Board of Directors
Executive Director
Co-Founder
Carol Francis-Rinehart, Carol is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Project Education Sudan. Her background is in secondary education and refugee resettlement. She traveled to Southern Sudan in May, 2005 to reunite “Lost Boy” Isaac Bher, Co-Founder of PES, with his mother whom he thought died in the 20 year war. Carol’s interest and focus is on equal education for girls, as well as vocational and adult education. She has led annual monitoring /working trips to the three PES village school sites in 2007, 2008 and 2009. She was selected as a 2008 delegate with the Episcopal National Office NYC for the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
Vice President
Co-Founder
Isaac Khor Bher, “Lost Boy of Sudan” is currently Vice President and co-founder of Project Education Sudan. Isaac received certification from Don Bosco Technical School, Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya, in 1996-1997 in Carpentry and Masonry Type III. He worked in construction for two years as a contractor reading blue prints, building United Nations compound structures, school construction, as well as housing for both the U.N. and refugees.
He returned home to Konbek, Southern Sudan in May 2005 to be reunited with his mother and family whom he was separated from during the Civil War 1986-2005. He co-founded PES, a non-profit organization dedicated to rebuilding the educational infrastructure of Southern Sudan. He is currently working on an experimental construction methodology to bring back to his homeland for development purposes. He annually returns to South Sudan with a team of Sudanese and Americans to train local villager’s construction methods. He is dedicated to rebuilding South Sudan’s war torn infrastructure and helping his people become more self sufficient
Board of Directors
Chairman
Ray Stranske, has lived and worked in urban neighborhoods of Denver for over 30 years. He recently completed a 26-year stint as Executive Director of Hope Communities, which he began, along with his wife and a group of volunteers, in 1980. During his time at Hope Communities, Ray presided over the development of more than 750 units of affordable housing as well as a number of other community building programs. Ray is now Housing Director for Newsed CDC.
He was born in Khartoum Sudan and spent his first 14 years in Sudan and several other East African countries. Ray was a 2007 team member of Sudanese & Americans who went to Southern Sudan. He assisted and taught local villager’s an innovative Latex-Hypar roofing method, encouraged the locals in their school building efforts, and assisted in the installation of solar power. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Project Education Sudan.
Board of Directors
Vice Chair
Lee Ann Huntington, is an attorney licensed in Colorado and California, with over twenty years commercial and employment litigation experience. She was a partner in a major San Francisco law firm before coming to Colorado. She is currently working as a mediator, trial advocacy teacher and volunteer in various community activities. She has been interested in equal education of women and girls throughout the world.
Board of Directors
Treasurer
Richard Rinehart, is a founder and principal of GRANT Partners, LLC, a management consulting firm in Denver, Colorado focused on strategic planning, leadership development, organization and governance. Rich spent 25 years as a CPA in international, regional and local firms.
Rich has been active in community work as a board member in various not-for-profit organizations. He has worked with Sudanese refugees and the Lost Boys of the Sudan since their arrival in the United States in 2001. He went to South Sudan in 2007 and 2009 with a team of Sudanese & Americans. He coordinated water well drilling, and taught accounting methods to local village teachers, businesses and clergy and field coordination training. He is currently Treasurer of Project Education Sudan.
Board of Directors
Secretary
Christine Mahree Fowler, is a Colorado Native and graduate of Colorado State University. Mahree has been traveling to and working in Africa since the age of 11. She considers it to be her second home. Her love of Africa directed her to specialize in African art and artifacts which she has collected, authenticated and appraised for the last ten years. She is owner of Ubuntu Art & Artifacts. Mahree has twenty years experience in the fine arts industry, working with some of the finest collections and collectors in the world. She has directed and owned galleries from Beverly Hills to Denver, hosted multiple events and auctions and is proficient in all aspects of public and private installations, marketing, public relations, sales and training of others in these areas. She has written extensively, preparing numerous educational and promotional materials, and is published in two non-fiction books.
Mahree is interested in helping develop women’s businesses around their artistic and life skills. She strongly believes in the PES model of self sufficiency and sustainability, designed to assist the Southern Sudanese toward their own infrastructure leading toward personal independence.
Board of Directors
Panther Abuk Kuol, is a Sudanese “Lost Boy” from the village of Pagook in Southern Sudan. He is past-president of the Colorado Lost Boys Association. He is a third year student at Metro State College, majoring in business. He is married with a young son and is currently employed with Vitamin Cottage in Denver.
Panther accompanied the Project Education Sudan team to Sudan in 2007 and coordinated the drilling of two wells in the villages of Maar and Konbek. He was unified with his family whom he had not seen in over 20 years of civil war.
Board of Directors
Daniel Majok Gai, is a Sudanese “Lost Boy” from the village of Pagook in Southern Sudan. He is currently the “Evangelist” in the Sudanese Community Church at St. Phillip/St. James Episcopal Church. He will be graduating December 2009 in psychology at the University of Colorado, Denver. He is a tutor with the Black Student Organization at CU, Denver. He is currently employed with UPS in Denver.
Daniel accompanied the Project Education Sudan team to Sudan in 2008 and helped to negotiate the planning for the third school site in Pagook. He also assisted with the presentation of teacher training and women’s literacy in three villages in Jonglei state. Daniel was reunited with his father and family whom he had not seen in over 20 years of civil war.
Board of Directors
Mary Shippy, is the founder of Global Leadership Network, LLC., an organization that focuses on leadership development and organizational sustainability projects in the world. She’s also a partner with GRANT Partners, LLC., a management consulting firm in Denver, Colorado. Mary has spent 30-years in the field of leadership development and organizational transitions.
Mary is committed to the discussion and co-creation of culturally relevant and sustainable leadership developmental practices throughout the world. Her commitment to supporting these discussions and partnerships has taken her to several countries in Africa and most recently to Southern Sudan (2007, 2008-2009) where she has worked to support peace and education in partnership with the Sudanese.
