Cabeceras Aid Project

Last updated: 23 July 2019

Cabeceras' Board of Directors

Cabeceras Aid Project has a board of ten directors. Current directors and officers (and their terms) are listed below, by office, and then alphabetically:

Lev Michael President (October 1996–1999; October 1999–January 2003; January 2003–2006; January 2006–2009; January 2009–2012; January 2012–2015; January 2015–2018, January 2018-2021)
Margo Minogue-Heyl Vice President (October 1996–1999; October 1999–January 2003; January 2003–2006; January 2006–2009; January 2009–2011; January 2011–2014; January 2014–2017; January 2017-2020)
Christine Beier Secretary and Treasurer (October 1996–1999; October 1999–January 2003; January 2003–2006; January 2006–2009; January 2009–2012; January 2012–2015; January 2015–2018; January 2018-2021)
Joel Dippold (January 2006–2009; January 2009–2010; January 2010–2013; January 2013–2016; January 2016–2019; January 2019–2022)
Cynthia Hansen (January 2006–2009; January 2009–2012; January 2012–2015; January 2015–2018, January 2018-2021)
Amanda King (January 2009–2011; January 2011–2014; January 2014–2017; January 2017–2020)
Kristine Stenzel (January 2018-2021)
Anthony Woodbury (January 2002–2005; January 2005–2008; January 2008–2011; January 2011–2014; January 2014–2017; January 2017-2020)
Roahn Wynar (October 1996–1999; October 1999–January 2003; January 2003–2006; January 2006–2009; January 2009; January 2010–2013; January 2013–2016; January 2016–2019; January 2019–2022)
Linda Young (January 2006–2009; January 2009–2012; January 2012–2015; January 2015–2018; January 2018-2021)

Board members' statements of interest

Christine Beier (Berkeley and Richmond, CA) "As a fieldworker for Cabeceras, I have seen, again and again, how effective and well-received Cabeceras' aid projects are in the communities we serve. As a linguist and an anthropologist, as well as a humanitarian and a co-founder of Cabeceras, I feel that I am well-positioned to continue carrying out Cabeceras' goals, especially as the organization continues to grow in its service to Amazonian communities."
Joel Dippold (Portland, OR) "I have known Chris and Lev since about 1990, when Chris and I were two-thirds of the staff of a newspaper devoted to progressive politics here in Oregon. I've watched with awe what she and Lev have done in the Amazon Basin — they're doing the kind of work I dreamed of doing when I was in the Peace Corps (Ghana, 1985–87). I am proud to have been asked to join them in this work. I hope my background in communications, fundraising, and interculturalism, as well as my master's degree in Nonprofit Management, can be of service to the organization now and well into the future."
Cynthia Anderson Hansen (Grinnell, IA) "My interest in humanitarian aid work began while living in Mexico, working for a non-profit whose efforts focused on a rural, deeply impoverished, indigenous community in the mountains of Guerrero. I have seen that it is possible to stretch every dollar so that it goes to the people who need it, not the ones who administer it. I see the same 'financial stretching' in Cabeceras Aid Project and welcome the opportunity to continue to serve the organization as a board member. In addition, I am a past participant in the Iquito Language Documentation Project, so I am very familiar with that branch of Cabeceras' work and the positive role it has played in the community of San Antonio."
Amanda King (Santa Fe, NM) "I have known of Cabeceras for many years through my partner Nathaniel Gerhart, who worked with Chris and Lev on language documentation in with the Nanti people in Montetoni. I recently became personally involved with the organization as a member of the Nathaniel Gerhart Memorial Scholarship Fund/Indigenous Students Grant Committee. I have an academic background in agroecology, an interest in Latin America, and a personal commitment to the communities and people with whom my partner and I have worked. I believe in the vital importance of Cabeceras' language documentation projects and small-scale development activities, and I am particularly interested in helping Cabeceras to further develop their scholarship program, which parallels activities I am undertaking in Indonesia. As a member of the board, I hope to increase awareness of Cabeceras' activities, bring additional funds to the organization, and bring my energy and experience to both new and ongoing initiatives."
Lev Michael (Berkeley and Richmond, CA) "I have a great desire to continue serving as one of Cabeceras Aid Project's directors and officers. I believe that my previous experience with the organization, as well as my familiarity with many indigenous communities in Peruvian Amazonia and beyond, make me well-suited to serve on the board. In addition, I have been involved in the planning and execution of the majority of Cabeceras' field projects, giving me practical experience that should serve the organization well as it expands, to work in more communities and to develop new kinds of projects aimed at supporting the indigenous peoples of the Amazon Basin in their efforts to determine their own futures."
Margo Minogue-Heyl (Houston, TX) "I am honored to continue serving on Cabeceras' board, as I have done since the organization was founded. My interest and support of Cabeceras has only grown over the years as I have been privileged to see its focus broaden yet its mission remain constant. The fact that every contribution is spent wisely and only upon direct aid makes it the best of causes to support. I have made it an avocation to spread the word to those who can support its goals in spirit or in tangible ways. Over the years I have been able to help host a few informational and fundraising get-togethers in Houston."
Kristine Stenzel (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) "I am a linguist who has worked since 2000 with the Kotiria and Wa'ikhana peoples in the remote Vaupés region of northwest Amazonia. Over our many years of collaboration, we have prioritized a community-based research approach, involving local indigenous schools as primary partners, and working to produce resources that they themselves have identified as priorities. We aim both to disseminate knowledge about these peoples and their cultures to the outside world, and to create materials that will help Kotirias and Wa'ikhanas fortify and maintain their highly endangered languages. These goals are very much in keeping with Cabeceras' mission and existing projects, and I envision that my particiation on the board will give me the opportunity to learn about and contribute to similar efforts and, at the same time, expand the network of support for the peoples with whom I work."
Anthony Woodbury (Austin, TX) "I am interested in serving on Cabeceras' board of directors because I strongly support the goals of Cabeceras. In particular, I appreciate the uniquely holistic approach that Cabeceras takes toward aid. By holistic, I mean the focus on health together with social self-determination, cultural continuity, and language maintenance. I believe that in the long run, these areas are all linked and that aid work attending only to some of it is incomplete or only of shorter-term value. My own contribution to the board is as someone with expertise in one aspect of Cabeceras' broad-spectrum approach. I am a professional linguist specializing in the documentation of endangered languages. I have participated in the documentation of Cup'ik, a language of southwestern Alaska, and the Chatino languages of Oaxaca, Mexico, and I am involved in the formation of general methodologies and strategies for language documentation and description."
Linda Young (Wolcott, VT) "I currently work as a business systems analyst for a financial services firm. I also have a background in math and then in opera performance, and I have a long-standing interest in Latin American and Spanish cultures. I've known Lev since our first day at college and I've known Chris almost as long. During that time it's been exciting to see their interest in linguistics and in the Peruvian Amazon grow, and to watch this organization being built. I'm fascinated by and proud of what Cabeceras has accomplished and will continue to lend to it the organizational (or other) talents I have gained in my own travels."

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