2013 Board of Trustees

Wijnie de Groot first learned of World Fellowship in 2003, when a friend suggested she join her for a week’s vacation in a ‘low-key and interesting resort’ in New Hampshire’s White mountains. Wijnie instantly loved WFC, and the following year she brought her family to let them share the same experience she had during that first visit. Wijnie has been a regular ever since. It is the combination of intellectual stimulation, relaxation in beautiful surroundings and feeling of community that especially appeals to her.

Wijnie currently works as a lecturer of Dutch at Columbia University, teaching Dutch at all levels to undergraduate and graduate students. She also works as a translator. She lives with her husband and daughters in Queens, NY. Their youngest daughter, still in college, spends her summers at WFC as a staff member.

Wijnie is a member of the German Chapter of Nature Friends, a European organization dedicated to the preservation of nature and the advancement of social justice. She enjoys getting together with friends and family, hiking, camping, and reading.

Jake Geller has appreciated coming to World Fellowship each summer with his wife, Jane Becker and their 2 children, Lia and Michael, for over 25 years. He feels fortunate that his kids continue to care about World Fellowship. The mission, “Promoting peace and social justice, through education and dialogue, inspired by nature.” and the varied progressive perspectives on interesting issues, the community, and nature in the White Mountains keep him coming back.  He enjoys working closely with the directors and other board members to move the organization forward.  Jake works in Information Technology and fondly remembers sitting in the old laundry room to connect over a dial-up modem. He’s glad that wi-fi internet access is available in Uphaus, Weller House and the Cottage!

Patricia Kinsella loves escaping from the city to the beautiful woods and waters of World Fellowship.  Her kids have grown up spending vacations at WF, and she harbors a (not so secret) desire that at least one of them will begin working here when old enough. The last dip in Whitton Pond each summer is the moment she makes the promise to herself that she’ll be back for more social-justice-meets-nature soon enough the following year.

 

 

World Fellowship was recommended to Dori McCormack by some friends who knew she would love it, and they were right. That was eleven years ago, and Dori has been coming to World Fellowship every summer since, along with her son Daniel who loves it just as much. Dori lives in a lovely farmhouse in Greenfield and works in adult literacy in Holyoke in Western Massachusetts. Dori also practices and teaches yoga, and offers classes at World Fellowship whenever she is there. She has a beautifully overgrown garden and loves playing and listening to music, dancing, bike-riding, reading and writing, traveling, cooking …. and even though this is starting to read like a personal ad, Dori is happily living with a man whose work unfortunately picks up during the summer so he doesn’t get to World Fellowship as much as they’d both like. Dori is very happy to be on the Board of Trustees, mostly because she thinks World Fellowship, the other Board members and the Directors are Really Awesome.

Dave Malekpour has been visiting World Fellowship since he was 11 in 1974 when his grandfather brought him and his parents from Brooklyn for a weekend.

Since then Dave has stayed at World Fellowship almost every year, sometimes for several weeks at a time. His favorite pastimes are swimming in Whitton Pond, enjoying nature, meeting new people and enjoying great discussions and time with family. Bringing his own children to the family-friendly environment is particularly enjoyable. As a family it’s nice to have all your meals prepared with wholesome ingredients and not have to clean up or worry about leaving a tip!

Dave is a music industry professional and started his company Professional Audio Design in 1989, designing and equipping recording studios for artists like Stevie Wonder, Aerosmith, Jay-Z, Metallica, Alicia Keys as well as broadcasters CBN, FOX, NBC and SNL. Dave is also a professional musician, recording engineer and has his own recording studio. Dave is often found performing on weekends in the Boston area with the Jackson Wetherbee Band. Dave is on the board of advisors at Art Institute of New England, and the Extreme Institute by Nelly in St Louis.

