Board of Directors--CEMPROC
CEMPROC—International
Chuck Pugh (President), has had a distinguished career at Equifax, where he has worked for over 21 years and is currently an assistant vice president-level technical manager in the Enterprise Planning and Architecture department and in the United States Air Force, where he has served for over 26 years as a weather officer and as a communications and computer systems officer. He is now a colonel assigned to the Air Force Communication Agency. A native of Texas, Chuck received his bachelor’s degree from North Georgia College, and his master’s degree from the University of Georgia. He served as the President of the Board of Jesse’s House, an emergency shelter for girls, for three years, has filled a number of leadership positions in his church and a local Boy Scout troop, and has been active in supporting social change in Latin America and Ecuador through socially responsible investments and through the Rotary Club, the Methodist Church, and his own contacts and visits to the region.
Scott Hitch (Secretary),is an associate in the Environmental Practice Group of Epstein, Becker, & Green, PC, where he specializes in transactional and regulatory compliance matters and other areas of environmental law. Born in Indiana, Scott received his bachelor's degree in ecology from the University of Georgia and his J.D. cum laude from UGA School of Law, where he was President of the Environmental Law Association and an editor for the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law. He previously worked as an associate in Alston & Bird, LLP, and as a law clerk at the U.S. Department of Justice and the Georgia Environmental Policy Institute, among other positions. He has authored a number of articles in professional publications and has presented at numerous conferences. Scott is an Eagle Scout, he has served on the Board of Directors of Premier Academy, Inc., and he has been a volunteer for Rivers Alive and for the Truancy Intervention Project.
Sam Bagwell (Treasurer), is a Legal Assistant in the law offices of Bagwell & Corso, and is a student in the University of Georgia School of Law. A native of Georgia, Sam received his bachelor of business administration from the University of Georgia Terry College of Business, where he graduated magna cum laude. He has worked as an Office Manager at Purvis Realty in Athens, GA, and he is a licensed Georgia Real Estate salesperson. He has also worked for the law offices of Boling, Rice, Martin, and McGruder in Cumming, GA, where he was a Real Estate Runner. Sam is an Eagle Scout, a member of the Board of Directors for the Athens Area Attention Home, and has been a member of the Baptist Student Union and the University of Georgia Federalist Society.
Fausto Sarmiento, is the Director of the Office of International Education at the University of Georgia, where he is a member of the graduate faculty in the School of Environment and Design, as an assistant professor of mountain environmental planning. A native of Quito, Ecuador, Fausto received his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the Catholic University of Ecuador, his master’s in tropical ecology from the Ohio State University, and his doctorate from the University of Georgia in landscape restoration ecology. He has served as the Executive Director of the National Museum of Natural History in Ecuador, has published in numerous books and journals, and has served as a UNESCO and IUCN consultant and president of the Andean Mountains Association.
Kathy Bryson, is the International Health Director and acting International Training Director for Servants in Faith and Technology (SIFAT), an international Christian community training and development nonprofit organization based in Lineville, Alabama. Kathy received her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Wheaton College, and her master’s degrees in Public Health and Hispanic Studies from the University of Alabama and Auburn University, respectively. She has carried out community health programs and cross-cultural training all over the U.S., Latin America, and the world, including substantial work in Venezuela, Mexico, Ecuador, and Bolivia. She has taught university-level Spanish, served as a professional translator, worked as a program director for Urban Ministry, Inc. and served as Bi-lingual Family Services Coordinator for Los Niños Head Start Program. Kathy has been actively involved in volunteer work and advocacy through extensive speaking, newspaper articles, and guest television appearances, particularly with regard to public health and international development issues.
