Carol A. Rhees, President and Director
JD (University of Virginia)
BA Government (Cornell University)
Carol practiced law with Steptoe & Johnson LLP in Washington, DC, for more than twenty years and for many of those years headed the firm’s estate planning department. She has extensive experience in tax planning for individuals and charitable organizations. Since leaving the practice of law, she has taught US and World History at the Maret School in Washington where she has designed and taught a service learning curriculum focused on domestic and global hunger, with particular emphasis on Ethiopia. She has volunteered at Hope for Children in Ethiopia every summer since 2005 and has been instrumental in establishing the Youth Center there.
Ruthann Bates, Treasurer and Director
MA Chemistry (Columbia University)
BA Chemistry (Regis College)
Ruthann is Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, at Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bethesda, Maryland. Prior to this assignment, she was Vice President of Government Healthcare Solutions for Lockheed Martin, overseeing the corporation’s healthcare contracts with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Defense. For 20 years she was Vice President of Health Programs for Aspen Systems Corporation, which was acquired by Lockheed Martin in 2006. She has extensive experience in business management, financial systems, forecasting, profit and loss, and other relevant areas. Her health programs background includes HIV/AIDS prevention, research, clinical trials, and communications. She and her family have traveled to Ethiopia, and she has been involved with Hope for Children since 2005.
Bonnie Harkness, Secretary and Director
JD (University of Mississippi)
BA Psychology (University of Mississippi)
After working as a bank trust officer and on Capital Hill, Bonnie has stayed home to raise her three children. She has worked extensively as a volunteer, raising funds and organizing events for various organizations, including Hope for Children. In summer 2006, she volunteered at Hope for Children in Ethiopia.
Freda Temple, Director
MLS (University of Michigan)
BA English (New York University)
Freda has over 25 years of professional experience in the fields of health education, information management and communication. As a senior manager for Aspen Systems Corporation, an information management company serving government and commercial clients, she managed large, multi-faceted AIDS and cancer education programs for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization. Currently an independent consultant providing information management and editorial services, she also serves as the volunteer coordinator for the Capital Breast Care Center (Washington, DC) and leads English conversation classes for non-native speakers of English at Montgomery College (Rockville, Maryland).
Gary Temple, Director
MD, MS (Physiology) (Oregon Health & Science University)
Dr. Temple is a Program Director at the National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health. After obtaining a medical degree from Oregon Health Sciences Medical Center and completing an internship in internal medicine at Boston University Hospital, he conducted molecular biology and genetics research in labs in academia and industry. Currently, he designs and manages research programs that investigate the role of genetics in human health and development. His interest in the plight of AIDS orphans led him to travel to Ethiopia in the summer of 2008 to gain a first-hand view of the Hope for Children program, meet the staff and get to know the children who are sponsored by the program.
Amy Beth Kay
MS (Peace and Conflict Resolution) (University of Queensland, Aus.)
Amy attended the American University in Cairo’s Arabic Language Institute in 2000 as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. While in Cairo, she also worked for the National Council for Women. Amy received her Masters in Peace and Conflict Resolution as a member of Class I Rotary World Peace Scholars, University of Queensland, Australia. Amy conducted her Applied Field Experience at Hope for Children. After graduation, Amy worked for the United Nations Development Programme as Regional Programme Officer for the HIV/AIDS Regional Programme in the Arab States covering 20 countries in North Africa, Middle East, Gulf and Horn of Africa. She later served as a Community Mobilization and Behaviour Change Communication Specialist in Sudan with the UN Mission’s Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Programme, UNDP HIV Units in Khartoum and Juba, as well as the Global Fund. She is currently developing an HIV curriculum for UNDP Somalia’s HIV Unit. Amy is now Senior Technical Advisor and Technical Team Leader/Orphans and Vulnerable Children for the Centre For Development and Population Activities under USAID’s Health Policy Initiative. She continues to work in the Middle East and Africa. She is currently based in Washington D.C.
Barbara Brown, Director
Graduate certificate, Public Health (George Washington University)
MS, Management (Johns Hopkins University)
BS, Administration of Justice (Pennsylvania State University)
Barbara has more than 20 years of experience in program management and information dissemination. She is currently the Project Director overseeing daily operations and fiscal management of the Global Partnership Program at the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). Funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, this program aims to improve access to care and health outcomes in low income settings by increasing local capacity to implement, use, and maintain eHealth information systems, through mentoring, training, education, and distance learning. Barbara began her career with T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., managing transfer agency operations and special investment fund customer services. After serving as Assistant Vice President at First Data Merchant Services, Barbara was employed as a program manager at Aspen Systems, where her clients included the National Cancer Institute and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Barbara and her husband have sponsored a child through HFC since 2006. Barbara is looking forward to traveling to Ethiopia with HFC in the near future.