National Team
Tamalyn Spring Jackson Gutierrez
Guatemala Country Director
As country director, Tamalyn leads a team of approximately 120 staff in Guatemala. She enjoys putting together and supporting a team of Guatemalan leadership to run the operations and programs in Guatemala.
Tamalyn was born in Georgia and moved to Guatemala with her parents at the age of 11. Her parents were missionaries, and she worked alongside them with the children in the local market, as well as in rural areas of the country. As a teenager, Tamalyn met John and Dave Huebsch in Antigua and served as interpreter for the first Common Hope surgical team. Tamalyn graduated from Wesleyan College with a B.A. in international relations, then returned to Guatemala in 1999 and joined the hospitality staff. She became the director of hospitality at Common Hope in 2000, and within a year was asked to become the Antigua site director. Tamalyn started in her current role of country director in the summer of 2006.
Common Hope is a place that is about relationships — with affiliated families, donors, and staff — and Tamalyn says she especially enjoys watching staff build relationships and accomplish amazing things every day on behalf of the affiliated families we partner with.
Jeff Barnes
Director of Strategic Planning
Jeff came to Common Hope in February 2001 to oversee the construction of New Hope Village, and since July 2003 has served as Director of Strategic Planning. In that capacity he works with staff in both Guatemala and the U.S. to identify goals, opportunities, and the means to achieve them. He also manages special projects, such as construction of the New Hope School and the policy restructuring initiative.
Fittingly, his own arrival in Central America came as the result of a combination of careful planning and a natural disaster. Hurricane Mitch struck during the week he was taking his oral exam for a master’s in Central American economic history and development. Recognizing a hint when he saw it, he moved to Honduras, where he spent a year and half as a volunteer working with a reconstruction and community development project. In a previous life, Jeff was an account manager for an advertising agency.
Rocio González
Intercultural and Mentorship Liaison
In 2011, Rocio took on a new role as the intercultural and mentorship liaison, where she will coordinate activities for Vision Teams in the new communities where we work. She will also advise Common Hope’s program coordinators in these communities, and she will provide leadership trainings for staff.
Rocio first became involved with Common Hope in 2001 as a social worker for Common Hope. She spent the next four years monitoring the progress of affiliated families and utilizing her law degree to provide legal advice in an accessible manner. Rocio returned to her native Mexico in 2005 but came back to Common Hope in 2007, when she consulted the New Hope community with becoming a homeowner’s association. In August 2007, Rocio became the coordinator of Common Hope’s new community, San Rafael el Arado. In this role, she established a working relationship with the community and coordinated the social work and sponsorship staff.
Says Rocio, “It is very important for me to believe in what I’m doing,” says Rocio. “I truly enjoy working directly with people and the opportunity I have here to give them hope.”
Rosalina Ramos
Director of Donor Relations
When Rosalina was young, she was able to attend school because she was affiliated with an international sponsorship program. She came to work with Common Hope in 1991 and in 1994, Rosi traveled to the United States to speak about her experiences working with us in Guatemala.
Though she has worked in many capacities at Common Hope, Rosi is currently the director of donor relations, a role in which she oversees the sponsorship and hospitality areas. Rosalina says, “During my time of working at Common Hope I have grown as a woman and as a professional.” Her dream is to finish her university degree in business administration. She is married and has a family.
Lisa Hetzel
Human Resources Director
Lisa has been with Common Hope since 2003. The human resources department serves as a connection between Common Hope’s employees and administration in Guatemala, looking out for the well-being of both entities. Lisa manages the hiring, orientation, training and benefits of employees. She also oversees Common Hope’s compliance with Guatemalan labor law and other government requirements. Lisa says she enjoys the diverse challenges of her work and the opportunity to learn from each of Common Hope’s talented employees.
Before working with Common Hope, Lisa earned a degree in sociology from Grinnell College in Iowa and worked as a statistician at the U.S. Census Bureau.
Pablo Cermeño
IT Director
Pablo arrived at Common Hope as IT director in February 2006. He is responsible for the computer and telephone systems and the cell phones at both Antigua and New Hope sites. Prior to Common Hope, Pablo spent eleven years working in systems with a large non-profit in Guatemala.
Of his work Pablo states that of course he loves working with the technology, but above that he enjoys the opportunity he has at Common Hope to feel connected with the families we serve. From his office at the Family Development Center, he is able to see the work going on all around him as the families arrive daily for social work meetings, medical appointments, support groups or educational classes. Pablo graduated from the University of Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala City.
