Our Board Members
JOHN DEWALD
President | Cofounder
Raised in Truckee, CA, John Dewald graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a BA in literature in 2017. John has taught English in a Brazilian university on a Fulbright Scholarship, guided backpacking trips up volcanoes for a Nicaraguan NGO, served as a translator in the Andes for a Bolivian NGO, worked for a literacy campaign in Belize, helped run a global health initiative in Bali, participated in a SCUBA conservation project in Honduras, taught empowerment classes to high school students in Japan, and researched voluntourism in Peru. A published author, John speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese. His interests include travel, skiing, SCUBA diving, surfing, and literature.
JORGE FERREIRA
Vice President | Cofounder
Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Jorge Eduardo Garcia Ferreira Jr is a production engineer currently pursuing a masters degree in environmental engineering at the Federal University of Brazil (UFOP). Jorge has worked as a quality engineer, a consultant innovating small businesses, and a public servant helping college students secure scholarships and accommodation. Jorge speaks Portuguese and English, is a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and studies Spanish. His interests include hiking, mountain biking, playing the ukulele, and travel. He and John met while both working for UFOP in Ouro Preto, Brazil.
CRAIG IVERSON
Treasurer
The managing shareholder of Ashley Quinn, CPAs & Consultants, Ltd., a regional CPA firm with offices in Reno and Incline Village, Nevada, Craig has more than 30 years of tax and estate planning experience, with emphasis on charitable giving and wealth management. Craig’s love of mountains and mountaineering has led him to South America many times; however, his experience touring Brazil in early 2020 was instrumental in his interest in becoming involved with Full Belly Brasil.
KEVIN DEWALD
Secretary
Kevin Dewald is the managing partner of the Dewald Legal Group based in Truckee, California and has over 30 years of legal experience representing national and international corporations with transactions throughout the United States, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Australia, Canada, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Saipan. He is passionate about travel, surfing, and skiing. Kevin has spent much time in Central and South America. He fell in love with Brazil during his first visit in 2020.
KIM SHACTER
Truckee, California local, Kim Shacter has over twenty five years of experience in the food and beverage service industry. Kim has been involved in international volunteer work since 1992 when she spent a year teaching English in Costa Rica and also has domestic non profit experience, working for WorldTeach, an NGO based in Massachusetts. The Assistant Lodge Manager at the Lahontan Golf Club, Kim speaks English and Spanish and is an avid skier, mountain biker, and trail runner who loves to be outdoors.
Alex Lombardo
A graduate of Claremont McKenna College (B.A.) and the University of California, Davis (M.S.), Alex spends most of his time in the mountains, working as a climbing and skiing guide in Alaska, California, and Washington and a ski patroller at Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico. He first visited Brazil as part of his graduate research, living in Curitiba, Parana and travelling to Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul to study ancient glacial deposits. Through his work with Full Belly Brasil, Alex hopes to repay the hospitality and kindness he was shown during his time in Brazil.
Julianne Blackburn
Julianne was born and raised in Burlington, NC. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Work and Public Health and is passionate about reducing health disparities worldwide. She has led Global Health Initiative programs in the Dominican Republic, taught English in both Chile and Ecuador, lead educational programs in Belize, and developed health education programming for various communities. Julianne loves traveling, hiking, and anything outdoors.
Klaudia Dziewulski
Chicago native Klaudia Dziewulski is currently a software engineer at a startup which helps apply natural language processing to the social services sector. She graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a degree in philosophy and psychology. She loves to travel, go to concerts, and spend time outdoors with her two dogs. Klaudia has previously volunteered at a nonprofit working to improve educational opportunities for children in Colombia.
Maria Luiza Lourenço de Sousa
Born and raised in Minas Gerais, Brazil, Maria Luiza is an interpreter and translator. She graduated from IFMG in 2014 as an environmental technician and was always passionate about the environment. In 2021, she graduated from UFOP with a bachelors in translation. Mallu speaks Portuguese and English and is currently studying Spanish. She has worked as an English teacher for many years and still teaches as a volunteer in her free time. Her interests include reading, learning new languages, culture, and music.
Trysten Culler
Born and raised in eastern North Carolina, Trysten Culler graduated from East Carolina University with a BS in Environmental Health. In university, he worked with a non-profit focusing on coastal policy and restoration, as well as his university’s sustainability program. Trysten is currently based in the Aizu region of Fukushima, Japan where he teaches English at local elementary and middle schools. Trysten speaks English, Japanese, and he is currently studying Portuguese. His interests include music, traveling, indoor aesthetics, gardening, and environmental sciences.
Isadora Bertoli
From Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil, Isa graduated with a degree in nutrition. A breathwork instructor in Brazil, she spends her summers internationally, having led environmentally focused experiential education programs in Costa Rica, Ecuador (the Galapagos), and Thailand. She was a coordinator of Zero Waste Youth and has lots of experience organizing and leading sustainable events for young people in Brazil. She speaks Portuguese, English, and Spanish.
Peter Taylor
Born in Texas but raised in Nashville, TN, Peter Taylor graduated from Princeton University in 2022 with a degree in Comparative Literature and minors in Latin American Studies and Creative Writing. Peter has worked with an organization building water tanks in schools in the drought stricken rural environs of Cochabamba, Bolivia and has taught English at the Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto in Minas Gerais, Brazil, the latter as part of a Fulbright Scholarship. A bibliophile and a polyglot, Peter loves to read, write, listen to and play music, go hiking, and explore the world.
If you have any questions about our board members, please complete a form on our Contact Us page.