One of the great things about working on this project is the opportunity to meet really interesting and talented people who are enthusiastic about coming up with solutions to help the less fortunate in the world. I’m constantly impressed by how generous people are with their time. Our members of the board are working hard to advance our goals. But in addition to these people, we have a slate of equally skilled advisors who donate their ideas and expertise. Our project wouldn’t be as strong or viable without their contributions.

This week we’ve added two new advisors: Gabriela Bermudez and Dennis de Vreede. Gabriela is an expert in public health and medicine, and Dennis in international finance. They’re super-sharp – plus, they’re very cool, fun people. Here are their bios:

Gabriela Bermudez, MPH/M.D. currently works as a physician at Clinic Ole in Napa, CA. She received a B.A. from Tufts in International Relations, a Master’s in Public Health at Columbia University and her M.D. from Howard University in Washington, D.C. Dr. Bermudez completed a surgical internship at Brown University and a Family Practice Internship and Residency at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City, where she was Co-Chief Resident. From 2002 to 2005 she was the sole physician in practice at Horizon Family Practice Clinic in the Bronx, serving Medicaid and uninsured patients and providing pediatric, adult, gynecological, prenatal and postnatal care. Dr. Bermudez has been involved in a range of work and research including a research study on hypertension at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare, Zimbabwe; and as a consultant to the National Council of La Raza in Washington, D.C., where she was a Senior AIDS specialist. In addition she was Assistant Project Director for the National Coalition of Hispanic Health and Human Services, where she conducted HIV and AIDS training, and was a primary care worker at Casa De Los Niños in Tucson, AZ, a shelter for physically and sexually abused children. Gabriela served in the Peace Corps in Nepal and is fluent in French and Spanish.

Dennis, his wife Mayra, me and my husband Tim.

Dennis de Vreede is Chief Financial Officer for Redevco B.V. in Amsterdam, Netherlands, one of the largest retail real estate companies in Europe with a portfolio currently valued at approximately Euro $8 billion. In his role as CFO to the Board of Directors he has the responsibility for finance, legal and IT matters. Prior to this position Dennis was Global Finance Director for Rockwell Automation Inc., responsible for two business units exceeding $1 billion in annual revenue with offices and manufacturing locations in the U.S., Netherlands, Israel, UK and China. Dennis has served as VP Finance for telecommunications venture KPNQwest N.V. and gained Mergers & Acquisitions experience at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in London. He started his career with KPMG in the Netherlands after studying Economics at Erasmus University in Rotterdam and Accountancy at The Hague. He received the equivalency of an M.S. in Accounting and a CPA from Nyenrode University, The Netherlands. Dennis also attended the Leadership Development Program at the Harvard Business School in Boston, MA. He is fluent in Dutch and English, with a working knowledge of German and French.

I’m so honored to have them on board.