Our storytellers in Episode 33 are:

Samantha Pinakoulaki

Samantha was born and brought up in the south of England and graduated from a London school of performing arts with honors. She spent ten years traveling the world with various dance groups. Her last group took her to Crete in Greece, where she met her husband of 16 years. They now have five children. Samantha volunteers to help children with mental and physical disabilities in her hometown.

Peggy Cope

Peggy Cope is a mother of four who lives in northern California. She served in Greece with Global Volunteers in 2017. She studied Interior Design. She loves gardening, good friends, food, and the beach.

Julia McGrath

Julia and her daughter, Kenna, live in Charlotte, NC. Julia also has two teenage sons, Manning and Weston, who have also participated in international service programs with her. Julia teaches school part time and is also a cycle instructor, but mostly she enjoys her job as a mom. She enjoys exercise, travel, and volunteering. Finding ways to give back is a lifelong quest for Julia, and she hopes to pass this philanthropic spirit on to her children through these wonderful experiences. Global Volunteers has been a great avenue for this objective.

Our storytellers in Episode 31 are:

Bud Philbrook

Bud Philbrook is co-founder and CEO of Global Volunteers. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs, and a Juris Doctor (Law). He has served as Deputy Undersecretary for USDA, as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, Assistant Commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, a government affairs consultant for Rural Ventures Corporation, and was in private law practice for 12 years. Bud has led dozens of Global Volunteers teams over 30 years.

Michele Gran

Michele Gran co-founded Global Volunteers in 1984. She earned a Master’s Degree in International Communications, and previously worked in the government, nonprofit, and private sectors. For the past 34 years, Michele has served as Global Volunteers’ vice president and director of marketing. She’s led more than 50 service programs and serves on the Board of Trustees and Board of Directors.

Our storytellers in Episode 28 are:

Tristen Robole

Tristen Robole attended high school in Amery, Wisconsin and will now be attending college at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. He is planning on studying business administration, with a minor in communications or education. Tristen volunteered for three weeks in Rarotonga, Cook Islands in 2017. His volunteer experience trip was sponsored and all thanks to Walt and Paula Richey.

Hadley Lloyd

Hadley is a student at the University of Connecticut. She served in Ecuador in 2016 at the age of 20 all on her own because she felt compelled to travel abroad to serve others.  She formed wonderful friendships with her teammates during her two weeks in service in Ecuador. Hadley fell in love with the children with whom she worked in Ecuador and hopes to serve again with Global Volunteers.

Micah Augusma

Micah is currently in his third year at the University of Iowa, where he studies Medical Anthropology and Philosophy. Heone day hopes to become a successful pediatrician or gynecologist that is able to utilize his skills as a physician to give back to the residents of his home country of Haiti. Micah currently resides in Grimes, Iowa with his mother, father, and two younger brothers. His interests include reading, playing sports, and lifting weights. Aside from school, he is a passionate advocate for life-long learning, holistic education, and any opportunity to embark on acts of service for others. This is what led him to serve in Ecuador with Global Volunteers.

Mindy Lull

Mindy holds a B.A. in anthropology with minors in both biology and chemistry from St. John Fisher College. She earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Penn State University College of Medicine in 2009. Dr. Lull has been teaching at St. John Fisher College since 2010 and her current laboratory research focuses on the effects of environmental toxins on the brain. She is a member of the Reaching Children’s Advisory Committee and chairs the RCP Clinic subcommittee. She has served with Global Volunteers in Montana, Tanzania, and Peru, and has also organized students to serve on Global Volunteers programs.

Our storytellers in Episode 27 are:

Mindy Lull

Mindy holds a B.A. in anthropology with minors in both biology and chemistry from St. John Fisher College. She earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Penn State University College of Medicine in 2009. Dr. Lull has been teaching at St. John Fisher College since 2010 and her current laboratory research focuses on the effects of environmental toxins on the brain. She is a member of the Reaching Children’s Advisory Committee and chairs the RCP Clinic subcommittee. She has served with Global Volunteers in Montana, Tanzania, and Peru, and has also organized students to serve on Global Volunteers programs.

Joan Thomas

Joan Thomas is a retired attorney, originally from Canada but now living in San Diego, California. Joan’s interests include her children and grandchildren, teaching senior yoga, and traveling internationally. She loves opportunities to both travel and give back, which led to her involvement with Global Volunteers. As served in India and Tanzania.

Chemida Popo-Cox

Chemida handles the day-to-day logistics and volunteer management of our St. Lucia program. Formerly teacher and acting principal at Anse la Raye Primary School, Chemida has lent support to volunteer teams since Global Volunteers’ partnership in Anse la Raye began in 2012. Born and raised in St. Lucia, Chemida has dedicated over 20 years to educating the children of Anse la Raye. She received her associate degree in Teacher Education and Education Administration from Sir Arthur Lewis Community College in St. Lucia. In 2011, she graduated magna cum laude from New York City College of Technology, with a Bachelor’s degree in Teachers Technology Education.

