Our Board of Directors
ROOFtoLIVE has an active Board of Directors that works in the best interests of the organization.
Emily Schwarz
Emily has a B.A. in Dance Studies and a B.S. in Dietetics from Maryland University. She is an active member of the non-profit dance company ‘Ceibadanza’ in Manta, Ecuador. Ceibadanza focuses on bringing dance and arts to the economically challenged areas of Ecuador. Emily has been involved in the social aspect of different projects that has as a main objective the improvement of children’s life across Ecuador.
Gisela Begert
Gisela was born in Ecuador and has lived in different countries for many years. Currently she is based in Miami. She is fluent in four languages: Spanish, English, German and French. She has been actively involved in many volunteer positions working with children in Jackson Memorial Hospital and in Miami Children’s Hospital. She worked as a Research Associate in the Touch Research Institute in Miami. She, together with the other Board members based in US, works in raising awareness of our mission in ROOFtoLIVE, especially among the Ecuadorian Communities in the United States.
Verónica Posner
Verónica has a degree in Nutrition from the University of Rhode Island. She was born in Ecuador and moved to United States 2004. Ever since she was very young, she has been involved in projects with poor communities in the coastal area of Ecuador. She is actively involved in fund raising for the organization.
Otto Schwarz
Otto has an Industrial Engineering and a Fisheries degree from the University of Rhode Island. He was born in Ecuador and has been working in the Ecuadorian fish industry for the last 30 years. He has seen first-hand the poverty of people that lives in the coast and struggle to make a living with what the ocean can provide for them. He strongly believes that once they can have a secure place to live, these poor people can focus more on improving their quality of life. He has been working in ROOFtoLIVE coordinating the building process of each house.
Maria Schwarz
María has a PhD in Eduacation from Capella University and besides helping with fund raising activities, she works on the development of strategies to improve the community of the families that are granted with a house. She believes that the best way to get them out of poverty is through education.
Lorena Schwarz
Lorena was born in Ecuador and moved to United States in 2008. She has a MSc in Aquaculture from Ghent University in Belgium. She has been working in the improvement of the relations between the production sector of shrimp and tilapia farming with the environment and specially, with the surrounding communities. Lorena is the one who advocate on behalf of the organization, actively working in fundraising.