| Jim Dobbinsis an Associate Professor of Radiology and Director of the Medical Physics Graduate Progam at Duke University. He visited Beacon of Hope in Kenya with his family in 2005. |
| Christopher KigongoChristopher Kigongo is a Ugandan physician working as a clinical trial manager at Duke University. He was also the founder of the Millennium School, one of the organizations supported by Africa Rising. (He is no longer on the board of the Millenium School, nor is he one of their staff.) |
| Andrew Long(Treasurer) is an accountant for the publishing company, Lulu. |
| Jenny Nicholson(Secretary) is a Software Group Manager at IBM. In 2007 she visited Beacon of Hope and TULIP in Kenya, and Amani Children's Home in Tanzania. Jenny is one of the main organizers of the HopeFest Concerts to raise funds for Beacon of Hope. |
| Jana Piepenbring(Vice President and Director) is a physical therapist with Alamance Regional Medical Center. She first visited Beacon of Hope in 2002. She then served Beacon of Hope as an intern for one year in 2003-2004. Since then, Jana has helped lead several groups traveling to Kenya and Tanzania. |
| Bill Stevensonis the Manager of Corporate Social Investments at Lenovo. In 2007 he and his family visited Beacon of Hope and TULIP in Kenya, and Amani Children's Home in Tanzania. Bill is one of the main organizers of the HopeFest Concerts to raise funds for Beacon of Hope. |
| Gayle Thomasis a physician with Carrboro Community Health Center, a clinic principally serving low income patients. She was born in the Congo to missionary parents. She lived in Kenya for a year in 1984-85 with her husband, Jim, while he was doing research for his PhD. She has since returned to Kenya to visit Beacon of Hope and TULIP with her family twice. |
| Jim Thomas(Founder and President) is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Program in Public Health Ethics at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He worked as a public health nutritionist in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then called Zaire) in 1978-81 and in Kenya for doctoral research 1984-85. He has since visited 9 other African countries, consulting in epidemiology and developing relationships between his church and African churches. |