Josué E. Sicán
Operations Director
Josué has a wide range of responsibilities, including supervision of the construction, kitchen, maintenance, transport, cleaning and security areas at both Antigua and New Hope sites. Prior to joining the Common Hope team in 2004, Josué worked as an engineering assistant on a variety of housing programs. He was able to put some of those skills to good use supervising the construction of the new preschool wing of New Hope School.
Josué says he loves the opportunity his work has given him to learn and apply his knowledge to such a wide variety of areas. As his own home town is amongst the villages served by Common Hope it is also special to him to be able to support his own neighbors. He emphasizes the importance to him that his staff understand their importance and contribution to Common Hope’s mission.
Josué has a university degree in architecture.
Renato Westby
Program Development Director
As program development director, Renato focuses on gathering, prioritizing and setting up special projects to be developed for future or existing programming, such as the Common Hope educational quality initiatives, the launch of future outposts and general program monitoring and evaluation work.
Renato was born in Guatemala and orphaned at age five. He was then adopted by a couple in the United States. After graduating from St. John’s University with a degree in political science, he decided to devote the next stage of his life to Guatemala and its people. In 1996, he returned to Guatemala as a full-time volunteer with Common Hope and worked with home construction, stoves, eyeglasses, and computers.
From 1998 to 2008, Renato served as the director of New Hope, overseeing the construction of the village and primary school, as well as overseeing the development of primary and secondary education and community development. In January 2009, Renato accepted his current position of program development director. Renato lives in Guatemala with his family.
Antigua Leadership
Sandra Ortiz
Antigua Programs Director
Sandra arrived at Common Hope in July 2002 to work as a psychologist at the Antigua site. Two years later Sandra became director of psychology, and in January 2008 she was appointed the Antigua site director.
Sandra has a graduate degree in social psychology and political violence. After graduating she worked in a variety of areas focusing on child advocacy before joining Common Hope where she helped her department monitor the mental health of our affiliated children and families, encouraging them to develop confidence, compassion and organizational skills.
Sandra is now responsible for oversight of the Healthcare, Education, Housing, and Family Development Programs in Antigua. Working for Common Hope is an honor,” Sandra says. “It fulfills me completely.” Sandra lives in Guatemala City with her three sons and is an immensely proud grandmother.
Walter Estrada
Clinic Manager
In 2010, Walter accepted the position of clinic manager at Common Hope’s health clinic in Antigua, where he oversees our medical and dental clinic staff and volunteers, our pharmacy, and our community health initiative.
Walter is from Guatemala City, where he received his MD from the University of San Carlos. After finishing medical school, Dr. Estrada completed postgraduate studies in surgery and orthopedic trauma at the Francisco Marroquin University and the University of San Carlos. He then worked for eight years in the Guatemalan Military Health Service, where he served as a trauma surgeon in a mobile surgical hospital and also helped coordinate a variety of military health programs, including nutrition initiatives and chronic disease prevention. Dr. Estrada then became the chief of health services at a large sugar mill, where he was responsible for the implementation and coordination of a variety of curative and preventive health programs for mill workers and their children. Most recently, Dr. Estrada served as a rotating doctor in a health clinic outside of Guatemala City, and providing medical support at a rehabilitation center for the physically disabled.
Flor García
Educational Support Programs Manager
Flor started working at Common Hope in 2010 as the manager of educational support programs in Antigua. Flor is a licensed psychologist and has also studied special education at the university level. Currently, she is finishing a master’s degree in psychology. Before working at Common Hope, Flor worked freelance as a psychologist and also designed and implemented mental health programs at a school and a non-profit organization in Guatemala City. Flor also gives undergraduate classes in the department of health sciences at the Universidad Galileo and in the psychology department at the Universidad Mariano Galvez.
Says Flor, “What I most enjoy about my job is being able to provide attention to people, both in the psychology clinic and through Common Hope’s educational programs. This job allows me to accompany people in their personal growth, whether they are affiliated family members, children in our partner schools, or co-workers.”
Nineth García
Scholarship Administration Manager
Nineth started working at Common Hope in 1998 as a receptionist. Since then, she has acquired a university degree in business administration and a master’s degree in analysis and administration of reliability in administrative processes. As Common Hope’s scholarship administration manager, Nineth oversees all the administrative processes necessary for making payments to schools and reimbursing affiliated families for education-related expenses. Before being promoted to her current position, Nineth worked in Common Hope’s accounting department.
Nineth enjoys watching students be able to fulfill their dreams of graduating, and she is proud to have been a part of Common Hope’s family for so many years.