Dave and Maryann Malekpour reside in the south shore of Massachusetts just outside Boston with their children, David 12, Kamron 3 and Leyla 2 and Olivia, born in September 2012. Dave’s parent’s, Judith and David Woodruff, have been actively involved with World Fellowship. Judith was on the board in the 1990’s. Dave’s grandfather Eddie Topp visited during summers in the 1950’s and was a labor organizer in the New York City painters’ union for over 30 years.

For Dave and his family, World Fellowship is the place they go to get away, turn off the cell phones and computers and connect with nature, great people and enjoy family and friends.

Mona Mandal was introduced to World Fellowship Center in 2005 by family friends as a special vacation spot that represents the cherished values of social justice, community and simple living in proximity to nature. She has been coming with her family and friends and has found it to be a sanctuary to rejuvenate the mind, body and soul. She specially enjoys the various body movement and art on the porch offerings besides engaging in intellectually stimulating conversations with others at WFC.

Mona lives in Arlington, MA with her husband and daughter and works with a State Commission that oversees the pensions of state employees. She is also affiliated with a local non-profit, Association for India’s Development which focuses on sustainable developmental projects and social justice campaigns in India.

Mona feels that World Fellowship Center is the perfect vacation that nourishes mind, body and spirit surrounded by nature and hopes that she can be a part of its journey into the next decades.

 

Zenobia Mann first came to World Fellowship about 12 years ago. She most enjoys the intentional community created by the interplay of guests’ abilities, actions, ages and beliefs.

Zenobia is a teacher of Special Education. In addition to being on the World Fellowship Board, she is also a member of St. Paul’s Community Baptist Church.

Zenobia lives in New York City with her husband, son, and daughter, who along with her mother, brother, and nieces all enjoy WF.

In her spare time, Zenobia is involved with The Grail at Cornwall-on-Hudson, an international, interfaith women’s movement committed to change. Her hobbies include reading, swimming, and wandering around NYC.

Jeff Petrucelly was introduced to World Fellowship by friends 38 years ago, and has come every summer since.
Jeff is from Boston, and he and his wife, Pat Cantor, introduced their son Michael and daughter Karen at early ages to WF. Their whole family has loved the community, programs, and environment.

Jeff is an avid outdoors person—hiking in the White Mountains and all over the U.S. and Europe, swimming in Whitton Pond, biking to charity causes such as Bikes Not Bombs, and other activities.

Jeff is an attorney in his own small public interest, private law firm in Boston, and active in the National Lawyers Guild. He provides legal advice to WF.

Isabel Pinedo was born in Ecuador, but moved to New York City as a child with her family where she has become a “native” New Yorker. She first heard of World Fellowship in 1997, while working at the Park Slope Food Coop in Brooklyn. At World Fellowship she discovered a community of socially aware people with whom to enjoy the pristine beauty of Whitton Pond and the White Mountains.

Isabel has been a professor in the Department of Film and Media at Hunter College since 1991, a public institution with a mandate to serve the underserved of the city of New York. She has served on curriculum development in a department committed to the socially aware study and production of media. Her most recent publications are about the politics of 9/11, the Iraq War, and civic values in the U.S.

Isabel serves on the Program Committee, helping to craft the roster of intellectual, activist-oriented, and body work presenters for the summer. She is also on the Development and Outreach Committee.

Joanne Rosenthal and her family have spent time every summer at World Fellowship since hearing about it from a friend in 1988 – sometimes several times during the summer due to its close proximity to her hometown. She lives in Brunswick, Maine with her husband Josh and sons Adrian and Gabe when they’re home from school. Joanne treasures her World Fellowship time on Whitton Pond, being served delicious nutritious meals, and meeting other guests and staff from around the world. She finds the speakers and workshops interesting and energizing. Of course, she’s also a big fan of Maine, and is happy to point travelers to interesting side trips from World Fellowship.

