US HQ:
Jenny Koleth
Executive Director and Co-Founder: While trekking in the foothills of the Himalayas in Yunnan province, China, Jenny fell in love with the rich culture and stories of the ethnic minority groups of Dali and Lijiang (Yunnan has 51 different ethnic groups!). Since that trip many years back, she’s seized cross-cultural opportunities whenever possible, exploring Tibetan Buddhism, teaching in Afghanistan, and marrying an Indian man. Her professional experience includes 12+ years in the publishing industry. As the ED, she is responsible for the overall strategy and operation of Profugo’s staff, projects, and mission. She is passionate about people finding their “voice.”
Emily Snowden
Development & Fundraising Coordinator: Emily is a first-year graduate student at Drexel University, Dornsife School of Public Health, pursuing a degree in Health Management and Policy. Emily is interested in nonprofit fundraising and development, which combines her passion for building relationships and advocacy to generate additional funding sources. During her undergraduate career at the University of Vermont, Emily served as an Alumni Association ambassador representing the University at networking and donor events. Additionally, she championed an innovative social fundraising campaign that helped raise significant funds benefiting the University’s athletic programs. Emily played Division I Field Hockey in College and has continued her involvement with the sport by coaching at a local hockey club, acting as the volunteer assistant coach for Drexel University and also by serving as the Director of Goalkeeping for Sport EuroTour, a nationally recognized leader in international field hockey programs. Emily has traveled extensively for both field hockey and personal enjoyment visiting nearly 20 countries.
Emily Rojewski
Communications & Program Development Intern: Emily is a recent graduate from Penn State University, having received a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Sciences and a minor in entrepreneurship and innovation. Since taking courses in international agriculture and sustainable farming, she has been eager to utilize her skills within the field of international development. In addition, Emily hopes to bring an entrepreneurial mindset into the picture in hopes that innovative solutions can help solve problems faced by developing communities and NGOs, themselves. During her time at Penn State, she participated in several new venture creation projects with the goal of creating an economically sustainable enterprise. She also worked with the college of agricultural sciences to promote the entrepreneurship minor. With this, she connected with a lot of agriculturally focused start-ups which inspired her greatly. In her free time, Emily can be found in her garden, with her dogs, on a run, or with her paintbrush.
Emily George
Marketing & Social Media Intern: Emily is a junior undergraduate student at Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, PA. She is a Sociology major with a minor in Education, on track to pursue a Masters degree in Social Work after graduation. Emily is passionate about restructuring and improving education systems and domestically and globally in order to ensure that all people have access to quality schools and other learning institutions. Furthermore, she is interested in exploring what the most effective ways to create positive social change on a micro and macro level are. She is looking forward to bringing her past experience managing social media and communications for the Bryn Mawr Body Image Council to Profugo. She is excited to learn more about Profugo’s sustainable development model, as well as how start-up nonprofits function. Emily is absolutely thrilled to join Profugo’s team this semester!
Eszter Janossy
Program Development Intern: Eszter is a third-year Tourism and Hospitality Management undergraduate student at Temple University’s School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management. Eszter’s lifelong passion for cross-cultural understanding and community-based development inspired her to focus her studies on sustainable tourism. Seeing the harmful effects of mass tourism in her native Budapest sparked in Eszter a lifelong interest in the ways that effective tourism planning might circumvent the destructive cycle of overtourism. She is excited to bring these passions to Profugo, where she aims to create tourism initiatives that empower local communities. In her free time, Eszter enjoys writing, hiking, exploring new places, eating her way through said places, and petting adorable dogs.
Allie Wynne
Program Development Intern: Allie is a rising senior at Villanova University, finishing up a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and minoring in Global Health and Honors. She is passionate about improving women’s health and sex education globally, and is interested in Native American mental health and community wellness. She has previously interned at an NGO in London called Her Equality, Rights and Autonomy, which counsels and helps re-assimilate human trafficking victims into society and the professional workforce. After graduation, Allie hopes to pursue a Master’s in Global Health. In her free time, Allie loves hiking, traveling, and writing. She is excited to learn more about international development in India at Profugo!
India Center of Development Field Partner PROFUGO Social Ventures (P) Ltd:
TD Peter
Director, Profugo Social Ventures Private Limited: Having grown up in the rural and rainy environs of God’s own country, Kerala, Peter joined the Civil Services in 1985, and served at various locations across India. After over a decade of experience with a non-profit international agricultural research organization in Hyderabad, he has returned to Wayanad in Kerala to team up with Profugo and the marginalized rural community in Prasanthagiri and Valad, and to help them harness opportunities for a better quality of life, education, health, skills development, and sustainable natural resources management. He oversees and manages the Center of Development (COD) at Valad, and is responsible for planning, supervision, training, business development, operations and administration of various programs, projects and initiatives of Profugo. His other interests include reading, writing, music, and spirituality.
Abhilash V. Thomas
Program Coordinator: Abhilash was born and brought up in Wayanad, Kerala. Having majored in graduate studies with English from the University of Madras, he went on to earn a Diploma in Small Business Management from National Institute of Technology, Calicut, before signing up with Wayanad Social Service Society as Project Coordinator of Organic Farming and later as Purchase Manager of its Organic Spices Export Division. After a 5-year stint, he served briefly with ING Vysya Life Insurance Company, and then with Ashley Tea Estate as Assistant Manager. His love for English beckoned him to spend five years as a teacher at Al Buraimi Institute of Science and Technology, Oman. Family circumstances brought him back home in Wayanad, and that’s when he joined Profugo COD as Program Coordinator in early 2017. Abhilash helps with planning, launching, monitoring, and reviewing various projects that the COD rolls out from time to time to empower the rural community. He also supervises the Tailoring Unit and ELS Spoken English, besides Accounting and Book-keeping.
Gilgy Peruyaporathu
Operations Coordinator: Gilgy oversees the daily operation of the Center of Development, acts as the in-house handyman, and assists in all official matters. He and his family have a long history of farming.
Mary George
Program Associate: Mary is a daughter of the soil, hailing from Prashanthagiri Village where Profugo first set up its COD. She has, since then, been the king-pin of COD’s Tailoring Unit in her multi-hued capacities and responsibilities as the supervisor, tailoring training instructor, fabric designer and cutting-master, et al., in collaboration with team members and field volunteers. Other daily chores include management of the production center, book-keeping, quality checking, and dispatching. Mary started her career as a tailor at a local garments production center, then as Tailoring Instructor at a local institute, and later as center supervisor at a readymade nightie production unit run by the District Industrial Development Center.
PJ Binish
Admin & Accounts Officer: Binish grew up in Wayanad and graduated with a degree in Commerce from the University of Calicut. He also earned a Master Degree in Business from the University of Mysore. He has over 18 years of experience working as Accountant and Internal Auditor for various organizations in Mysore. He has been with Profugo COD team since 2017 as Administration and Accounts Officer.
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Friends of Profugo
We’d also like to mention the Friends of Profugo, who are an integral part of our team! They are the many dedicated and passionate volunteers who have helped Profugo become what it is today. They are not only a part of the Profugo community, but we consider them Friends of Profugo. We rely on their support and can’t thank these individuals enough for the commitment they have shown towards Profugo’s mission and making the world a better place. THANK YOU!!!
