A Georgia native, Teni-Ola Ogunjobi is influential in areas of community engagement, volunteer management, intercultural education, grassroots development, business management and communications/journalism. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism/English from Howard University and a Master of Arts degree in Intercultural Relations from the University of the Pacific. As a part of her master's program, she lived and worked as a Community Economic Development Agent in West Africa (Mali & Senegal) with the Peace Corps. Most recently, she has served the refugee and immigrant community as an AmeriCorps member and volunteer coordinator at a refugee resettlement agency and she currently heads all aspects of community engagement at a school for refugee girls. Teni-Ola is committed to serving diverse communities in international and domestic settings and seeks difference in her personal and professional contexts. She values service and is passionate about inspiring the youth and adults to maximize their potential.
Eben Carey grew up in Chico, in Northern California, as the middle of three brothers. He studied Spanish and Psychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada before joining Peace Corps, where he served as a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Volunteer in coastal Peru from 2011-2013. Since returning to the US, he has pursued his passion for combating climate change, working in a number of roles with a California-based solar energy provider before joining Tesla, where he works as a Project Manager in Global Learning & Development. He enjoys camping, hiking, mountain biking and lives with his partner Sonnet, a fellow RPCV, in Virginia Highlands.
Bueeeeeeenas! Originally from East Tennessee, Abby Brenller studied Marketing & International Business at Saint Vincent College in Pittsburgh, PA, before moving to Bocas del Toro, Panamá to become an agribusiness volunteer specializing in cacao. She extended her service for a 3rd year to serve as Regional Leader of the Darién province and while there met her now-husband, Austin Brenller, who is also a Panamá RPCV! They moved to Atlanta specifically for Abby's current job, Marketing & Sales Coordinator for Xocolatl Small Batch Chocolate. Abby's boss is also an RPCV, and she loves being able to continue my work with cacao and ethical food sourcing here in America.
Originally from Denver, Colorado, Seneca moved to Atlanta two years ago after a three-year stint in Panama, where he served as a WASH volunteer, regional coordinator, and unanticipated connoisseur of canned sardines. He's been on the AARPCV board for two years, as a board member at large, as vice president, and as entirely anticipated provider of fundraising t-shirt puns. He had never lived in Atlanta before, and he says that the group has really helped him integrate into my new “site!”
A native Georgian, Amber Davis is the AARPCV Adviser. As a Family Hillside Farming Volunteer in Honduras from 2002-2004, Amber primarily worked with women's groups to improve nutrition through crop diversification. She currently serves as Chief of the Communities Support Section for the Environmental Protection Agency. Amber has a Master and Bachelor degrees in agriculture from the University of Georgia and has previously served in the AARPCV president and vice president roles.
As a Peace Corps Volunteer in The Gambia, West Africa Mary Novotny lead teams which developed the first national curriculum in environmental conservation for the Ministry of Education and created an exhibition on the environment for the Gambia National Museum. She is passionate about local foods and food security and worked previously as the director of the Heckscher Farm for Children at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center in Stamford, Connecticut and the Heritage Farm Museum in Metro Washington D.C. Mary currently is the NPCA Advocacy Coordinator for Georgia and volunteer coordinator for the American Alliance of Museums 2015 Annual Conference in Atlanta.
Bob Gerzoff served as math and science teacher in an isolated mountain village in Nepal from 1976-1979. Bob recently retired from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is now a part-time independent consultant. . Bob is responsible for maintaining our emails, membership DB, and generally keeping us in line.
Tricia Akers served as an Environmental Health Volunteer in Panama from 2011-2013. She worked on water and sanitation projects, as well as youth camps and health seminars. Tricia holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and a M.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of South Florida. As a Master's International student, she finished her thesis based on composting latrine research conducted during her service. In 2014, she moved to Atlanta, where she lives with her husband, Brad (RPCV Madagascar), and their newest addition, James. Continuing to work in water and sanitation, she is an environmental engineer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She has served on the board for two years and is excited for where AARPCV is headed in 2018.
Brad Akers served as a health volunteer/Master's International student in Madagascar from 2011-2013, where he worked on water- and sanitation-related projects as well as general health education with local community health volunteers. After finishing his Master's degree (environmental engineering, University of South Florida) based on work done in Madagascar, he moved to Atlanta, where he lives with his wife, a fellow RPCV. Brad also holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Clemson University in his native South Carolina, and currently works as an environmental engineer in the air division at the US Environmental Protection Agency (special thanks to non-competitive eligibility and proponents of it at the Agency).
Erica Heiman (Mozambique '04-'06) is a recent transplant to Atlanta. She grew up in New York City, and spent most of her adult life in Northern California. After returning from Mozambique, she went to medical school. She now works as a doctor and medical educator on the Emory faculty, based at Grady Hospital. She lives with her husband Steve and cat Banshee. She enjoys running, yoga, sewing, and crafting.
Bonnie Harvey was raised in rural West Virginia. She obtained a BA in International Relations- focused in Africa/African American Studies and minoring in Geography from Elon University (09’). She served in Peace Corps Malawi (09’-11’) as a Community Health Advisor in Nkhata Bay, and an additional year as an AmeriCorps Volunteer teaching inner-city Philadelphia high school 'push-outs' (11’-12’). After three years of service, she achieved a MS in Applied Anthropology from Portland State University (15’) - exploring placed-based service learning and stewardship along the Appalachian Trail. In 2016 she returned to her Peace Corps village (Usisya) to support a local NGO with program evaluation. In August of 2017 she accepted a position at the CDC in their Global Immunization Division as a monitoring and evaluation Fellow.
