Our staff
Global Coordination Team
Steve Brescia is the Executive Director of Groundswell International and one of its co-founders. Steve has over 30 years of experience supporting international development, social change, and grassroots advocacy. He is the Editor of Fertile Ground: Scaling Agroecology from the Ground Up (2017). From 1996-2009 he worked for World Neighbors in positions including Area Representative for Mesoamerica and Haiti; Latin America Regional Coordinator; and Associate VP for Program Learning and Innovation – facilitating the documentation of a program methodology guide. He previously worked for the Inter-American Foundation, the International Liaison Office for President Aristide of Haiti, and with community-based organizations in Nicaragua.
Steve holds an MA in International Development from American University and a certificate in Asset-Based Community Development from the Coady International Institute at St. Francis Xavier University.
Rebecca Wolff is Groundswell International’s Program Director and is an experienced food systems researcher and project manager. Prior to joining Groundswell, her career focused on harnessing the power of collaboration to execute impactful projects at the intersection of agroecology, food systems, and well-being.
She is a two-time National Geographic Grantee and received her M.S. from the University of British Columbia, where she developed a framework to measure the impacts of agroecology and food sovereignty on well-being.
Ethan Scully is Groundswell International’s Grants Manager. Upon graduating from the College of Wooster with a BA in Global and International Studies, Ethan left his native Ohio to serve as an Americorps VISTA with the Chicago-based Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing, a legal aid agency providing free legal services to private renters. Since then, Ethan has shifted his focus to the environmental field, working in Resource Development for both Groundswell and People for Community Recovery, a grassroots organization on Chicago’s Southside advocating for environmental justice.
Chandana Guntupalli is Groundswell International’s Donor Relations Manager. She started her non-profit career in direct services advocating for South Asian women facing domestic violence and then moving into fundraising and development. She has over six years of experience in non-profit development supporting programs focused on domestic violence, transitional housing, anti-bias education, and youth civic engagement. She has a Bachelor’s in Psychology and Philosophy from Michigan State University and a Master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies from Rutgers-Newark.
Chandi comes from a line of farmers on both sides of her family from southeastern India and is excited about the community development and empowerment that Groundswell develops for farmers across the world.
Ruby Zhang, of Goldin Group CPAs, serves as Groundswell International’s Chief Financial Officer. Goldin Group specializes in providing outsourced CFO services to nonprofits, with budgets ranging from $500,000 to $50 million, and has been the outsourced CFO for some of the largest nonprofit organizations in the State of Maryland. Goldin Group is the exclusive provider of financial services for the largest non-profit trade associations in the Washington, DC area – Maryland Nonprofits and the D.C. Center for Nonprofit Advancement.
Ruby is Goldin Group’s Director of Operations and has been with Goldin Group for over 5 years. She specializes in leveraging technology with CPA services, financial reporting, nonprofit accounting and best practices, nonprofit strategic direction, and financial analysis. Ruby is a licensed CPA in the State of Virginia.
Glicer Nalvarte serves as an Executive Administrative Assistant. Raised in Montgomery County, Maryland, Glicer completed a Masters of Education from the University of Maryland in Human Development. For the past 15 years, she has worked to provide administrative support in the field of healthcare administration. Glicer is the mother of two active daughters and supports them on the soccer field and dance stage.
Ronel Lefranc is Groundswell International’s Haiti Program Coordination and Support Consultant. He has over ten years of experience managing holistic development programs and projects in Haiti to address critical development issues, including youth capacity building, sustainable agriculture, food security, environmental protection, and community development.
As an engaging leader, Ronel co-founded several development initiatives in Haiti including ACTIVEH, Haiti’s largest youth organization. Before joining Groundswell, Ronel worked for five years as Program Director for Partenariat pour le Développement Local (PDL), Groundswell’s partner in Haiti. Ronel holds a Bachelor’s in agriculture and environmental sciences from the University of Quisqueya and Dartmouth College, and a Master’s in Global Development and Social Justice from St. John’s University.
Charles Arhin serves as Regional Finance Coordinator for West Africa and Latin America. Charles has 19 years of experience as Accounting and Finance Professional for both For Profits and Non-Profits. Before joining Groundswell International, He spent 9 years serving as Finance Manager for several In-country and Regional level development projects in West Africa, among them include, USAID/IREX Mandela Washington Fellowship project implemented in 22 countries in West and Central Africa, USAID/FHI Learn Project in Ghana, USAID/PATH Malaria Care Project in Ghana, USAID/World Learning contraceptive Project in Ghana. Charles is a Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA).
Maylis Moubarak is Groundswell International’s Storytelling and Communications Manager. Maylis has lived in eight countries and worked for multinationals, startups, nonprofits, and social enterprises across four continents. Prior to joining Groundswell International in 2024, she spent over seven years working in editorial content, communications, marketing strategy, and international events in various industries. She’s passionate about crafting stories that bridge borders and inspire audiences to support meaningful projects.
