Staff
Lee Shainis
Executive Director and Co-Founder
303-996-0275 ext. 4
lee@intercambioweb.org
Lee is co-founder of Intercambio and author of The Immigrant Guide: What Every Immigrant Needs to Know, a publication that is being used by 80,000 people from 500 organizations in 45 states. Lee has helped Intercambio spread its model throughout the country, raise $4,000,000, train 4,000 volunteer teachers, and provide English classes to 9,000 immigrant adults since its inception in 2001. Lee’s prior experience includes developing a volunteer program at a psychiatric treatment center, mentoring developmentally challenged individuals and facilitating writing workshops for prison inmates.
Lee has a BA in Business Administration from the University of Michigan. Lee has received the Boulder Daily Camera Pacesetter award in Education, the Entrepreneur of the Year award from the University of Michigan’s School of Business, the Community Action Programs Multicultural award, the 2010 and 2012 Boulder County Gold People’s Choice Award for Best Activist/Community Champion, and the 2012 Boulder Chamber of Commerce Young Business Person of the Year Award. See a recent video about Lee and Intercambio here.
Susan Corbett
Grant Manager
303-996-0275 ext. 6
susan@intercambioweb.org
Susan Corbett has joined the Intercambio team as Grant Manager after volunteering as a teacher with Intercambio since 2004. Susan began her community development career in 1976 as a Peace Corps Volunteer, working in a health clinic in Liberia, West Africa. In 1979, she joined Save the Children Federation as a program coordinator for cooperative and small business projects in Burkina Faso. In 1982, Susan returned to the States to work in drug and alcohol prevention for runaway youth in San Diego, CA. Susan moved to Boulder with her husband and 2 small children in 1991 and worked for the Boulder County Prevention Connection, building healthy communities. She has served on the Boards of Directors for Planned Parenthood, Blue Sky Bridge, Emergency Family Assistance Association, Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center, and Solar Cookers International.
Susan has traveled to over 40 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Pacific and Caribbean, and Central and North America. She holds a BA in International Relations from Scripps College, an MA in Cross Cultural Management from World Learning, School for International Training, and is currently working toward her Certificate in Fund Raising Management from the Fund Raising School, Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.
Jenny Desmond
Program Director – Lafayette
303-776-7070 ext. 5
jenny@intercambioweb.org
Jenny joined Intercambio in early 2010 as the Assistant Program Coordinator for Boulder and Lafayette. Jenny, who graduated from Wheaton College (IL) with a B.A. in Spanish and a minor in Human Needs and Global Resources, spent a semester studying in Costa Rica and a six-month internship in Nicaragua working with an NGO in public health. In 1995, Jenny returned to Boulder County determined to pay off her college debt and get back to Latin America as quickly as possible. Fifteen years later, she’s still here and her career has taken her through various roles, including working at the Boulder County Jail, Lakewood Police Department and Moving to End Sexual Assault. She is currently working on her Master’s degree at Regis University in Leadership for Nonprofits. She is excited to be at Intercambio where her “Latin American soul” can be fulfilled.
Kristine Edwards
Marketing and Development Director
303-996-0275 ext. 107
kristine@intercambioweb.org
Kristine left Minnesota for college in Pennsylvania, where she earned a degree in International Business and minored in Spanish. An inherent joie de vivre and penchant for all things global fueled trips abroad, including living in Spain, teaching in Honduras, and tsunami relief volunteering in Thailand. She moved to Boulder in 2006 and – thirsting for unique culture – worked in marketing for the luxury travel company, Asia Transpacific Journeys.
Kristine fell in love with Intercambio’s mission and in early 2010 volunteered her time to help edit, streamline the sales process, and market Intercambio’s revenue-generating publication, The Immigrant Guide: What Every Immigrant Needs to Know. She was soon brought on board to serve as the Marketing and Development Director. She is thrilled to be working with Intercambio’s passionate staff and constituents to bring our diverse community together.
Rachel Fuchs
Academic Director – Boulder
303-996-0275 ext. 5
rachel@intercambioweb.org
After growing up in Boulder, Rachel left the area to pursue a degree in Economics and Public Policy at The University of Chicago where her appreciation for diversity of thought and background was fully ignited. In Chicago, she was involved in community issues facing underserved populations. Eventually, she ended up in Costa Rica where she lived for more than two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer with the Community Economic Development program. There, she worked with locals on planning income-generating projects as well as on developing skill sets necessary to personal and community advancement. She has experience in adult English education in both formal and non-formal settings – domestically and abroad. In addition to working as Intercambio’s Academic Director in the Boulder office, Rachel is on the Advisory Board for Philanthropiece – a foundation serving our local community, as well as communities in Baja, Mexico and Chajul, Guatemala – and serves as a volunteer for Moving to End Sexual Assault (MESA). She feels privileged to have the opportunity to engage in meaningful (and fun!) work – in Boulder.