 A seasoned social worker with an extensive background serving older adults, Joanne is the founder of Aging Consultation Services, and is committed to empowering clients to make well informed decisions that promote autonomy and optimal well being. Joanne has served on several municipal and nonprofit boards, and currently volunteers at the local soup kitchen and homeless shelter. She supports many social justice organizations and is currently enrolled in classes on Jewish ethics, poetry and Spanish. In her spare time she cooks, walks, writes and swims. She has recently taken up jogging, (much to her own surprise!) and is working toward running a 5K.

 Joanne believes that the World Fellowship Center is the perfect vacation destination for renewal of the mind, body and spirit, and is committed to working for its long term sustainability.

Liz Salen started coming to WFC for the diversity of its community. Her children loved the freedom to be themselves in a place of great natural beauty, so she, her partner and their two children have returned year after year.

When she’s not working, Liz pursues her interests in many subjects, most recently onomastics (look it up!), genealogy and metaphysics. She has been an attorney for over thirty years, providing legal assistance to individuals, nonprofits and small business owners. In serving on the World Fellowship Board of Trustees, Liz continues her family’s long tradition of volunteerism and community service.

Decades ago, Sharon Tracy‘s first visit to World Fellowship had a profound influence on the arc of her future. Visiting with friends (one of whom had worked at World Fellowship as a teen) she interviewed then director Willard Uphaus for the Clamshell Alliance News. His moral courage and determination to do what is right, resisting unjust authority despite the consequences, inspired her decisions moving forward in both career choices and political activism. She says, “I am deeply honored to serve as a member of the Board of Trustees of the truly remarkable World Fellowship.”. 

Sharon, Executive Director of Quabbin Mediation, founded that organization in 1995. A mediator and trainer for fifteen years, she develops and implements mediation and conflict resolution curricula in a multitude of settings. With more than thirty years’ experience in organizational development, she has particular skills in creating innovative programs and writing grant proposals to fund them. An example is Veterans Mediation, training military-connected community volunteers to mediate for their peers; another is Training Active Bystanders, an effective, locally developed school-based violence prevention program.  She is a proponent of the concept that ADR practitioners’ skills can be successfully applied to community organizing by convening stakeholder alliances and facilitating their work together to meet their communities’ needs. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Legal Studies with a concentration in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and has worked as an editor, publisher, and business development consultant.

Andrea Walsh loves exploring the wild places between Whitton Pond and Mt. Chocorua and sharing the hopeful, forward-looking spirit of the World Fellowship community.

Andrea volunteered, served on Boards, and was employed with non-profits of many stripes before coming to World Fellowship: White Mountain Waldorf School; American Friends Service Committee-NH; Guatemala Accompaniment Project; Witness for Peace international team; and was elected and served as a Washtenaw County (Michigan) Commissioner for a two-year term… Recycle Ann Arbor, the Women’s Crisis Center. Originally from lush farm land of mid-Michigan, Andrea treasures raising Fiona, with Andy providing entertainment, while working to improve the soil for growing organic vegetables in the Granite State. Andrea also knits, enjoys long-distance self-propelled journeys (bike, walk, hike), and wants to engage with people who want to slow down and join in making the world a better place—for everybody.

Andy Davis was born in 1961 in Rochester, New Hampshire, and mostly grew up on the coast of Maine and on Long Island. During the 1980s he earned his living as a cook, struggled against a US foreign policy in the grip of death squads and mercenaries, hitchhiked 100,000 miles, and travelled whenever possible in Europe, Africa and Latin America. During the 1990s he spent three and a half years doing human rights work in Guatemala, where he met Andrea Walsh. They came back to the US and lived in an intentional community while casting about for a way to combine their values and livelihood; in the meantime he earned a living in carpentry and seasonal farm work, while also learning to grow food organically. Andy and Andrea got married in 1999, and Fiona Uniacke Davis-Walsh joined them in the world soon after. In 2000 the three of them came to live and work at the World Fellowship Center. Since 2001 he has channeled his senses of righteous indignation and magical realism into a passionate avocation as a storyteller.