Rigoberto García
Youth Programs Manager
Rigoberto worked at Common Hope from 2000 to 2005, where he was responsible for the formation and coordination of Common Hope’s first youth group programs. He then went on to gain valuable experience coordinating and managing youth programs for over 14,000 youth at Children International. Passionate about Common Hope’s mission, he recently returned to serve as the manager of youth support programs, where he plans to implement strategies to increase youth participation and give youth the tools and training they need to lead their own group activities.
Patty Ramírez
Social Work Manager
In 2011, Patty took on the role of social work manager in Antigua, where she oversees the staff in her department, assigns families to social workers, and manages the information about the families we serve. She also coordinates the work of the social workers with other Common Hope programs and partner organizations, and she coordinates the involvement of outside professionals who assist the social workers with difficult family situations.
Patty is originally from Chimaltenango and has been working at Common Hope since 2004. She has a university degree in social work and got her start at Common Hope as an intern working with community groups.
Mario Raul Ramos
Housing Manager
Mario began working with Common Hope in 1999 as a social worker. After five years, he was asked to serve as director of housing and appropriate technology. In this position, he coordinates and supervises house construction, building materials, and stove installations.
Mario coordinates his work with other departments, such as Vision Teams and social work, to ensure that families are aware of the opportunities that exist to improve their living conditions.
Prior to working with Common Hope, Mario worked as a teacher and as a social worker. He currently lives with his family in a nearby village. He enjoys working at Common Hope, and appreciates the holistic approach the organization adopts to help the entire family.
New Hope Leadership
Mynor Lemus
New Hope Program Director
Formerly the director of New Hope School, Mynor was promoted to the position New Hope program director at the end of December 2008, and is responsible for the oversight of the New Hope School, secondary education scholarship program and other programs for the affiliates and surrounding communities.
Mynor has a degree in psychology and a master’s degree in education. Prior to working at New Hope, he was a professor of philosophy and psychology. He enjoys the freedom and creativity of his job at New Hope and is happy to have the opportunity to serve his country through education. Mynor has worked at Common Hope since 2003. He is married and has two children.
Fernando Rabanales
Education Coordinator
Prior to working at New Hope, Fernando worked as a teacher for mentally handicapped children. He has also worked with various development projects in rural areas with adult education, community organization, and health promotion. He is responsible for after-school activities, the library, summer school, and junior and senior high school scholarship programs. He says he likes his job because it allows him to realize his dream of constructing a better future for Guatemala.
Fernando lives in Guatemala City with his grandmother, mother, aunts, cousins, nieces, and nephews. He has a daughter that he adopted when she was three years old. Without a doubt, he says, his family is his greatest treasure.
Vanessa Ramos
Educational Psychology Coordinator
Vanessa started working at Common Hope in 2006 as a psychologist at New Hope School. Since 2009, she has managed educational support programs at New Hope. Vanessa is a licensed psychologist and also has a master’s degree in child and adolescent development. According to Vanessa, one of the most rewarding parts of her job is creating programs and manuals to support children and offer strategies for working individually with children that are having difficulties in school.
Satellite Coordinators
Alma Marroquin
San Miguel Milpas Altas Coordinator
In 2011, Alma took on the role of coordinator in our new community of San Miguel Milpas Altas, a village about 20 minutes outside the Antigua valley, where about 160 families recently signed up to partner with Common Hope and about 230 students attend school with the help of Common Hope.
Previously, she served as the social work director in Antigua, where she oversaw the staff in her department, assigned families to social workers, and managed the information about the families we serve. She also coordinated the work of the social workers with other Common Hope programs and partner organizations, and she coordinated the involvement of outside professionals who assisted the social workers with difficult family situations.
Alma came to Common Hope in 1995 through an acquaintance who was also a social worker. She has a university degree in school work and lives with her family in Antigua.
Lesbia Marroquin
San Rafael Coordinator
Lesbia took on the role of coordinator in the community of San Rafael el Arado in 2011. In this role, she coordinates our work with local community leaders and organizations and also coordinates the social work and sponsorship staff in the village. San Rafael is an indigenous community about 40 minutes from Antigua, where about 150 families partner with Common Hope and 400 children attend school thanks to their Common Hope sponsorship.
Lesbia started working at Common Hope in 2000 as a social worker in Antigua. She then worked in sponsorship in the affiliations department, then as a social worker in San Rafael before being promoted to the coordinator position. Lesbia has a university degree in social work and enjoys working with families. She says, “All of my experiences with the families we work with have made me more human.”
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