Sam Bloch
Founder & Executive Director
Sam began working in post-disaster relief after hearing of the 2004 Asian Tsunami. As Project Manager for the Tsunami Volunteer Center (TVC) in Thailand, Sam led the reconstruction of the coastal village of Laem Pom.
After the Peruvian earthquake of 2007, Sam worked as Operations Director for Burners Without Borders (BWB) in Pisco, Peru. There he managed over 800 volunteers representing 34 countries, culminating in over 54,000 man-hours of relief operations. The program developed by Sam and BWB was handed over to local partners, which resulted in the founding of Pisco Sin Fronteras (PSF).
Most recently, Sam spent four years in Haiti, responding to the 2010 earthquake. It was in Port-au- Prince that he founded Communitere and the successful model of grassroots relief-response that has now been duplicated in the Philippines.
Aside from relief work, Sam is an avid climber and has designed and constructed multiple forest canopy zip-line tours.
Robin Borrud
Chairperson
Robin is an international social entrepreneur, philanthropist and mother of three daughters who currently lives in Sydney, Australia. Robin’s professional background is in media sales and marketing where she spent seven years in local and national television sales.
Robin first traveled to Haiti in February 2012 with the group Off the Mat, Into the World. The group of 15 participants raised over $300,000 to invest in women owned and operated, grassroots business and social organizations in Haiti. That trip marked the beginning of Robin’s journey into the world of social entrepreneurship and ignited her love and passion for Haiti and its people.
Currently, Robin is working with the group Alaos Haiti to develop an innovative type of green building using recycled polystyrene – in essence, turning Styrofoam trash into houses. She is also on the leadership team that is working to launch the first international affiliate of Off the Mat, Into the World in Australia and New Zealand.
Robin loves to travel and has been to Haiti five times in the last two years to work on various projects with multiple organizations. Her primary focus is continuing to find organizations and projects that are working toward socially integrated, sustainable goals.
Jimmy Levi
Founder & Board Member
Jimmy brings nine years of experience in the non-profit arena to Haiti Communitere; previously, he worked as Environmental Coordinator for the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California. There he focused on the restoration of traditional homelands and strengthening the tribe’s ability to contribute to Lake Tahoe Area public policy.
In 2007, he was exposed to disaster relief work in Peru with Burners without Borders (BWB). As BWB Program Coordinator and a board member of Pisco Sin Fronteras (PSF), Jimmy has dedicated himself to the long-term sustainable redevelopment of Pisco.
Jimmy graduated with a BS in Environmental Management and Policy from Indiana University.
Emma Weisman, Esq.
Secretary
Emma has been with Communitere since 2010 when she joined Haiti Communitere in Port-au-Prince. She has a background in writing, small business development, international human rights law, nonprofit management, development and civil litigation.
Emma is an equality activist who believes, as the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares, that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, and that they are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of family-hood. She is devoted to the Communitere ethos of giving communities the tools to empower themselves.
When Emma is not “on the clock,” she can be found curled up with a book.
Delphine Bedu
Treasurer & Board Member
The 2010 earthquake in Haiti spurred Delphine’s third major disaster response. The first was with the Tsunami Volunteer Center in the Taptawaan village project in Thailand where she spent four months. The second was with Pisco Sin Fronteras (Burners Without Borders) in Pisco, Peru where she lived and worked for eight months.
Delphine arrived in Haiti in June of 2010 and has dedicated herself to multiple roles including international volunteer coordinator, Cholera Education Coordinator, MAPS (Men Ansanm Pou la Sante) and Community Outreach Director.
In addition to her multifaceted and versatile skills, Delphine speaks French, English, Haitian Creole and Spanish.
Mike Zuckerman
Board Member
Mike’s life and career are all about re-thinking industries and trends to create mass appeal and participation. He continually pushes the boundaries of shared economy models and their impact on innovative ecosystems, sustainable development and grass-roots community activation to improve civic life.
Currently, Mike is an affiliate of Institute for the Future, Organizer for the National Day of Civic Hacking, a member of the Board of Directors for Communitere, Director of the Free Burma Project, Creative Director of the Urban Innovation Exchange, Community Organizer for the free sharing site, Yerdle and, most recently, a co-founder of [ FREESPACE ]
Other projects and innovations Mike has been involved with include Yahoo!, Project Manager for Pacific Building and Design and Director of Sustainability for Temple Nightclub, America’s first “green” nightclub.
Mike has also been a participant on the original Advisory Council for the UN-backed Business Council on Climate Change, elected Chairman of the Kyebando Green Movement in Kampala, Uganda, Creative Consultant at the Barlow, a new “maker” retail community in Sebastopol, and Culture Hacker at Innovation Endeavors, Eric Schmidt’s VC firm.
Mike is also an urban beekeeper and loves sailing.
Rachael Stott
Board Member
Though Rachael began her career in finance and compliance, her true passion is a desire to serve. She fulfills this passion by applying her skills to social entrepreneurship. At her best when facing wicked problems, Rachael thrives where there is a gap, an underserved population or a new way of tackling an old issue.
Rachael first applied her solution-oriented outlook and entrepreneurial spirit when she established a charity that provides homeless babies a safe place to sleep. More recently, she has devoted herself to re-humanizing our work lives by applying compassion and mindfulness to enterprise and innovation. Currently, Rachael is the Director of Refraction, a co-working experiment that brings together leaders in technology, social good and the arts into a diverse community that is focused on innovation, collaboration and impact.
In addition to her work, Rachael is committed to supporting social entrepreneurs working toward positive sustainable change. She co-founded and continues to support the Dandelion Support Network, a charity that supports vulnerable families and is working to launch the first international affiliate of Off the Mat, Into the World in Australia and New Zealand.
When Rachael isn’t working or with her two young sons, you will find her devouring the latest research or on her (yoga) mat.