Norma Fuentes
Program Director – Longmont
303-776-7070 ext. 3
norma@intercambioweb.org
Norma works with all of our students in the Longmont area. Her job is to assure that they are evaluated, assessed, and receive the best English classes possible. She first got involved with Intercambio as a volunteer in 2006 and then started classes with us in 2007. She joined our staff in 2008. Norma is from Chihuahua, Mexico, and has lived in the United States for fourteen years. She brings lots of community experience to Intercambio, having worked with Head Start and the Family Literacy Program. Her passions and positive attitude contribute every day in helping and teaching our community.
Debbie Goldman
Academic Director – Longmont/Lafayette
303-776-7070 ext. 4
debbie@intercambioweb.org
Debbie grew up in Colorado, and then attended college at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where she earned a BS in Spanish and Linguistics. After college she moved to Brazil, and in the almost thirty years she spent there, she taught English in a variety of settings to both adults and children. She was a coordinator at a large Brazilian/American bi-national center and has taught in schools and one-to-one. Debbie has also co-authored two English as a Foreign Language textbooks, and trained teachers in several countries. She recently completed her MA in TESOL.
Having lived as an immigrant, and experienced the struggle to learn a new language and culture first-hand, Debbie is eager to help others facing the same challenges.
Raquel Habib
Program Assistant
303-996-0275 ext.0
raquel@intercambioweb.org
When Raquel learned of Intercambio’s goal of fostering cross-cultural relationships and creating a more accepting and integrated community, she knew she wanted to be a part of it. For eight years before moving to Boulder Raquel lived at Satchidananda Ashram (a.k.a. “Yogaville”) in Buckingham, VA, a place where people of diverse cultural and religious backgrounds live together harmoniously and with the understanding that while we may differ on the surface, at our essence we are the same. There she served as the Programs Coordinator, organizing and overseeing weekend and weeklong programs and retreats. She is certified to teach Integral Yoga Hatha at the beginner through advanced levels and Stress Management, where the Yoga practices are adapted to teach in corporations, schools and hospitals. Raquel grew up in Bogota, Colombia. She received a B.S. in Communication from Northeastern University, Boston, MA. Raquel joined Intercambio in early 2011 as Program Assistant in Boulder.
Ted Kinsman
Business Manager
303-996-0275 ext.105
ted@intercambioweb.org
Ted was hired as Business Manager in May of 2012. He has an undergraduate degree in Religious Studies from CU Boulder and a Master’s Degree in International Management from the American Graduate School of International Management in Glendale, Arizona. Ted brings extensive international business experience and has worked/lived in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brazil, Belgium, Holland, China, England, and India. Ted has taught “Finance and Accounting for Non-Financial Managers” for 20 years and currently offers on-line courses in Financial Decision-Making.
Ted is an accomplished musician and has studied the music from India for many years, having toured and played in both the US and India.
As a result of the International experiences, Ted is acutely aware that we are all essentially the same and is grateful for the extensive local help he received in every country that he lived. With a direct awareness of the difficulties of living and working in countries where he did not speak the native language, Ted is excited to be working for an organization that offers help to individuals in similar situations.
Christy Speirn-Smith
Assistant Director
303-996-0275 ext. 108
christy@intercambioweb.org
As a mentor in the Connections Credit Recovery program and teacher of Diversity in the United States and Health at Boulder High, Christy quickly realized how some of her struggling students lacked parents with the skills to advocate on their behalf because of language barriers. After coffee with Lee, she knew she had found the organization she needed to be a part of and gladly signed on as volunteer La Fiesta Chair in 2003 which she continued until 2006. “Intercambio is family in every sense of the word. As Fiesta chair I met more culturally diverse members of our community than I had met in the last 15 years residing in Boulder and I felt like I had really come home.”
With a BA from Regis University in Denver, leadership and facilitator training from the National Coalition of Equity in Education and a wealth of management experience from healthcare settings to congressional offices, Christy brings a love of people to her new job of supporting staff in all they do to take Intercambio to the next steps of effectiveness.
Maria Velasco
Program Director – Boulder
303-996-0275 ext. 3
maria@intercambioweb.org
Maria is responsible for organizing Boulder English classes, coordinating resource workshops, and planning intercultural events in Boulder and Lafayette. Maria Velasco was born and raised in Salamanca, Spain and has traveled and lived in Mexico and South America. Before joining Intercambio, she managed the Language and Cultural Services Department at Mason General Hospital, where she facilitated access to healthcare to multicultural individuals and provided cultural competency training to physicians and clinical staff. She has a BA in Business Administration from the Economics University of Salamanca. Maria is an advocate of social justice and is passionate about teaching the importance of celebrating differences, as well as being open and receptive to different cultures.
Benita Werner
Lafayette School Program Assistant
303-776-7070 ext. 5
benita@intercambioweb.org
Originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, Benita coordinated training programs for hospital executives at Centro Interamericano and managed a Century 21 real estate agency in Mexico. Benita came to the U.S. five years ago and worked at Cheyenne Mountain Resort in banquets and as a teacher assistant at Head Start. Benita has a degree in Business Administration from Centro de Educacion Profesional in Mexico, and an ESL degree from Pikes Peak Community College.