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About us > Leadership
Overview Senior Leadership Field Leadership Who We Work With
Overview
The New Development Solutions Group (NDSG) team offers a truly unique skill set that combines first rate analytical, strategic and project management skills with years of successful on the ground experience. You will not find any team that brings a greater level of passion nor higher degree of professionalism to everything that they do. In the end, we are always respectful of the inherently profound responsibility of our work and that success or failure will be determined by great attention to detail. Everyone on the team, from top to bottom, does whatever is necessary to provide our constituents with the most compelling opportunities to achieve short and long-term success.
Senior Leadership
Greg Van Kirk - Co-Founder
Greg Van Kirk is an Ashoka Lemelson Fellow and the-co founder of The New Development Solutions Group. This includes Community Enterprise Solutions, Social Entrepreneur Corps and NDS Consulting. These are all ventures whose mission is to design and implement innovative responses to long-standing development challenges. Greg also works part time as “Social Entrepreneur in Residence” at Columbia University. He and his team are now focused on expanding the reach of their innovative “MicroConsignment Model” globally. Greg began working in rural small business development as a Peace Corps volunteer in 2001. He has served as an economic development consultant for organizations such as USAID, Chemonics, Columbia University, Vision Spring, Soros Foundation, Church World Service, OneRoof, Fundacion Solar, Fundacion Paraguaya, IDB and Water4People. Greg worked in investment banking for five years before arriving in Guatemala. Two deals he led at UBS during this time won "Deal of the Year" honors from "Structured Finance International" magazine. Greg currently lives with his family in New York City.
George Bucky Glickley - Co-Founder
George ("Bucky") began his work in rural economic development as a Small Business Development Peace Corps Volunteer in Peten, Guatemala in 2001 before co- founding Community Enterprise Solutions in May 2004 and Social Entrepreneur Corps in 2005. In addition to his role in establishing, managing and growing our own social entrepreneurship focused organizations, George has also worked as a consultant on a variety of economic development programs throughout Latin America with highly respected international development organizations such as USAID, Scojo Foundation/Vision Spring, OneRoof and Fundacion Paraguay. Before joining the Peace Corps George worked as a market analyst/ product designer for Advise4Stock, an Internet based company designed to provide entrepreneurs and businesses in "start up" phase with tools/consulting to create successful businesses. George graduated from Arizona State University in May of 2000 with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with concentrations in both Economics and Small Business Management/Entrepreneurship. George currently splits time between his home in Florida and in Guatemala/Latin America.
Richard Leo Sawyer
After graduating from the University of Iowa in 2004 with summa cum laude status and degrees in both History and Anthropology, Richard accepted what he thought would be a short-term, three month position with NDSG. Of course, Richard fell in love with the work and his short-term position gradually became a long-term commitment. Richard is currently completing his Master's Degree in International Economics and Development at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Ruairi Nolan
Ruairi first came to Guatemala in 2003 looking for volunteer work, and the country has never been quite rid of him ever since. Ruairi is a graduate of the Universities of York and Oxford, and has worked as a Reseacher at the UNESCO Centre in the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. He has worked at a volunteering charity in England, and also at Irish Aid in Dublin and Amnesty International Northern Ireland.
Ashleigh Smith
Ashleigh Smith recieved her bachelor's degree from Flager College with a specialization in Spanish Speaking Children. She served as a teacher in two rural communities in Guatemala as a Peace Corps volunteer from 2003 to 2005. Since then, she has received an M.A. in Bilingual Education from the University of Arizona and has completed a thesis on planning and implementation of bilingual education programs in indigenous communities in Guatemala. She is currently teaching first grade in a partial Spanish immersion program in Largo, Florida and continuously consults for NDSG.
Lydia Walker
Lydia began working in Guatemala as an Agro-Forestry Peace Corps Volunteer in Huehuetenango. As a volunteer, she helped to protect and reforest over 100 hectares of land as well as to start an income-generating development project in the community tree nursery that included building a 3,000 liter water deposit and starting a small rabbit farm. Using GPS and ArcView, she also created a map of the roads, schools, hospitals and meeting centers of the community she was serving. Before joining Peace Corps, Lydia worked as an intern for the non-profit MassEnergy Consumers Alliance in Boston, MA. While there, she helped to increase sales of their bio-fuel products. Lydia began working with NDSG in August of 2007. Lydia graduated from Union College (Schenectady, NY) in June of 2004 with a BS in Geology.
Maria Luz Giambartolome
In 2005 Luz graduated from the Universtiry of Bologna, Italy, with a degree in International and Diplomatic Sciences with Development Politics and in 2007 obtained a diploma in International Politics, Cooperation and Development from FOCSIV in Rome. This development based academic background coupled with excellent language skills (fluent in Italian, Spanish, English and French) has enabled Luz to work with grassroot NGOs in several countries. In 2005 Luz spent 6 months working for an NGO in India to improve communication and project coordination skills of the local workers. This was followed with seven months working with rural communities in Guatemala through another grassroots project 'Ak'Tenamit'. After returning to Italy in 2007 to gain her diploma, she worked as an intern for the International Cooperation Department, became Mrs Giambartolomie and in 2008 decided to return to the country she loves, working with NDSG for what she believes in.