Jamie Smith oversees our social media accounts. She has over a decade of experience leading digital and print communications for non-profits, mid-sized corporations, and small businesses. Jamie runs a digital strategy consulting firm, partners with larger agencies as strategy support, participates as a board member on a library foundation board, and serves as vice-chair on the board of a charter school. Her academic career includes a Master’s in Management and Leadership from Montreat College, and a BA in Mass Communication from UNC Asheville.
Regional Field Staff
WEST AFRICA
Tsuamba Bourgou is Groundswell International’s Regional Coordinator for West Africa. Tsuamba brings decades of experience supporting community-led development in his native Burkina Faso and across West Africa. Before joining Groundswell, Tsuamba served as the Executive Director of the NGO Association Nourrir Sans Détruire, where he played a critical role in the emergence of a dynamic agroecology and farmers movement in eastern Burkina.
Tsuamba’s key areas of experience include adult education, action research, evaluation, impact assessment, strategic planning, program development, training and facilitation and strengthening local organizational capacities. He holds a Master’s in Linguistics from the University of Ouagadougou.
Dioma Komonsira is Groundswell International’s West Africa Coordinator for Action-Learning and Advocacy. After his studies at the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso (MAST II in Information and Communication Sciences and Techniques), he worked for 5 years at EDIFICE McCann Erickson to develop and implement communication and marketing strategies. Before joining Groundswell International, he previously worked for African Cotton Producers Association (based in Mali and covering 15 countries in West, Central and East Africa) from 2006 to 2023. During these 16 years, he worked as Communication and Public Relations Manager and also as Coordinator and Assistant Coordinator on several projects related to the development of organic and ecological agricultural sectors in West Africa.
His competences include strengthening producers capacities, capitalization and dissemination of good agricultural practices, development and implementation of communication strategies and advocacy.
Freda Aagyereyir Pigru is Groundswell International’s West Africa Regional Communications Coordinator. Prior to joining Groundswell, Freda worked for six years with one of Groundswell’s partner organizations, Center for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD), based in Ghana as a community engagement officer implementing projects in the areas of agroecology, nutrition, women, and youth empowerment. She’s also worked with a community radio station in northwest Ghana as a reporter, host, producer, and station coordinator.
Peter Gubbels is Groundswell International’s Senior Advisor for West Africa and is one of our co-founders. He has 38 years of experience in rural development, including over 28 years living and working in West Africa. Peter is the co-author of From the Roots Up: Strengthening Organizational Capacity through Guided Self-Assessment. He has also written numerous articles, research reports, evaluations, case studies and policy briefs on agroecology.
Peter was recently appointed senior fellow with the Global Evergreening Alliance, and he holds an MA in Rural Development from the University of East Anglia in Great Britain, an Honor’s degree in History from the University of Western Ontario, and a college diploma in Agricultural Production and Management.
LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN
Edwin Escoto is Groundswell International’s Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to joining Groundswell, Edwin worked for nearly a decade as the Executive Director of Vecinos Honduras, a leading NGO promoting rural development and agroecology. Before taking on the leadership role at Vecinos, Edwin worked for five years as World Neighbors’ Coordinator for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods in Mesoamerica (Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua), and, prior to that, as the Agricultural Extension Coordinator for a large FAO food security program in Honduras. Edwin holds a degree in Agronomy from Honduras’ National Agriculture University.
Luisa María Castaño Hernández is Groundswell International’s Communications Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean. She has experience in media in different countries, content development in multimedia and print formats, fiction and non-fiction writing and editing.
She has played a leading role in the formulation and implementation of communication strategies for projects of institutions working for the preservation of cultural heritage and biodiversity, the strengthening of education and the integration of migrants. She has also participated in the development of museographic scenarios, curating exhibition cycles and educational experiences in art and science museums. She is a journalist, artist, and has a Masters in Humanistic Studies.
SOUTH ASIA
Navaraj Upadhyay is Groundswell International’s Regional Coordinator for South Asia. He started his career as a volunteer for Jay Nepal International at Sindhupalchok (Nepal) helping to rebuild houses, drinking water supplies, and hospitals for people affected by earthquakes. He went on to be a project coordinator for agriculture there for 3 years. After that, he worked as an agriculture officer of the Nepal Government for a year, different private companies for a year, various NGOs for more than 2 years, and as a facilitator of PDC (Permaculture Design Course) for two years.
Navaraj holds a post-graduation degree in agricultural economics from Tribhuvan University and did nationwide research on microfinance. His expertise includes scientific research designing, data analysis, training and extension of agro-ecological practices, permaculture designing, project preparation and analysis, and volunteer mobilization.