The Team

Sue Patterson

Founder and WINGS Chairperson

Sue graduated from Duke University and became a Peace Corps Volunteer in Colombia before joining the Foreign Service, where she served for 25 years. Her posts included Chile, Iran, Guatemala and Italy. She now lives permanently in Guatemala and donates her time to WINGS.

Meira Neggaz

Executive Director

Meira joined WINGS in 2004. Having previously worked in women’s health in Guatemala, she is dedicated to addressing the unmet need for family planning and reproductive health services throughout the country. Meira holds a MALD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and a Certificate in International Public Health from Boston University’s School of Public Health. She has over ten years experience in non-profit management.

Emma Jane Sunderland

Program Director

Emma, who joined WINGS in December 2005, is a qualified nurse with a Masters in Public Health and Health Promotion. Having previously worked for a UNDP Human Rights project in Guatemala, Emma is actively aware of the diverse needs in Guatemalan society. She has a keen interest in reproductive health, and feels that “an important problem faced by many people is the lack of access to information about family planning methods, which enables people to make informed choices”. Emma is devoted to helping meet the needs of both men and women in regards to their reproductive health.

Delphine Liston

Program Director

Delphine joined the WINGS team in April 2008. She has a Masters in Public Health with a concentration in International Health from Boston University and has maintained family planning and reproductive health as her specific area of focus. She has previously volunteered at Behrhorst Partners for Development in Chimaltenango designing a prenatal nutrition education curriculum for health promoters and traditional birth attendants and has traveled extensively throughout Latin America. She is aware of the tremendous need for increased information and access to family planning and reproductive health services in Guatemala and is dedicated to ensuring that all men and women are able to access quality reproductive health care and the contraceptive methods of their choice.

Lucrecia (Lucky) Guzman                              

Office Manager

Before joining WINGS Lucky worked for six years at the Ixmacane Assocation, which trains midwives for areas where there is a high level of infant mortality. “It was during this time that I noticed how bad education and information was on health issues in Guatemala, especially for women. I firmly believe that reproductive and sexual health education can make an enormous difference to the lives of people who, through a lack of education, culture, and religious beliefs, have never had access to it.”

Lourdes Tojin

Cervical Cancer Project Coordinator

Lourdes has been with WINGS since it's inception and has a wealth of experience in bringing family planning knowledge and sex education to Guatemalans living in poverty. She was born and raised in a rural area and has seen the first-hand effects of insufficient sexual education. “I see the great necessity that Guatemalans have for planning their families; many of them do not do it because of a lack of knowledge. I want to help fix this and be effective at it."

Luis Ordonez

Family Planning Project Coordinator

Luis, who has also been with WINGS since the beginning, devotes a good part of his time giving educational talks about family planning and contraceptive methods to Guatemalans of all ages (mostly male) in schools, at construction sites, and on farms. Working to promote reproductive health appears to run in his family, as both parents are also employed in the field. “I feel personal satisfaction about the numbers of men I have convinced to opt for family planning."

Danessa Johana Luna De León

Advocates for Youth Coordinator

Danessa graduated from the San Carlos University’s School of Political Science with a degree in Sociology. She has since worked in Guatemala for adolescent’s and youth’s sexual and reproductive health rights and is a staunch supporter of women’s rights as well. She is also the co-founder of Guatemala’s National Youth Network for Political Impact. Before coming to work with WINGS, Danessa worked with Guatemala’s Community Health Services and has consulted on, among others, California’s  International Health Program’s focus on Guatemala. Participating in women’s sexual and reproductive rights’ international conferences, such as Beijing’s +10 and the 9^th Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Regional Conference is all in a day’s work for Danessa.

Carmen Lopez

Nurse/Educator

Carmen studied to be a nurse after having her four children. She first started working with WINGS helping out with various Pap smear clinics and was then contracted to work on the Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Study in 2005. She later joined WINGS as a permanent employee and now helps Lourdes with the Cervical Cancer project. “It is great to be able to help so many women who need it. This inspires me to learn more, improve my work, and help more women.”

