New York

Diane is thrilled to join Bridges to Community after years of hearing friends and family share stories of their extraordinary experiences in Nicaragua. A social worker for over 25 years, Diane has worked extensively with non-profits in underserved communities.

Mary Jane Fales joined Bridges as a volunteer in January 2010 and a year later joined the staff.  For the past few decades, she has worked as a consultant in a variety of nonprofit roles. Recent professional experiences have included serving as acting executive director of International Social Service-USA and working as press secretary for NY Assembly woman, Ellen Jaffee. From 2000 until 2005, Mary Jane coordinated public relations for Saint Dominic's Home. read more

One of Karen’s many responsibilities is to make sure all volunteer information is properly recorded to guarantee everyone a safe and rewarding Bridges experience. Karen also works out a lot at the gym so that when she deposits all the money Bridges receives to the bank she can fend off any potential threats. Karen would like everyone to know that she is Scottish and not Irish.

Jameela has been working with Bridges since April 2008. She has a background in Business Administration and Bookkeeping. Jameela is responsible for recording all income and expenses and also our human resources work. When she's not working, she loves spending time with her family, and they like to go hiking. She also likes to go to the movies and shopping with her daughter.

Kevin is from Minneapolis, MN and joined Bridges to Community in 2008. Prior to this Kevin was the Executive Director of the Maryknoll Lay Missioners where he served for 16 years. Upon joining Maryknoll in 1992, Kevin was placed in Nairobi, Kenya, where he worked for 11 years. His position there was with the Kibagare Good News Center, a program for over 1,200 poor and orphaned children from the slums of Nairobi. Kevin also served as the Principal of St. Martin’s Secondary School from 1995-2003.

A graduate of Springfield College in 1976, Rusty began his career teaching elementary physical education and coaching high school wrestling in Ridgewood, NJ. In the fall of 1984 he left teaching and began Trailmark Outdoor Adventures, a summer teen adventure travel company. Trailmark sponsored two to six week adventure trips to New England, the Adirondacks, Pennsylvania, Colorado, the Northern Rockies and the Pacific Northwest. Rusty and his wife Donna owned and managed Trailmark for twenty two years.

Miranda Jennings holds a Master's Degree in International Community Development from Clark University and has seven years of experience with Bridges to Community, including five as Country Director in Nicaragua.  She is currently working to help us establish operations in the Dominican Republic.

Mark Daley is responsible for the Financial and Administrative operations of Bridges to Community, including budgeting and forecasting, employee policies, and the tracking and analysis of expenses and fundraising.  He is also responsible for I.T. management for the organization, and develops and maintains our web site.  He has been with Bridges since August 2006.