Our dedicated team is made up of part-time consulting staff and volunteers from around the world.
Together we bring a wealth of knowledge and passion to our partners and to the GoPhilanthropic Community.

Meet the Staff

Emily Bild

Director of Strategy and Transformation

Emily has spent over 15 years working in the non-profit sector on a wide range of issues including child rights, child protection, disaster risk reduction, and human rights. She has worked extensively across Central Africa and has spent most of the past 10 years based in India, where she worked for a number of international and national NGOs, as well as UNICEF. She first met GoPhilanthropic when she was working as the Project Manager at TARA, one of GoPhilanthropic’s very first partners. She is passionate about human rights and development and loves to travel to new places. Emily currently lives in London with her husband and two very energetic young children!

Mae Ardón

Manager of Strategy and Transformation

After graduating from Law School in Guatemala City, Mae moved to Lake Atitlán to intern at a legal aid center serving communities that were most affected by 36 years of civil war. Mae met GoPhil during her time working as Development Manager at a GoPhil partner program. Mae currently works at Multicolores, an organization that offers economic development opportunities for Maya women artists. She resides in Panajachel with her partner Chris, and her dog Chai and is passionate about human rights, gender equality, and community development. She enjoys exploring new places and meeting people from different backgrounds, cooking, and spending time with the people that she loves.

Meet the Co-Founders

Lydia Dean

In 2000 Lydia left a successful career in Orlando, Florida, to explore the world with her young family. During their six years outside the US, Lydia traveled extensively to areas lacking access to education and opportunity. Motivated by the simple ideal that small personal actions can make a difference, she and her family returned to the US in 2007 and launched GoPhilanthropic Travel — a social enterprise that engages travelers with the lesser-known humanitarians of the world. In 2011 she co-founded GoPhilanthropic Foundation and in 2015 she published “Jumping the Picket Fence,” an inspirational mixture of travel memoir, soul searching, and non-profit building. Lydia currently resides in Provence, France.

Linda DeWolf

Linda has experience in the areas of philanthropy as well as community capacity building, health improvement and assessment efforts, innovation and customer service. She was president of a national not-for-profit health foundation funding innovation and has worked in various settings, acting as a connector, catalyst, and collaborator. Linda has a passion for global travel and has traveled several times to every continent except Antarctica. She is especially interested in supporting women and children’s issues as well as ensuring the viability of local artisans within their communities. She is, herself, an artist living in Santa Fe and has two grown sons and 6 grandchildren.

Tracey Morrell

Tracey has over 14 years of experience in marketing, program, and project management for multinational corporations in both European and US markets. She has taken her broad-based business experience and is now applying it in the non-profit sector, specifically in assisting grassroots non-profits to become more sustainable and mission-driven. Tracey is responsible for all aspects of the Foundation’s operations. She is a seasoned global backpacker, mother-of-three (yes…we are busy women at GoPhil!), and extremely active in her community. Her connection to GoPhilanthropic began through GoPhilanthropic Travel when researching a way for her family to spend an extended time in Southeast Asia while supporting local non-profits.

Meet the Ambassadors & Volunteers

Cynthia Feiden-Warsh

Community Ambassador – Santa Fe

A social worker by training, Cynthia spent 35 years working in health care, in the areas of health policy, mental health, and Medicaid. Cynthia spent a summer in Mexico when she was 18 and developed a love of travel. She and her husband love to travel and, like many, there comes a time when merely scratching the surface is not enough and there is a greater interest in understanding the underlying cultural and social issues and figuring out how you can contribute to improving people’s lives. Cynthia found that GoPhilanthropic addresses the need to connect in a more meaningful way. She has two children and one grandchild. She and her husband live in Santa Fe, a place that they love.

Amy Leonard

Community Ambassador – Denver

Amy discovered GoPhilanthropic Foundation in 2016 and knew she had to be a part. She is a Denver Community Hub Leader and GoPhilanthropic Travel Guide for India. Amy believes in the power of travel to foster understanding and connection. Her passion for travel is fueled by her love of reading, art, food, and music. She brings 20+ years of corporate and nonprofit leadership experience in the areas of operations, logistics, and project management. She and her husband enjoy an active Colorado lifestyle while raising their three children.

Laura Misuk

Grants Specialist

Laura has worked for more than 30 years in program and fund development, political organization, and community capacity building. She is currently the Director of Grants and Advocacy for Cancer Care Services. Laura shares her love for research and writing as a volunteer grant developer for GoPhilanthropic. She is interested in economic opportunities for women and girls in developing countries as well as political engagement and leadership development. Laura is married, with two 12yo Brittany Spaniels who remind her that she is not as old as they are – at least in dog years.