Jon Thompson – Co-Director
Jon graduated from Centre College in 1997, first came to Nicaragua in 1998 and returned every year until early 2005, when he and his Nicaraguan wife, Arelis, moved to live in San Juan del Sur full time. In 2002 Jon obtained his Masters of Social Work with a concentration in Community Development. He began his social work career at United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, where he created and managed asset development programs focusing on small businesses, homeownership and education for low-income households. In addition to his post as the co-director of Comunidad Connect, Jon is currently the Executive Director of Fundación A. Jean Brugger.
Roman Yavich – Co-Director
Roman attended the University of Colorado in Boulder and graduated with honors in 2006 with degrees in international economics and finance. He spent 6 months in Argentina in 2004 researching his honors thesis topic: the effect of the growing informal sector of the economy on income inequality. He also studied abroad at the Universidad de Chile in Santiago in 2003. After graduating, Roman received the Fulbright grant to research the sustainability of tourism development in Nicaragua. This research project started in October 2006 and during his time in Nicaragua Roman helped organize Comunidad Connect along with its flagship initiative, Community REfund.
Fernando Rodríguez – Program Coordinator
Fernando attended the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua in Managua where he studied Social Sciences and Humanities with history and literature emphases. He also obtained a degree in Organic Agriculture and Sustainable Development from Escuela Internacional de Agricultura y Ganadería in Rivas, where he also took coursework in Business Administration and Languages. Fernando first started his career in teaching English at the Nicaragua Spanish School in 2000. After serving as the director of several language schools he founded his own, Nicaspanish Language School in 2006. In 2007 Fernando joined Comunidad Connect in order to contribute his experiences to the sustainable development of tourism in his native San Juan del Sur.
Alejandro Jose Noguera Castro - Sports Program Administrator
Alejandro Jose Noguera Castro was born in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua in 1979 and is currently finishing his degree in Business Administration. His love for sports began when he was 10 years old, playing baseball. After 7 years of playing in the amateur leagues, he started his professional baseball career and eventually became a member of the national team and represented Nicaragua on the international level. An all-star pitcher, Alejandro traveled to Venezuela, U.S.A., and Holland to play against the world’s best teams. After a career-ending injury in late 2006, he now manages all youth and athletic programs for Comunidad Connect.
Rodrigo Dariel Castro Potoy - Community Project Manager
Rodrigo Dariel Castro Potoy was born in 1984 in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. Dariel moved to Costa Rica at age 15 to study business administration and earned a scholarship to continue his studies in Mexico City in 2000. He later returned to Managua and began work as a supervisor for a professional training company. Married with two children, Dariel has been working as Community Project Manager for Comunidad Connect since September 2006. |
