Our Board

Rick has been a board member since 2009. He attended his first BTC house building trip in 2005 with Mark Rollins. He was so impressed; he came back to Canada and established Bridges to Community Canada. During 2011, Rick will be meeting his initial goal to build 100 homes in 5 years.

Carla lives in New Rochelle, New York and is a member of St. John’s Church in Larchmont. She went on her first Bridges trip with St. John’s in 2006 and has been organizing trips for the church annually since then. She has a background in arts education and has worked both in schools and museums. She is active as a community volunteer in New Rochelle. Carla enjoys visiting her children in locations around the globe, reading, gardening, watching her favorite soccer teams, and going to Nicaragua.

Nanette H. Bourne is a Sr VP of AKRF, Inc., an environmental planning and engineering firm. Nanette received her Master degree in Urban and Regional Planning from USC, and her B.A. in Social Psychology from UCLA. She is a member of the Board of the New York State League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV) and Chairs LCV’s Westchester County Chapter; the Sustainability Advisory Board for the City of New Rochelle; Rotary Club of White Plains; and is a Board Member of the White Plains Beautification Foundation. read more

Steve Dishart is the Executive Director of Blue Ocean Institute and the President of Dishart Communication and Crisis Management Consultants in New York.

Blue Ocean Institute uniquely works through science, art, and literature to inspire solutions and a deeper connection with nature. The organization shares reliable information that enlightens personal choices, instills hope, and helps restore living abundance in the ocean. Blue Ocean, founded by MacArthur fellow Dr. Carl Safina, is an independent 501-c-3 not-forprofit organization, and is affiliated with Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. read more

Heather currently serves as the President of the Workers' Compensation Division of The Flanders Group. She has participated annually since 2005 on Bridges trips through her affiliation with The Sitkins International. She joined the Bridges Board of Directors in 2009, and serves on the Finance committee.

Heather lives in Rochester NY with her husband Chris Duerr, their daughter Taylor, and twin sons Ben and Will.

Stu Finkelstein has been practicing tax law at a major NYC law firm for over 25 years. He went on his first trip to Nicaragua with his son in February 2008 with Temple Shaaray Tefila and the Bedford Presbyterian Church. Stu, his son and daughter have visited Nicaragua a total of 7 (8 in February 2011) times--the Nica experience has been firmly entrenched in the Finkelstein family, and they look forward to many more trips!

Karen Johnston, MD, is an internist. She has been in private practice in California and has been the medical director of 3 cardiovascular risk management programs - an academic program affiliated with NY Hospital and 2 national programs. She and her husband, Adam Glass, recently moved to Washington, DC from Larchmont, NY. Karen has taken a break from work for this move. Karen and Adam have 2 daughters, Kelsey, 22, and Laura, 19. Karen and her family were first introduced to Bridges by Jed Koball, then the associate pastor at Larchmont Avenue Church.

Lisa Kunstadter is Vice President/Secretary and Trustee of the Albert Kunstadter Family Foundation – a small, general-purpose foundation based in New York City, and making grants to organizations in China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and the greater New York metropolitan area. She has 35 years of experience serving on, and working, with non-profit boards including Heartsong, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (Greater NYC Chapter), Reformed Church of Bronxville, Junior League of Bronxville, Bronxville Adult School, and MIT Soaring Association. In the summer of 2004, Lisa went to Nicaragua on a life-changing trip with Bridges, and has been serving on their Fundraising and Development Committee since 2005. read more

Brian was born in Manhasset, NY. He received his undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins, Masters at Minnesota, and PhD from Princeton, all in Geology with a focus on groundwater contamination and subsurface microbiology. He is currently an assistant professor at Barnard College. read more

Jill’s professional career has been long and checkered, involving law, foreign travel, intrigue, mountain climbing, and, inevitably, the PTA. She has lived near New York City in the Larchmont/Mamaroneck community for almost 25 years. Her first trip to Nicaragua was to Bilwi with her husband and daughters in December 2001. She has since returned, by her count, “a lot" of times. She likes choral singing, independent movies, yoga and dogs. Her husband, Dick, an international lawyer, is envious that he has not yet gotten the opportunity to portage a dugout canoe in Siuna.

Frank Pepe recently retired as Superintendent of the 10,000 student Arlington Central School District in the Hudson Valley of New York where he served since 2002.  Previously Superintendent of the Franklin Township Schools in New Jersey, he has held similar positions in education since graduating Villanova University in 1971.  Frank participated in his first Bridges trip to Nicaragua in 2007and has looked forward to retirement in order to dedicate more of his life to Bridges and other service organizations.

Frank lives in Larchmont, New York. He has gone on three Bridges trips since 2006. Frank graduated from Colgate University with a degree in international relations and math and is trained as an actuary. He’s worked in the insurance industry for over 30 years and currently works for Holborn Corporation, a reinsurance broker in New York City. He served on the Board of United Way for over ten years, as treasurer of St. John’s Larchmont, NY for five years and on the vestry of St Peter’s in Beverly, MA for three years.

Born in Willard, Ohio in 1942, Chuck graduated from Wittenberg University with a BA in Political Science in 1964. From 1965 until 1981 he was in the entertainment industry, starting as a Road Manager and eventually becoming an agent for International Creative Management. Chuck went into Executive Search in 1982 and on Black Monday 1987, he and David Beirne founded Ramsey/Beirne Associates, Inc. that became the premier search firm in high technology. He and David left the firm in October of 1997. read more

Scott Roper lives in Goshen, NY with his wife and two children. He is a member of First Presbyterian Church in Goshen and is Chair of its Finance Committee. Scott went to Nicaragua with Bridges in 2009, where he helped construct portions of two homes with 16 members of his church. After that, Scott wanted to help Bridges in other areas. He helped raise funds for a school in Masaya and agreed to become a Board Member next year.

Bart is one of Bridges' four founders, and owner / operator of Kelloggs & Lawrence in Katonah, NY where he also resides.  Long interested in cross cultural experience and aid to the poor, Bart also founded the Community Center in Katonah, NY and pioneered the Midnight Run in NE Westchester County, NY.

Ken Waldemar is a retired school principal.  His wife, Janet, has joined him on a number of volunteer trips to Nicaragua and countries in Asia.  They have two adult children, a lovely daughter-in-law, and a one-and-a-half year old granddaughter who is currently shows promise in training with blocks for her first Bridges trip.

Jean-Marc is the XL Group Reinsurance Chief Actuary. He moved from Le Mans, France to Larchmont, NY with his wife and two daughters in August 2006 and enjoys life in the United States. Together with his wife Anne and oldest daughter Laure, he went for his first trip with Bridges in 2009, and joined the board shortly after. Anne organizes trips to Nicaragua with her students of the French American School of New York.

The Rev. William Weisenbach is the Senior Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Katonah NY. Prior to his pastoral ministry he served for 24 years as the Academic Vice President of the New York Theological Seminary in NYC. He has been traveling to Nicaragua with Bridges since 2004.