Michelle Berkowitz
Michelle started working for Community Enterprise Solutions in March 2008. She started her time with CES as a Project Manager for one of their initiatives “paralacomunidad.com” and created a database of all the resources that work in Guatemala. She is currently working with Guatemalan women who make recycled cards, the overall coordination of the Antigua Region, and as a consultant for the company. Michelle was recently a Development Guide for the Social Entrepreneur Corps program where students from prestigious American universities travel to Guatemala to learn about development and improve their Spanish skills. Prior to her employment with CES, Michelle worked as a teacher, tutor, counselor, and translator for several social projects in Argentina, New Orleans, and Guatemala. Originally from Venezuela, she hopes to improve socioeconomic, educational, and health conditions for people in Latin America. She studied at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA and majored in Sociology and Latin American Studies with minors in Philosophy and Jewish Studies.
Timothy Trusz
Tim began working with Community Enterprise Solutions 2007 as a participant in the June 2007 session of Social Entrepreneur Corps. Impressed with the work being done by CES and enamored with Guatemala’s culture and people Tim stayed beyond the month long duration of the program. With the support of foreign and Guatemalan staff, Tim has climbed the ranks from intern to his current position as Regional Coordinator of the Alta Verapaz region of Guatemala and product leader for energy saving light bulbs. Tim works with Guatemalan community organizations and entrepreneurs in generating access to essential products and services throughout rural Guatemala. Recently, Tim had the chance to participate in Social Entrepreneur Corps again, but this time as an organizational representative for the Alta Verapaz region planning and assisting intern initiatives. Prior to joining CES Tim received a BS in International Development from Clark University in 2006 and spent several months in Latin America as a certified Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) teacher and taking Spanish classes with the Costa Rica Spanish Institute (COSI).
Luke Burchell
With an environmental management background, Luke graduated with BSc Hons in Conservation and Countryside Management in 2003. Employed by a forestry contracting company upon graduating, he worked in the establishment of new native woodlands, bringing the government closer towards its targets of increased woodland cover in the UK. He spent another two years working on farms in Canada and England learning of organic practices and management of smallholdings, before coming to Guatemala in 2007. First contact with Sol Com was in early 2008, spending 1 month volunteering in a number of development programs. After this highly educational and humbling experience, Luke stayed in Guatemala’s remote highlands to work as the coordinator of a small nonprofit Spanish and Indigenous language school, providing school scholarships to local children. He joined the Sol Com team in Summer 2009.
Michael Duchen
Mike first came to Guatemala through the Social Entrepreneur
Corps 8-week session during the summer of 2009. Mike graduated from
Miami University (Ohio) with a B.A. in Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs
and minor in Entrepreneurship. While at Miami, Mike created business
plans and strategically developed financial plans to present to
potential investors. His projects included a digital menu service for
restaurants that provided advertising for local vendors, a social entrepreneurial venture of bringing seniors and teens together through the use of the internet, and developed a web and mobile based service for students living abroad.
In October 2009, he decided to follow his passion of helping people through the use of social entrepreneurship and returned to Guatemala. Mike now serves as the regional coordinator for the Coban region and is in charge of starting, growing, and operating one of our new initiatives called Good Stuff, Good Works. Mike hopes that Good Stuff, Good Works will provide access and support local Guatemalan vendors by selling their textile materials in the United States through trunk shows, store collaboration, and university sales.
Elizabeth Peer
Izzy Peer received her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame in May 2009. She completed Notre Dame’s Micro-Venturing program, which included the option of an international internship. This turned out to be Social Entrepreneur Corps 2008, after which she knew she wanted to return to Guatemala, and to this type of work. During the summer of 2009, Izzy was a SECorps guide in the region of Solola, where she is currently a Field Consultant/Trainer. She is presently supporting Soluciones Comunitarias initiatives, and focusing on media projects for CE Solutions.
Beck Pryor
Beck Pryor joined the Social Entrepreneur Corps leadership team in July 2009. She graduated in May 2009 with a B.A. in Music Science from Columbia University, where she completed a capstone project analyzing the Human Development Index using musical properties to explore the possibility of "hearing" statistics. During her time at Columbia, she also studied urban ethnomusicology in Ghana. In her last semester, Beck interned for Community Enterprise Solutions in New York, researching worldwide bottom-of-the-pyramid access solutions, developing a format for rural small business templates, and supporting the launch of Invennovations.com. Upon graduation, Beck moved to Guatemala to work full time for the organization and is now a leader in the Antigua region.
Mary Claire Sullivan
Mary Claire graduated from the University of Notre Dame in May 2008 with a B.A. in Finance and a minor in Public Service. Her participation in Notre Dame’s Microventuring Program led her to discover the unique mission and vision of CE Solutions. Upon graduating, she spent the summer in Guatemala as a volunteer for Social Entrepreneur Corps traveling and working with local entrepreneurs and various organizations. After a very positive experience, Mary Claire decided to return in October 2008 to continue assisting CE Solutions and Social Entrepreneur Corps. Currently, she is supporting the tourism businesses and development work in Nebaj, Quiche, Guatemala.
Lusmaia Diaz
Lusmaia Diaz graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in May 2009 with a B.A. in Government and Spanish Literature. While at F&M she was a Posse Scholar, receiving a leadership merit-based scholarship. For her Senior Seminar Project, she worked closely with detained immigrants applying for asylum and provided all research and material for a Haitian Convention Against Torture Case. Upon graduating, Lusmaia spent the summer in Ecuador as an intern for Social Entrepreneur Corps. After a great experience, Lusmaia joined the Guatemala Team in January 2010. She is currently supporting the local tourism businesses and Soluciones Comunitarias in Nebaj in the Quiche Region.
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