Patricia Gonzales-Cruz
Early Childhood Education and Literacy Development
Patricia is a devoted teacher who comes to GreenEarth Heritage Foundation’s Advisory Board with over 16 years of teaching experience both in the Philippines and the United States, including top-rung private Manhattan educational institutions such as the West Side Montessori School and Horace Mann School for Nursery Years in New York. Horace Mann is a member of the Ivy Preparatory League.
In 2002, she pioneered the preschool program of the International School Manila where she headed program conceptualization, planning, development and implementation of a developmentally integrated curriculum.
A certified Montessori Teacher, Patricia believes that literacy education can be made fun through games; thus the Learning Lion early education program was born (www.thelearninglion.com).
She describes her brainchild as a “game-based learning system geared towards helping children gain the essential skills for reading and math” at the earliest possible age. Her goal is to see children begin reading at age 3. After all, “reading is the KEY to learning”. The Learning Lion program “creates a learning environment for the children where learning to read becomes fun and easy.”
Patricia holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of the Philippines and received her Masters degree in Art and Early Childhood Education with distinction (GPA 4.0) from the Teachers College,Columbia University in New York City.
Patricia presently lives in Manila, Philippines with her husband Jose Edgardo and their three children.
Marita V. Pierce
Early Childhood Education and Literacy Development
Marita Villafuerte-Pierce, M.E is an exporter-turned-educator. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of the Philippines and a Master’s Degree in Education from Loyola College, Maryland. She is a U.S. licensed therapist for children with learning disabilities and has Diplomas in Primary and Elementary Education from the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), USA. She is also a scholar of the Haggai Institute for Leadership, Hawaii.
Marita is the founder and director of Preppi School Foundation, Inc, located in Pasig City, Philippines. Preppi School imparts the best of the inner disciplines of the East and the advance ideologies of the West to prepare the child of the future become a global leader.
Inspired by her 13 years of global business experience as an international designer and exporter, she devised the TRUTH Curriculum: a value –based educational program. FUNdamental life skills are presented through a series of attractive lessons that apply academic skills and concretize the abstract concepts.
She has conducted educational training programs and seminars for teachers and parents under the theme: “ I Am A Child“. She has served as monthly columnist in BABY magazine, Animal Scene magazine and MOMS, BABIES and DADS column in the Philippines’ longest-running daily newspaper with nationwide circulation, Manila Bulletin newspaper. She has spoken in international educational conferences and has represented the Philippines in the International Reading Association and World Forum on Early Childhood Education.
Odette Marie Go
Finance
Odette received her undergraduate degree in Political Science at Stanford University and obtained her Master’s in Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business.
In 2003, she was featured in America’s Treasury and Risk magazine as one of the Forty Men and Women under Forty who are shaping the world of finance in America. She has served as Treasurer of Genentech, the world’s leading biotechnology company.
Presently, Odette serves as Treasurer of Lam Research Corporation. She lives in San Francisco, California and has two children.
Dr. Paul Reed Hepperly
Organic Agriculture and Development
Prior to migrating into the world of private consultancy in January of 2010, Dr. Paul Reed Hepperly was Director of Research at The Rodale Institute from 2002 to 2009. Rodale is a leading nonprofit organization that has been at the forefront of the organic movement since 1947.
The Rodale Institute is a strong voice addressing the challenges of global climate change, better nutrition in food, famine prevention and poverty alleviation. Paul joined the team of experts at Rodale in 2002, lending his extensive expertise in organic and conventional agriculture.
As an accomplished researcher, author and educator, Paul has been a sought-after keynote speaker throughout the world, including Central and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, India and Africa. He has contributed to over 150 publications on plant pathology, fungal diseases, plant disease resistance, disease management, epidemiology, seed pathology, agronomy, horticulture, carbon sequestration and research program management.
He holds a doctorate in plant pathology, a master’s degree in agronomy, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology, from the University of Illinois.
In September of 2007, he became a Fulbright Scholar and in 2005, he received the Rachel Carson Council Sense of Science Award. He was also recognized as a Princeton Premiere Business Leader. For his efforts in helping the African people, he was given the African Humanitarian Award. Paul also received the da Vinci Community Award from the da Vinci Discovery Center of Science and Technology.
It is Paul’s passion to help increase public awareness of the benefits of a more natural agricultural system which respects God’s laws of nature and biodiversity, most especially in many parts of the world where the consequences of environmental destruction and unequal distribution of wealth has led to massive hunger and poverty. He is equally committed to philanthropic projects for his local community of Kutztown, Pennsylvania.
After having a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul desires to put his extensive knowledge in organic agriculture to help the suffering and the needy for God’s glory. He firmly believes that Faith, Food, and Fitness are all woven intricately in the Almighty’s plan for health and wellness.
Paul lives in Kutztown, Pennsylvania with his wife Karen. He is active in his home Christian Church’s music ministry. In his spare time, he enjoys reading Scientific American, hiking and activities with family.
Dr. Guillermo Q. Tabios III
Water Resource Management
Dr. Guillermo Q. Tabios III is a Professor of the Department of Civil Engineering and Director of the National Hydraulic Research Center (NHRC) of the College of Engineering at the University of the Philippines (UP), Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines. He holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado (1984) specializing in hydrology, hydraulics and water resources engineering. He has an M.S. in Land and Water Resources Engineering (1979) and a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering (1977) from the University of the Philippines at Los Banos.
Prior to joining the faculty of the University of the Philippines in 1996, Dr. Tabios was a Research Associate at the Department of Civil Engineering, Colorado State University from February 1985 to June 1987 and then Research Faculty at the Hydraulic and Coastal Engineering Program, Department of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley from July 1987 to May 1996. In June 1996, he was appointed as Associate Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering at UP Diliman until his promotion to Professor in 2005. He also served as Chairman of the Department of Civil Engineering from April 2004 to May 2006.
Dr. Tabios’ professional organization and other affiliations are as follows:
- Board Member, National Water Resources Board (Executive Order No. 123)
- Country Representative, APFRIEND Design Rainfall and Flood Studies, Regional Steering Committee of Asia-Pacific Region (RSC-AP), UNESCO International Hydrology Program (since 2004)
- Board of Trustee, Philippine Water Partnership
- Head, Water Resources Group of the Institute of Civil Engineering , University of the Philippines , Diliman, Quezon City
- Editor, International Hydrologic Environment Society Journal (since 2006)
- Guest Editor (Environmental Engineering Papers, July 2008-present), Philippine Journal of Engineering
- Member, American Geophysical Union (since 1982)
- Member, International Association of Hydraulic Research (since 2002)
Dr. Tabios was recently awarded Most Outstanding Engineering Professor (academic year 2008-2009) of the College of Engineering of the University of the Philippines and Outstanding Agricultural Engineer in Land and Water Engineering (April 2009) by the Philippine Society of Agricultural Engineers.
