Frances Dixon, President of Adopt-a-Village in Guatemala
Frances grew up in a tiny isolated gold mining town in the western foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Canada, where the small community lived snow-bound for much of the year. At the age of 16, she began her first charity, joining the needs of marginalized teens with those of poor families.

Fascinated with off-the-beaten path travel and different cultures, she worked her way around much of the world in a variety of careers, including a stint in Africa with the Canadian Consulate, and later founded two successful businesses, one in magazine publishing.

Social justice took root early in her philosophy of life and found its most intense expression through her visionary work in aiding the Maya rebuild their lives after the ravages of the 36-year civil war in Guatemala. She leads a small but highly spirited organization of dedicated volunteers that has given hope to hundreds of indigenous people living in an isolated region on the edge of survival.
 

Dana Phillips, Director of Publicity
Dana has traveled to Europe, Africa, Central America, South America and 16 states in Mexico. Dana and her husband Phil, an entomologist with the University of California Cooperative Extension, especially enjoy meeting the Mayan people of Mexico and Guatemala and learning about their cultures.

At work, Dana is a social worker and chairs the Human Services Agency Cultural Relevance Task Force to disseminate educational information on diversity via a web page newsletter in Ventura, California. She and her husband currently sponsor a Guatemalan child and translate letters several times a year for Adopt-a-Village. Dana and Phil are an energetic and successful team in raising funds to benefit Guatemalan children by selling Mayan handicrafts.
 

Fran Lenski, Director of Communications
Fran is a retired attorney and seasoned traveler. He has explored six continents, mostly Central America and South America. His long-term vocation as an avid birder led to much of his more exotic travel.

Fran and his wife Sue have an ongoing interest in Guatemala. Sue is a Professor of Reading and Literacy at Portland State University and has worked with teachers in Guatemala for the past five years. Fran has visited Guatemala several times and is actively involved in the Adopt-a-Village child sponsor program, both in Guatemala and in the United States.
 

Jill Hodges, Director of Advocacy
Jill embraces the impractical, like embarking upon parenthood and a new career simultaneously, in middle age, with no especially good reasons for doing so. She has worked in various capacities and cities across the US and abroad, mostly writing and editing--newspapers, magazines, websites, books and videos--although she once emptied her savings account to plant trees in Australia. After 20 years in journalism, she migrated to public health. She currently works for the Puget Sound Health Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to improving health care quality and affordability (which some contend is impractical).

Jill got hooked on AAV after seeing a rather dated slideshow at a presentation in Seattle. She traveled to Guatemala shortly thereafter to shoot and produce a promotional video to make sure AAV gets all the credit and support it deserves. Jill lives in Seattle with her 4-year-old Guatemalan son, big mutt of a dog and remarkably patient husband.
 

The Mayan, Incan and Aztec civilizations have fascinated Kathy since she can remember. When she found an organization offering opportunities to know and help today's Maya, she quickly came aboard.

Kathy lives in California with her second family, husband Charlie, and seven-year old Amanda, whom she plans to take to Guatemala soon.

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