John Cromartie, is the Senior Minister of Cumming First United Methodist Church, a growing congregation with over two thousand members in Cumming, Georgia. He is a graduate of Emory University in Atlanta, the University of Georgia School of Law, and Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, where he graduated summa cum laude. He was a Law Review Editor at Georgia and received numerous awards at Candler. Prior to Candler, he clerked for U.S. District Judge Sidney O. Smith, Jr., practiced before many courts, including arguments before the United States Supreme Court, and practiced both in the private sector in Gainesville and in the public sector as Executive Director of the statewide Georgia Legal Services Programs. John continues to teach and write, and one of the areas of writing in which he has been particularly active is “Faith and the Law”. He enjoys classical music, and he has hiked and camped in Kenya, Tanzania, Zaire, Rwanda, the Appalachian Trail, and he has climbed Kilimanjaro a couple of times.
CEMPROC—Ecuador
Jeff Pugh (President), is the founding Executive Director of CEMPROC. He received bachelor degrees in Political Science and Speech Communication from the University of Georgia, and was trained by and received graduate credit from the Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution (IIMCR) through its Latin American Symposium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, cosponsored by el Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico and George Washington University. He has served as a mediator, a justice in the University of Georgia Judiciary, an English as a Second Language teacher, and an intern in the U.S. State Department. Jeff has given numerous seminars, courses, and presentations on sustainable development, international conflict, and security in Latin America, as well as on effective conflict resolution. His research includes studies on gender conflict style, sustainable development in Ecuador, and the Colombian conflict, and he has been published in the Bulletin of Latin American Research.
Roberto Contreras (Vice-President), is the Director of Servants in Faith and Technology (SIFAT)—Ecuador Chapter. A native of Quito, Ecuador, Roberto attended high school in New Mexico, USA, and received his degree as a general medical doctor from the Central University in Ecuador. Roberto started his career working in rural medicine in a public hospital in Esmeraldas province of Ecuador, and for the past twenty years has worked in a variety of medical and research positions, working especially with medical mission teams through a number of nonprofit organizations. In 2000, he left his private medical practice to establish the first full-time country office of SIFAT in Ecuador.
Diana Palacios (Secretary), is an attorney who specializes in mediation, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution. A native of Cuenca, Ecuador, she received her doctorate of jurisprudence, as well as designation as an Arbiter and Conciliator from the MERCOSUR International Tribunal of Conciliation and Arbitration. She worked as a Judicial Assistant in the Superior Court of Justice for nine years, as well as in the Almeida Guzman Judicial Consortium for a year. She has served as a legal or judicial advisor to the Foundations “Con Cristo” and “Tutelar”, as well as to the businesses “SEMACAR” and Nyse C. Laboratories. Diana’s professional aspiration is to foster conflict resolution, based on mediation, through which parties in conflict can seek a mutually beneficial solution outside of the courtroom.
Jack Rodriguez (Treasurer), is the Assistant General Manager of Hoturis, an ecotourism business based on the edge of the Amazon jungle, and is the Chief of Projects for Fundación Con Cristo, a nonprofit charity organization based in Quito with a hospital and a daycare for developmentally disabled children, both in a poor sector of South Quito. Jack earned his bachelors degree in law from the Central University of Ecuador, as well as a two-year degree from the Superior Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management, and is the coauthor of several journal articles on sustainable development in tropical regions. He was a Founding Partner and General Secretary of FUNDRAE, a nonprofit sustainable development organization, and has worked as General Superintendent for J. Rodriguez, Ltd. and as Counter Chief for Samoa Tourism in the Quito International Airport.
Monica de Contreras (Board member at large), is the co-director of the SIFAT—Ecuador office, where she handles the administrative and accounting responsibilities. Having earned a bachelors in accounting from “La Providencia” College and a degree as an auditor from the Catholic University of Ecuador, Monica worked for 12 years as a Project Assistant Officer for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ecuador prior to joining SIFAT. While at UNICEF, she performed a number of administrative, financial, human resources, and management duties, supervising various projects with annual budgets of as much as $1,000,000. Monica has received ongoing training from the United Nations Development Program, Salesiana Politechnic University, the Belgian Embassy, Deloitte and Touche International, the University of Tampa, and others.