Carmen Roquel

Family Planning Educator

Carmen is from the rural area of San Juan Comalapa and works alongside Luis on the Family Planning project. She is studying nursing and is a graduated Auxiliary Nurse. “What I love the most about my job is the great interest there is in Family Planning in the rural places we visit, because generally no one in these areas talks about these subjects. The fruit of my work will be to see that within the next few years the people we have helped will be able to see the benefits.”

Ana Roquel        

Family Planning Educator  

Ana is originally from Comalapa, Chimaltenango. A trained nurse, she began working for WINGS in October 2006 providing outreach education in family planning. "I love working directly in the communities, helping and instructing the people about family planning. I am thankful to WINGS for affording me the opportunity to  work on such an important project."

Dorcas Arelí Yol Xon        

Family Planning Educator

Dorcas is from Chichicastenango, El Quiché in the north of Guatemala. She is indigenous Guatemalan and speaks her native language K’iche’, as well as Spanish. Dorcas is a social worker who joined WINGS in 2006 and works as a Family Planning Educator covering the areas of Quiché and Sololá. "I am proud of my job and that I work daily because I meet many different people. I love to educate people about the risks associated with sexual activity, responsible fatherhood, and family planning methods."

WINGS Youth Group Coordinator

 The majority of Eli’s experience has been educationally related, as she has been an elementary and high school teacher. Before coming to work for WINGS, Eli was the coordinator for APROFAM’s Peer Educators Program, as well as their Educational Talks Program. Eli has her Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of San Carlos in Guatemala City and in her spare time, volunteers her knowledge organizing sexual education talks in her neighborhood.

José Marcial Molina Valdez

 Youth Group Educator

 Pepe, as some people call him, lives in Chimaltenango and is 19 years old. He started his journey with WINGS as a member of our youth group in 2004. Over time he learned to give educational talks and become a peer advisor, something he enjoyed very much. He was such an outstanding example of a peer educator, that after three years, WINGS offered him a permemnet position as a Youth WINGS Educator. Pepe now gives and coordinates educational talks regarding sexual and reproductive health. He is currently studying architecture, but says he enjoys his work very much because he knows he is helping people.

WINGS for Men Program Coordinator

Robin joined WINGS as the WINGS for Men Program Manager on April 17th. In this role she will oversee the development of the Men’s program, designing materials and communications campaigns and overseeing field staff. Robin has a background in social work, having served as a social worker and interim social work director for Piedmont Health Services in Siler City, NC, since 2005. In her time at Piedmont, Robin worked directly with Spanish-speaking immigrant communities, providing maternal and child health education and case management. Robin holds a Master’s of Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a B.A. in English with a philosophy minor from Pomona College. She is fluent in Spanish.

Haroldo Castillo

Educator – Men’s Program

Haroldo comes to WINGS with great volunteer and community-related work experience. He graduated from the San Carlos University with a degree in Communications and has attended many trainings in HIV/AIDS prevention, which have helped him become more comfortable with the themes he deals with here at WINGS. “I like working with WINGS because I believe in the work they do and because I know it is one of the few organizations that truly gives back what it receives and that actually does good for Guatemala.”

Marielos Rodriguez 

Development Officer

Marielos, first came to WINGS as a volunteer in the spring of 2007 and has returned after a brief hiatus as a full member of our staff. She is our newest Development Officer and is staying with WINGS for a year while she becomes more acquainted with the inner workings of an international NGO. Marielos has previously worked for Planned Parenthood in Virginia, where she fully realized her passion for and support of reproductive rights, and plans on pursuing her Masters in Public Health from the University of Arizona in the fall of 2008. She is fluent in Spanish and of Guatemalan descent.

Emily Myers

Development Officer

Emily joined WINGS in February 2008 as a Development Officer.  She works to build WINGS' financial resources through foundation fundraising, donor communications, web communications, and NESTs (WINGS' volunteer supporter groups).  Prior to joining WINGS, Emily worked with the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in New York City, where she was responsible for membership strategy and communications.  Emily has a B.A. in individualized study, with a concentration in international politics and economics, from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University.  In her studies, Emily focused on Latin America's economic development, and she is excited to be living in Guatemala and working on family planning and reproductive health, which are so critical to sustainable development.  She looks forward to supporting the work of WINGS through her fundraising efforts.

Board of Directors

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