John McLaughlin, Director

John is a graduate of Gonzaga College High School (Washington, DC), the University of Virginia, and the University of Iowa. He lived in the Dominican Republic from 1997-1999, where he was assistant director of Creighton University's Semestre Dominicano program, as well as working as a writer and teacher. In 1999, he created The Pentecost Project, and has led nearly 40 group immersion programs since, for colleges, schools, and parishes nationwide. In the US, he has worked with homeless and ex-offender populations for both secular and Catholic non-profit organizations. He has completed spiritual formation programs at Seattle University and the Center for Action & Contemplation in Albuquerque, NM. John's articles about the DR have appeared in various periodicals; his novel, Run in the Fam'ly (University of Tennessee Press, 2007) won the 2006 Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel.

William "Papito" Poleyó Jose, Batey Libertad Project Administrator
Papito was born and raised in Batey Libertad, where he lives with his wife and ten children and stepchildren. Over the course of nearly 20 years, he has held various leadership positions in his community, and has initiated multiple projects in the areas of literacy, worker rights, preventative health, clean water access, and community farming, among others.

Felicia Puntiel Pichardo, Franco Bidó Project Administrator
Fella directs the Clínica San Gregorio, EAB's free-access community clinic. She has worked in various hospital, clinic, and medical operative contexts for over 40 years, while conducting countless preventative health workshops in various rural communities. A coffee farmer, she sits on the governing board of her community's coffee cooperative.

Charles Bergman, Media Coordinator

Charles, a native of Omaha, NE, is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he studied film production and theology and co-directed the Alternative Breaks service-immersion program. He first spent a semester in the Dominican Republic in 1998, when he was a mere twelve years old. Since then, Charles has returned numerous times to the DR, including a half-year stint as one of two volunteer Community Liaisons in 2008. He has been on the board since 2005. He currently lives in Chicago with the Casa Lucitas intentional community and works as an organizer and outreach worker with Community Organizing and Family Issues.