Ellen Gordman is the Vice President of Marketing for The Gordman Group, a consulting practice that shows companies how to achieve sustained, profitable growth. She has had extensive experience in the non-profit arena and has served on the board of directors of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation, the National B’nai B’rith Youth Commission and The House with the Red Door, a safe haven for young adults in Summit County, Colorado. She is currently a member of the President’s Council of ACCION International, a nonprofit microfinance institution. In 2004, she was named the
Volunteer of the Year by The House with the Red Door.

WHY SSI: “The work Kari and George are doing in Cambodia has the potential to change the lives of thousands of people. I joined the board
because I want to support their efforts and be part of a life changing organization.”   

  George is a former CPA, is the owner of Wild Heaven Productions, LLC, a media company specializing in video production, photography and book publishing. Since leaving public accounting in 1990, he has created several successful businesses as a video producer, cameraman and photographer. He was a founding board member of Adventures in Learning, a non-profit organization, providing inquiry based educational resources in Lander, WY. He created Friends of the Grady Grossman School, a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, to support the Grady Grossman School in Cambodia. He holds a B.S. in Accounting from Babson College.    

Dyan Mazurana, PhD, is Research Director and Associate Professor at the Feinstein International Center, Tufts University, where she teaches at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Her areas of expertise include women's human rights, war-affected children and youth, armed conflict, and peacekeeping. Mazurana works with a variety of governments, UN agencies, human rights and child protection organizations regarding improving efforts to assist youth and women affected by armed conflict. She has written and developed training materials regarding gender, human rights, armed conflict, and post-conflict periods for civilian, police, and military peacekeepers involved in UN and NATO operations. She has worked in Afghanistan, the Balkans, and southern, west and east Africa.

 Why SSI: “In poor, rural and marginalized communities, functioning schools simply don’t exist. Yet, SSI has found ways in which successful schools can be created when diverse members of communities prioritize and mobilize around making their children’s educational future a reality.” r

 

  A former writer for Discovery Channel Online, Kari is the Author of  Bones That Float, A Story of Adopting Cambodia, winner of the 2008 “Peacemaker of the Year” Award from the Independent Publisher’s Association and a Gold Nautilus Book Award for World Changing Books. The Colorado Parents Day Council also named Kari and her husband George the 2008 Colorado Parents of the Year and the American Family Coalition named them National Parents of Excellence. After traveling to Cambodia in 2001 to adopt their son, Kari and her husband created the Grady Grossman School. She holds a BA in writing for Television, Radio and Film from Syracuse University 

Julie Micheli is the mother of 2 adopted children, a daughter from the US and a son from Cambodia. Julie is passionate about helping the people of Cambodia gain access to good education and learn skills that will help them grow and prosper. She is also committed to helping to educate the children of the US and around the world about Cambodia and the various issues they are facing as a nation, especially in the areas of education and sustainability. She has a BA from Michigan State University in History with a focus on Asian studies and a significant portion of her master's degree from National Louis University in Elementary and Early Childhood Education.

WHY SSI:  “As a mother of a child from Cambodia, I wanted to make a lasting daily impact on the country that has given our family so much. By giving my time and energy to SSI, I feel that I am truly giving back to my son’s country of birth.”

 

Khun Te - Cambodian American Community Liason

Khun Te was born and raised in a small village in Battambang province, Cambodia and studied for High School in Phnom Penh. He was a Law school student and government employee at the Ministry of Interior in Phnom Penh until 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took over the country. He is a survivor of the Killing Fields.  He worked in Refugee Camps in Thailand from 1979-1981, Volunteered for ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross); CARE Thailand; IRC (International Rescue Committee); JVA (Joint Voluntary Agency).

He came to US as a refugee in May 1981. He is married with 3 children and currently is a production manager at a medical device company in Broomfield, Colorado. He sas been an active board member of various Cambodian non-profit organizations. He is President of the Colorado Cambodian Relief Association that has served the Cambodian American community since 1986.