Who we are

Maggie spent nearly two years living in Cajamarca Peru developing and implementing the pilot project that evolved into DHF, a nonprofit that Maggie registered in the state of TX and with the IRS to create a 501c3 public charity. In 2006, she was chosen as a research fellow for FINCA and FriendshipBridge to conduct grassroots research in Guatemala on poverty and the power of micro credit. Maggie frequently travels back to Peru, and manages the day-to-day management and growth of DHF from our headquarters in Austin TX. Prior to her international work, Maggie worked in nonprofit management in San Diego as a Program Director, focusing on program design and evaluation for youth development programs for Peace after completing her MA in Communication. For more information, please review her CV here.

Nora hails from Madison Wisconsin, where she completed both her MSW and BSW studies in Social Work. Nora’s most recent work emphasized connecting underserved people with necessary community resources as a Social Worker in Madison. In addition, Nora’s served nearly three years as a Community Health Educator for Peace Corps Guatemala and a HIV/AIDS Health Promoter for Crisis Corps in the Dominican Republic. Her experiences highlight her focus and desire to create support systems and opportunity for families in the international and domestic arena, and her background provides her with a wonderful framework to give DHF a consistent and quality Presence at our Cajamarca Peru project site. As Field Program Manager, Nora’s seeks to create and facilitate training, education, and technical/social support systems for all of our microcredit beneficiaries, as well as oversee our evaluation component.

DHF Board of Directors:

Brian Horsley, President DHF (Cajamarca, Peru)

Years served: April 2006-present

Specialization: nonprofit program and management, business, Peruvian culture

Brian Horsley is President (COO) of Sovereign Global Marketing (SGM), a Nevada-based company that serves as an import export international investment banking firm specializing in mining and energy with 5 years experience in Peru. Brian is from San Diego and works and resides in Chiclayo, Peru, guiding the operational development for SGM's projects in Peru.

Maggie Miller, Vice President DHF (Austin, TX)

Years served: April 2006-present

Specialization: Nonprofit dev., evaluation, microcredit

Maggie Miller is Founder of DHF and works full time for DHF as Executive Director.

Roger Moreno, Secretary DHF (Austin, TX)

Years served: March 2007-present

Specialization: Community networking/outreach

Roger Moreno is a Synexis Product Control Engineer for Applied Materials in Austin, Texas.

John Thornborrow, Treasurer DHF (Austin, TX)

Years served: February 2007-present

Specialization: Financial development

John Thornborrow is currently CFO/COO of TippingPoint Technologies, a $100 million leading provider of network intrusion prevention systems in Austin, Texas.

Alexis Lukas, Director DHF (San Diego, CA)

Years served: April 2006-present

Specialization: Evaluation and health promotion

Alexis Lukas has a Master's in Public Health focused on Health Promotion from San Diego State University and currently works as an Evaluation Specialist for the Institute of Public Health at the SDSU Research Foundation. She has more than 6 years of nonprofit program development and evaluation in the nonprofit landscape in San Diego.

Monica Bosquez, Director DHF (Austin, TX)

Years Served: November 2007-Present

Specialization: International prog. development, border issues

Monica works as a Program Development Specialist for the Texas Office of Rural Community Affairs (ORCA). Monica worked as an Environmental Conservation Volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in Panamá, Central America from 2002-2005.She is fluent in Spanish and has also spent time in Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador, and the Mexican Border region.

Incredible DHF Team Members

a.k.a. Volunteers with total Soul

Bridget Pleines, Band Together for Hope Campaign Director (Bloomington, IL)

Bridget directs DHF's Band Together for Hope campaign through Groove On, her music publicity company. The campaign seeks to link the unique passions and talents of the music industry with DHF's powerful work with women. The aspiration of the campaign is that bands will choose to donate a percentage of one of their future shows to DHF's work. If you have inquiries about this campaign, you may direct them to bpleines@hotmail.com and/or view the campaign letter here if you have suggestions for contacts.

Ryan Dishaw, Marketing Coordinator (Austin, TX)

Ryan Dishaw is a project manager at Applied Materials in Austin and has a business degree from Arizona State University with a degree in supply chain management. Ryan also completed his MBA at St. Edward's University in Austin with a concentration in Entrepreneurship.

Julie Leverett , Marketing Team Member (Austin, TX)

Julie Leverett is a Project manager at Dell, Inc. in Austin and has a BBA from Baylor University focused in Management Systems and Marketing. In 2007, Julie discovered her passion for microcredit and how it can transform societies. She continues to actively pursue involvement, education, and networking related to microcredit/development and aspires to incorporate her passions, talents, and gifts to help influence local and international communities.

Laura Coco, Marketing Team Member (Austin, TX)

Laura Coco is a recent graduate from the University of Texas, with a degree in Latin American Studies and Spanish. In 2006 she lived in Vina del Mar, Chile where she developed a fluency in Spanish and a passion for resolving poverty in Latin America. Laura previously served as an intern for DHF, developing marketing strategies and assisting with administrative tasks, and now continues this work as a team member. She plans on teaching English in Asia in 2009.

Natalie Fontenot, Program Development Intern (Austin, TX)Natalie Fontenot is a senior at The University of Texas at Austin and is pursuing a degree in Middle Eastern Studies and Government. She is extremely interested the development and progress and solutions for women living poverty, particularly women. She has a passion for connecting people to others by increasing the awareness of our common humanity. After graduation in May 2009, she is hoping to continue working with micro-credit projects and the improvement of the status of women through the Peace Corps in the Middle East.

Sandeep Pulusani, Finance Intern (Austin, TX)

Deep Pulusani is a junior at the University of Texas, majoring in Finance and Psychology. Deep first witnessed the power of microcredit through his visits to India and saw how a village bank can transform a rural community. He is currently an intern at DHF, working on our Finance Committee to refine DHF's financial strategies and projections.