiency Stoves, Serpentine Solar Hot Water Heater, October '07 - March '08 (Middlebury College, Vermont - History of Art and Architectural Design)
• Anne Romeo: Micro-Hydroelectricity Circuitry, August - December '07 (Cambridge University, Masters in Electrical and Information Engineering)
• Alissa Johnson, Low Cost Solar Hot Water Heater, June - November '07 (U. of California, Berkeley - Material Science and Engineering)
• Blaze Starkey Community Outreach, Eco-building, Summer '07 (Lewis and Clark College)
• Alia Whitney-Johnson, TecoTours, Summer '07 (MIT, Cambidge - Environmental Engineering)
• Kristen Radecsky, Windmills, Summer '07 (Humboldt State University, Arcata - Environmental Resource Engineering) 
• Maarten Graveland, Plug Flow Biodigestors and Serpentine Solar Hot Water Heater, September '06- May '07 (Randmeer College, The Netherlands - Electrical Engineering/Physics)
• Elena Krieger, High Efficiency Stoves, February-June '07 (Harvard University, Cambridge - Physics and Astronomy & Astrophysics)
• Corrado Di Dio, Community Outreach and Assessment, February-June '07 (University of Bologna, Italy - International Studies and Diplomacy)
• Nick Bianchi, XelaTeco Business Development, February-June '07 (MA University of Illinois, Chicago - Urban Planning and Policy)
• Jochen Schloesser, XelaTeco Sales Training & AIDG Customs and Legal Issues, March-May '07 (BS University of Texas at Austin - Dual degree in Finance and Communication Studies) 
• Jesse Engel, April-June '07 (University of California, Berkeley - Physics)

• Megan Brewster, Plastic Recycling, Summer '06 (PhD Material Science and Engineering, MIT)
• Chris Brooks, Hydroelectricity, Summer & Fall '06 (MA Renewable Energy, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia)
• Mollie Chapman, Community Outreach, Fall '06 (BA Anthropology, Stanford University)
• Erin Fried, TecoTours, Summer '06 (MA Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University)
• Kelli Horner, Hydroelectricity, Summer '06 (MA Environmental Engineering and Science, Stanford University)
• Ana Maria Madison, Accounting, Summer '06 (MBA, University of Michigan)
• Jeff Miller, Hydroelectricity (BA Mechanical Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney)
• Sylvia Smullin, Plastics Recycling (PhD Physics, Stanford University)
• Margot Rode, Solar Hot Water (BS Civil Engineering, University of Colorado)
• James Russell, Water Filters & Ram Pump (MA Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University)
• Erick Zielke, Hydroelectricity (BS Environmental Resources Engineering, Humboldt University)
• Maarten Graveland, Biogas
• Goldah Moore , Xelateco
• Emily Levin, Xelateco
• Peter Zink , Xelateco
• Megan Brewster , Xelateco
• Kate Young , Xelateco
• Erica Mintzer, Xelateco
• Lisa Silberstein , Tecotours
• Miriam Fuches, Development

In addition thanks to the numerous short term volunteers including Tecotours volunteers, university engineering teams, and the MCEER and KPFF earthquake response teams.



(Pictured: Top Dorit Leavitt, Steve Crowe, Peter Haas, Steve Lee. Right: Peter Haas and Cat Laine. Right: Benny Lee. Right: Isnido Elvariste and Steve Lee. Right: Corrina Grace. Right: Chase Nelson. Right: Beau Baldock. Right: Maarten Graveland. Right: Steve Crowe)