Lynn Lotkowitz

Lynn, a recently retired sales manager at Florida Trend, attributes her passion for Greece to her father, who was born in Crete and immigrated to the U.S. when he was seven. That’s the primary reason she chose a Global Volunteers program to Crete in 2013, and has returned twice since. Most recently, Lynn served on our Cuba program. Read more about Lynn’s service in Greece here.

Winfrida Mshindo

Winfrida Mshindo was born and raised in the town of Iringa, and earned her degree from Tengeru Institute of Community Development in Arusha with a concentration in Participatory Project Planning Management. Before joining Global Volunteers staff on the Tanzania Reaching Children’s Potential (RCP) Demonstration Project, Winfrida was a Community Development Office for the Iringa District Council.

Our storytellers in Episode 1 are:

Bishop Dr. Owdenberg Mdegella

The ninth child in a family of 16, the future bishop was a shepherd in his home village of Ipalamwa, Tanzania until he was 12. When ordained in 1987, he was the youngest Lutheran Bishop in the world. He completed courses for his Ph.D. degree in the U.S. and speaks six languages and four dialects of Swahili. He’s married with six children and many grandchildren.

Lisa Graumlich

Lisa is a world-renowned climate change expert and distinguished professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her initial work was tracking the climate of an area using data from trees. She served in Tanzania in 2014 with her daughter Maya and again in 2016 to help establish the Reaching Children‘s Potential program. Read about Lisa and Maya’s journey here.

Kenneth Higgins

Owner of Honeybaked Ham Company and Cafe in Maryland, Kenneth was motivated by his wife Debbie’s experience as a Global Volunteer in Ghana in 2012. Four years later, he joined a team in Poland in 2016, and returned the next year, seeking an opportunity to both help others and experience the richness of the Polish culture first-hand. Read about Kenneth’s journey here.

Our storytellers in Episode 3 are:

Jeff Rogo

Jeff, a retired real estate professional, joined his first Global Volunteers team in 2003, seeking solace in service after the death of his wife. He discovered that teaching conversational English in Puglia, Italy launched his healing journey. Since then, he’s become a Global Volunteers team leader in Cuba, Vietnam, and on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana.

Lynn Lotkowitz

Lynn, a recently retired sales manager at Florida Trend, attributes her passion for Greece to her father, who was born in Crete and immigrated to the U.S. when he was seven. That’s the primary reason she chose a Global Volunteers program to Crete in 2013, and has returned twice since. Most recently, Lynn served on our Cuba program. Read more about Lynn’s service in Greece here.

Evan Boido

Evan found a strong volunteer calling on a 2007 team in Romania after six previous programs around the world. Since then, she’s extended her endless compassion to Romanian children on 12 additional programs, and one in Lima, Peru in 2016. A human relations professional, Evan remembers “always to say, “Te iubesc” (I love you) to each child every day.” Read about Evan’s amazing commitment here.

Lisa Graumlich

Lisa is a world-renowned climate change expert and distinguished professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her initial work was tracking the climate of an area using data from trees. She served in Tanzania in 2014 with her daughter Maya and again in 2016 to help establish the Reaching Children’s Potential program. Read about Lisa and Maya’s journey here.

Our storytellers in Episode 7 are:

Cindy Murray

Cindy is a producer of special events and corporate programs at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. She’s served on 20 Global Volunteers programs since 1997 in the USA and abroad as both a volunteer and a team leader. She has a dual Master’s Degree in Development and Human Resources Management, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre and Drama. She says she’s drawn to the “adrenaline rush” of ambiguity in her personal and professional life!

Mike Tormey

Mike is a second-year student double-majoring in Civil Engineering and Economics and a Resident Assistant and Scholar at Northwestern University. He and Elisa (below) were co-leaders for a 2017 alternative spring break to Cuba with Global Volunteers. As a campus tour guide, he promotes the university and the College of Engineering to prospective students.

Elisa Figueras

Elisa is a Northwestern University biology major and co-leader with Mike of an alternative spring break student group in 2017. She and Mike agree that the group’s most important accomplishment was the connections they formed with Cubans around the island. Over the week, they say, they “had countless opportunities to see and interact with the real Cuba.”

Pam Griffin

Pam is an Organization Effectiveness Consultant at SSA & Company. She enjoys travel, and has visited many cities across the U.S., Canada, Europe, Russia, China, Hong Kong, Australia, Tanzania, Mexico, and the Caribbean for both business and personal adventures. She said her favorite trips were to Ipalamwa, Tanzania in 2008, 2009, and 2010; Pommern, Tanzania in 2012; and St. Lucia in 2014 with Global Volunteers. She joined the Global Volunteers Board of Directors in 2015.