<h2>
<strong>Chicago North Board</strong></h2>
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<u><strong>Meena Wadhwa Klein--President</strong></u>--Meena Wadhwa Klein became involved with AMIGOS through her twin sons in 2010.&nbsp; Her sons, Dean and Ravi, were volunteers in 2010 and spent 8 weeks Paraguay and Panama, respectively.&nbsp; After Meena saw the positive impact AMIGOS had on her sons, she joined the Board as a Fundraising Coordinator in 2011.&nbsp; Currently, she serves as the Chapter President and is also involved in Recruiting and Fundraising for the Chapter.&nbsp; Dean is still involved with AMIGOS as a Vet Vol, and hopes to be a Project Supervisor in the future.&nbsp; Dean and Ravi are seniors and are busy preparing for college.&nbsp; Meena has another son, Nik, who is a freshman in high school and is actively involved in sports, Debate, and Broadcasting.&nbsp; Meena lives in Northbrook with her husband, Dennis, and 3 sons.&nbsp; You can email her at <a href="mailto:meena.amigos@gmail.com">meena.amigos@gmail.com</a>.&nbsp;</p>
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<u><strong>Paula Akialis-Treasurer</strong></u>--Paula Akialis&nbsp;trained with the Dallas Chapter of AMIGOS and volunteered in Bolivia giving childhood immunizations during the summer of 1976.&nbsp;&nbsp;She has maintained contact with her partner from Ohio all these years.&nbsp; Paula re-connected with AMIGOS in 2009 when she joined the Chicago North Chapter Board.&nbsp; She currently serves as the Treasurer for the Chapter.&nbsp; Paula&#39;s daughter, Kristen, also volunteered with AMIGOS; she traveled to Costa Rica in 2010 and is now&nbsp;enjoying a gap year with Rotary International in Argentina.&nbsp; Paula has a son, Brian, who attends Butler University in Indianapolis and is the starting punter for the football team.&nbsp; Paula lives in Buffalo Grove with her husband, Ron, and their highly energetic dog, Rocket. You can email her at <a href="mailto:pakialis@hotmail.com">pakialis@hotmail.com</a>.</p>
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<strong><u>Jacki Davidoff--Fundraising Coordinator</u></strong>--Jacki Davidoff joined the board in fall 2012 after her 15-year-old son Josh returned from his Amigos experience in Paraguay during the summer. Jacki&rsquo;s decision to join the board was founded on positive impressions of Amigos values and principles. Most of all, she was inspired by her son&rsquo;s first-hand experiences in developing appreciation for different cultures and people, the relationships he formed both with the volunteers and his new family in Paraguay, the challenges he faced and met, and the strengthening of his leadership skills.&nbsp; Jacki is a corporate fundraiser for the Chicago Botanic Garden and has strong marketing expertise including a 20-year career in marketing and advertising for national and local for-profit and non-profits. She lives in Evanston IL with her husband John, Josh, now 16, and their younger son Jasper, 13, as well as Maybelle the dog and Rushy the turtle.&nbsp; You can email her at <a href="mailto:jackidavidoff@gmail.com">jackidavidoff@gmail.com</a>.</p>
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<strong><u>Lynn Goldman--Parent Coordinator</u></strong>--Lynn Goldman joined the Board after her daughter Eva Kennedy completed her 8 week Amigos adventure in Ecuador during the summer of 2012. Everything that Lynn learned about the Amigos program, as well as Eva&#39;s experience throughout the year in training and while in community, convinced her of the value of this program for high school students&#39; personal growth and development. She witnessed her daughter&#39;s maturation in many areas including self reliance, confidence, genuine appreciation of other cultures and their way of life, and most importantly learning to make a difference through her relationships with others. Lynn is a licensed clinical social worker and works for the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Mental Health. For the last 17 years her work has focused on quality improvement for the State Operated Psychiatric Hospitals throughout Illinois. Lynn lives in Evanston with her husband Robert and daughter Eva. You can e-mail her at <a href="mailto:lynngoldman@hotmail.com">lynngoldman@hotmail.com</a>.</p>
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&nbsp;</p>
<h2>
Chicago North Training Staff</h2>
<p>
<u><strong>Kati Baruja--Training Director</strong></u>--Kati Baruja (formerly Griess) was originally a volunteer through the Kent, Ohio chapter in 1995, when she went on the rabies immunizations program to Ecuador.&nbsp; She then returned as a veteran volunteer the following year in Costa Rica and was a project supervisor in Oaxaca, Mexico in 2000.&nbsp; After graduating from New College of Florida and living overseas for several years (in Chile, Paraguay and Argentina), Kati returned to the U.S. in 2010 and settled in Chicago, where she immediately became part of Amigos again as Assistant Training Director for our chapter.&nbsp; 2012-2013 will be her second year as senior Training Director.&nbsp; She lives in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago&nbsp;with her Paraguayan spouse Esther, way too many pets, and spends her non-Amigos time typing things in an office downtown in the Loop.&nbsp; You can email her at <a href="mailto:kbaruja@gmail.com">kbaruja@gmail.com</a>.</p>
<p>
<u><strong>Sarah Landor--Spanish Professor and Service Learning Coordinator</strong></u>--Sarah Landor has been invested in the Chicago North Chapter of Amigos de las Am&eacute;ricas since she was a volunteer in Honduras in 2005. She has worked with prospective volunteers and families in recruiting, she has helped with the letter writing campaign, has led group Spanish classes to prepare volunteers for their summer, and was the assistant training director of the chapter last year. This year she will be the Spanish Instructor and the Service Learning Coordinator. She will meet with volunteers to work on their Spanish in small group settings and offer private one-on-one Spanish lessons to&nbsp;students who are required to get Spanish tutors in order to participate in Amigos.&nbsp; Sarah will organize the volunteer sites where volunteers will complete service hours in the Chicagoland area throughout the year before they leave for the summer. Sarah will also attend the Amigos retreats to work with the training team. Sarah received her B.A. from DePaul University and is in her third year of teaching in a private school in Chicago. This past summer she began a graduate school program at one of the most prestigious language schools in the country, Middlebury College. She has volunteered and lived in Mexico and Ecuador. The past few summers she has traveled to Nicaragua and Spain to experience vibrant cultures and language.&nbsp; You can email her at <a href="mailto:sarahlandor@yahoo.com">sarahlandor@yahoo.com</a>.</p>
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<u><strong>Dean Shah--Assistant Training Director/Senior Vet Supervisor</strong></u><strong>--</strong>Dean Shah is a Glenbrook North High School senior. He&nbsp;was an Amigos volunteer&nbsp;in Paraguay for 8 weeks in 2011 and has been an integral part of the training team since then. He will be a volunteer again this coming summer 2013 and also plans to apply to be a Project&nbsp;Supervisor in the future. Like the trainers before him, Dean knows how to handle different possible situations and can help train &quot;supervols&quot; or super volunteers. He commits his time to AMIGOS, marching band, pep band, clubs and activities, homework, and of course sleeping.</p>
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&nbsp;</p>
<p>
CURRENT PARENTS OR VOLUNTEERS--<u><strong>YOU ARE WELCOME</strong></u> to attend any board meeting!&nbsp; We&#39;re always interested in hearing your thoughts, suggestions, questions, or ideas for the future.&nbsp; The board meetings are planned to be held at North Shore Country Day School at the same time as volunteer training meetings:</p>
<ul>
<li>
December 16, 2012, after letter stuffing party</li>
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January 13, 2013</li>
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February 10, 2013</li>
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March 10, 2013</li>
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April 7, 2013</li>
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May 19, 2013</li>
</ul>