Board of Directors

SONYA FULTZ – President

Sonya is a nonprofit leader in Cincinnati, Ohio, serving as the CEO of an organization that partners with more than 250 employers across the region to provide career and life skills mentorship to more than 12,000 youth from underserved communities to ensure they reach their full potential. Sonya served on the board of ALDEA from 2008-2023 and was President of the board of directors for 4 years. As an adoptive parent of her son from Guatemala, she has committed to positively impacting the lives of rural Guatemalans for more than 20 years and looks forward to continuing in that work as the current president of the board of directors.

WAYNE GILBERT – Vice-President

Wayne Gilbert practiced law from 1979 until his retirement at the end of 2024. His practice focused on estate planning, trust, and probate law. Wayne first traveled to Guatemala in 2008 to study Spanish and has returned many times since. Wayne served on the ALDEA board from June 2014 until August 2024 and rejoined the board in July 2025. Wayne began leading ALDEA Guatemala tours in 2016 and has led 10 tours so far.  Wayne joined ABPD’s general assembly in 2019 and has served on ABPD’s board since 2022.

PAMELA WINTHROP – Secretary

Pamela E. Winthrop is a nonprofit fundraiser with 29 years experience working in independent schools in the United States and Denmark. Pam’s expertise includes individual and corporate giving, nonprofit governance, events, and communications. She currently serves as the Chief Advancement Officer at St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, VA. Her love for Guatemala was sparked by the adoption of her Guatemalan-born son, and she has been an active volunteer for organizations working in rural Guatemala ever since.

CARY HILL, M.D. – Treasurer

Cary worked for 37 years as an obstetrician/gynecologist at the Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group. He is now retired, but while working also held numerus administrative positions. He was on the Sutter Health Bay Area Board of Directors and was the President of Capstone Insurance LLC, a medical malpractice insurance company. He has also served on the Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group Board of Directors, started a high-risk pregnancy department, and coordinated the incorporation of infertility and gynecological oncology into the group. He has also been on the Board of Directors of ALDEA starting in 2018.

PAUL CHAN, M.D.

Paul is a Professor of Medicine at University of Missouri-Kansas City and Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute. He is a general cardiologist with a research focus on cardiac arrest, care disparities, and quality of care. Paul has been involved with ALDEA since 1990, when he spent the summer in Chimaltenango studying the effects of the Guatemalan civil war on children. He previously served as Treasurer and President of the Board between 2002-2006 and has been involved with several international health and development organizations. Paul now returns to the board at ALDEA to support its work on rural health and development in the Guatemalan highlands.

NARRA COX, Ph.D.

Narra is a professor emerita of Continuing Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she served as a Professor and Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs in the Division of Continuing Studies. Her area of interest was school and community health and she was the founder and director of the HIV Outreach Project, a partnership with the State of Wisconsin to facilitate training and community planning for HIV prevention and care. Narra became familiar with the work of Dr. Carroll Behrhorst in the 1970’s through the Walks for Development and as a participant in the School for International Training’s program in Guatemala. Many years later she was a participant on a BPD (now ALDEA) Guatemala tour and subsequently served on the board for 7 years. Following her retirement from UW-Madison Narra returned to the board in 2020 to support the important work of ALDEA in reducing chronic childhood malnutrition in rural Guatemala.

LAURIE LOFTON

MARTIN RIST

Martin served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Venezuela in 1968-70 .  In 1975 he directed an academic program for the Experiment in International Living at the Behrhorst Clinic in Chimaltenango, Guatemala . Since 1975 he his wife Bonnie Brunet have been supporters of the program started by Carroll Behrhorst.  They have been residential and commercial real estate developers for over 45 years.   Martin has a B.A. from UC Davis in Economics (1968) and an M.A. from UCLA in Latin American Studies (1973). 

MARTHA TRESSLER, M.M.

Martha is an accountant (CPA) with a Master of Management from Northwestern University. She moved to the United Kingdom in 1980, and
worked in the accounting and corporate finance fields until starting her own financial services consultancy business in 2000. Her first contact
with what is now ALDEA and ABPD was through the Freedom From Hunger Foundation Walks for Development (1969-1972) when the Behrhorst Clinic was one of the funding beneficiaries, and she has followed the development of the organization closely over the years. Now retired, she has more time to devote to volunteer activities and is delighted to serve on the board and support the valuable work ALDEA and ABPD are doing.

BRIAN LEO TREACY

Brian is an executive manager with several decades leading international development and rule of law programs in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. A lawyer by training, Brian has a proven record in justice system reform, public security, challenges facing indigenous populations, and civil society strengthening. He has worked effectively in high-risk environments such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Colombia, Haiti, and in post-conflict Guatemala, with several United Nations Organizations as well as with USAID financed projects. Brian was a friend of Doctor Carroll Behrhorst who he met in 1983 and has continually endeavored to apply Doc’s visionary approach to development through local empowerment.