Who We are
Emerging Humanity
Bart Abbott is President and co-founder of Emerging Humanity. He grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin and moved to Hawaii in 2001. Bart graduated from the University of Hawaii-Manoa with a degree in Political Science in 2005. He is currently studying on Oahu for his masters of science in Sustainable Development. Bart works full-time for Emerging Humanity and just returned from Kenya where he spent four months managing Emerging Humanity's projects in Kisumu.
Bill Hansen is our Vice President and Treasurer. He is receiving a degree in marketing and business from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in August 2007. Bill is devoted to creating compassionate changes in the world we live in. He is one of the founders of Emerging Humanity and has worked tirelessly on our projects while going to school full time and working 30 hours a week to support himself.
James Oindo is our Country Director in Kenya. For the past ten years, James has worked as a psychological therapist for young people living on the streets. James grew up in Kisumu as well. Last year, he was hired by a USAID- funded HIV/AIDS outreach center to design and implement a drug rehabilitation program for youth. James is also a program consultant for Blue Cross-Kenya, and he is currently the executive officer of the Bustani Letu Youth Development group. Together with Emerge, Bustani Letu has purchased one acre of land and is developing a farm where young people can work and learn how to be successful despite all the challenges of living in Africa.
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Advisory Board
Diane D’Orazio has been the Chairman of the Kisumu Sister City Committee (KSCC) since 1993. She also practiced veterinary medicine for 14 years. She received a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine, an M.S. and a B.S. all from the University of Virginia Tech. In addition to her work as Chairman of KSCC, Mrs. D’Orazio is also a stay-at-home mom with two sons, age 14 and 16.
Jeffrey Avina is currently the Deputy Director of the Bureau for Africa in the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Prior to taking this post in 2004, he served as a resident coordinator for the United Nations system, and resident representative, UNDP, Honduras; resident representative, UNDP, Laos; and deputy resident representative, UNDP, Bhutan. Mr. Avina received his Doctorate in Jurisprudence from the Harvard School of Law, an M.A. in international development education from Stanford University, and B.A.’s in international relations and Latin American studies, also from Stanford University.
Michael Riordan recently retired after a thirty year career in engineering, human resources and general management. Mike is the current or past Board member of nine public corporations and six civic organizations. At retirement, he established a Family Foundation to serve as a vehicle to share significant amounts of money to non-profit charity organizations. “I spent the last 30 years trying to do well,” says Mike. “My goal for the next 30 years is to do Good.”
Felicity Hart was a teacher in the United Kingdom for 30 years. After retiring she took a trip to Kisumu, Kenya. Seeing the situations that children face in Africa led her to establish a network of like-minded friends, who call themselves the Hart Foundation. Among other things, they have raised funds to build new toilets, construct water wells, and replace asbestos roofing at two large slum schools in Kisumu. They've also set up medical treatment accounts and provided access to education for many young children whom they have grown to know and care for.
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Emerge Volunteers
Tyler Hoegger is a project
manager for Emerging Humanity. He recently returned from
several months on the ground in Kisumu where he had responsibility for
the sourcing, purchasing, labor negotiations and the design components of
our ongoing partner school projects. Tyler will be returning to Kenya early next year to manage another project cycle. When he is not in Africa, he works on the construction and design of golf courses for a professional firm in Salaida, Colorado.
Kevin Riordan helped to start Emerging Humanity over 2 years ago. His role at Emerge could best be described as editor extraordinaire. Kevin produced the entire Emerge DVD. He also helped write our statement of principles, and he continues to proof read new website and promotional materials as well as organize benefit concerts . Kevin has volunteered all of this time while working as a director at the Green Bay Boys and Girls Club. His newest hobby, the freshwater fish tank seen in the background of his bio pic, was started because he needed to save a painted turtle from one hundred rambunctious Boys and Girls club members who had found the turtle on a sidewalk.
Chelsea Neal-Ricker was a sales coordinator for Hard Rock Cafe where she organized a benefit concert for Emerging Humanity at the Hard Rock Cafe on the Big Island of Hawaii. She has not stopped supporting Emerge ever since. This October, Chelsea will be in Kenya managing some of our ongoing development projects in the city of Kisumu. While volunteering for Emerge, she is continuing her education as a graduate student in the School of Travel Industry and Management at the University of Hawaii.
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Who We are