Jeff Schnurr – Executive Director
Jeff Schnurr traveled in over 35 countries before landing in Tanzania, where he began the tree planting initiative that grew into Community Forests International. With the dream of making conservation a rural livelihood, Jeff has spread the techniques of forest restoration around the globe and has planted over half a million trees in the process. In 2010, Jeff Schnurr was named one of Canada’s Top 10 volunteers by the CBC and Manulife. If you would like Jeff to speak at your event, please click here.
jeff@forestsinternational.org
(506) 536-3738
+255 777 023 575
Mbarouk Mussa Omar – Pemba Director
Mbarouk Mussa has over 10 years experience in environmental development and is known on the island of Pemba for his ongoing commitment to the betterment of rural communities and their improved livelihoods. A great asset to the Community Forest team, Mbarouk’s skills as a project manager and financial officer work to sustain Pemba’s forests for generations to come.
mbarouk@forestsinternational.org
+255 777 427 450
Said Suwedi – Resident Forester
Said Suwedi is a graduate from the Forestry Training School in Arusha, Tanzania. He has worked extensively as a consultant and a full time staff members at the Department of Commercial Crops Fruits and Forests, Department of Agriculture and for CARE International. Said Suwedi is an expert in nursery set up and tree care and continues to act as CFI’s key forestry professional.
suweidas@yahoo.com
+255 773 263 449
Ali Hamad Ali – Agroforestry Officer
Ali joined the team in 2011 and brings 29 years of agricultural experience to the organization’s increasingly more diverse planting effort. Ali is working to incorporate food producing systems into the community forests, allowing communities to provide for their tables as well as their environment. Ali has held past positions as the Head of the Department of Agriculture Pemba and as a field officer for the Zanzibar Cloves Producers Organization (ZACPO).
aalihamad@yahoo.co.uk
+255 777 432 744
Daimen Hardie – Program Director
After graduating Mount Allison University with a BA in International Relations, Intercultural Studies and Environmental Studies, Daimen Hardie worked in his family woodlot in New Brunswick before co-founding CFI. As CFI’s Program Director, Daimen leads the organization’s projects at home and abroad.
daimen@forestsinternational.org
(506) 536-3738
Zachary Melanson – Communications Director
Zachary Melanson is CFI’s resident photographer and Communications Director. This rare split of talents resulted after a BFA from NASCAD, a course in Ecological Forestry and 4 summers of tramping around in the woods, planting trees in Ontario and BC. A passionate amateur Mycologist Zach brings a diverse array of skills to the organization he helped to found.
zach@forestsinternational.org
(506) 536-3738
Estelle Drisdelle – Education and Project Coordinator Canada
Estelle holds a Bachelor of Science from Mount Allison University as well as a Permaculture Design Certificate from the Blue Mountains Permaculture Institute. She is currently studying Ecological Restoration from the University of Victoria focusing on the biodiversity and conservation of the Acadian Forest. Estelle spearheads the Global Schools Link and environmental programming in Canada.
estelle@forestsinternational.org
(506) 536-3738
Mike Tritchler – Education and Project Coordinator Pemba
Mike Tritchler joined the CFI team after volunteering with Peace Corps for three years as a Math and Science teacher. Mike currently runs the Global Schools Link in Pemba and is developing a climate change education curriculum which will be available in both English and Kiswahili. Mike is originally from California and picked up a B.S. in Geophysics from UCSB.
jmtritch@gmail.com
+255 773 552 2327
Dale Prest Ecosystem Service Specialist
Dale works to value the ecosystems services provided through good forestry. He has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from Dalhousie University and is finishing up a M.Sc at St. Francis Xavier University where he is investigating the long-term impact of clearcut harvesting on forest soil carbon storage in the Acadian Forest. Dale comes from Mooseland, NS, where he grew up logging in family owned woodlots.
dale@forestsinternational.org

Board of Directors

Deborah Bakker – President of the Board

Deborah joined the CFI board in 2010 and is based in Montreal. An environmental chemist by training, with a B.Sc(Hons) from the University of Western Ontario and a Master of Environmental Studies from Dalhousie University, she worked in the international cooperation field for 9 years before returning to the environmental field in 2011. Former board member of NSPIRG in Halifax and the Eco-Design Resource Society in Vancouver, she has been active in environmental and social justice causes for 20 years. An avid traveller, she speaks 3 languages fluently and bits of another 4.


Kathleen Cooper- Board Secretary

Kathleen Cooper has been an educator in New Brunswick for the last 21 years. With a background in science, a love of travel and desire to work in social justice, Kathleen took the opportunity to volunteer with the Canadian Teacher’s Federation first in Guyana and then in Ghana.

These experiences brought her to CUSO where she spent 3 years in Solomon Islands and a year in Papua New Guinea. She worked with local indigenous groups, Provincial Agriculture departments and Rural Training Centers for young adults establishing apiaries and facilitating beekeeping in an attempt to build sustainability.

While Overseas, Kathleen was the Volunteer Representative on the CUSO Board of Directors. Upon returning to Canada she continues to volunteer on the CUSO Atlantic Alumni Ctte. Since 2010 has served as a board member for Community Forests International.

Glen Estill – Board Member

Glen Estill is a successful entrepreneur. After co-founding EMJ Data Systems, a computer wholesaler, Glen started Sky Generation, which built, owned and operated 13 wind turbines, generating enough electricity to supply 11,500 typical Ontario homes. Glen joins CFI with a strong understanding not only of the challenges of climate change, but also some of the solutions. Land use, a key focus for CFI, along with renewable energy, are crucial to our efforts to slow and eventually turn back climate change. Glen has a Bachelor of Economics and MBA from the University of Western Ontario.

Olga Gladkikh – Board Member

Olga is an adult educator and development communications specialist with over 30 years of diversified experience working with governments and civil society Corporation as a journalist/producer, Olga joined the Coady International Institute at St. Francis Xavier University in 1987 and has served in various roles since then. Her teaching and research interests include social learning processes, participatory communication models, and the use of social media for social change. Olga’s overseas work includes training and consultancies with local, national and international non-governmental organizations in Asia (Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Philippines), Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zambia, Malawi and Egypt), South Pacific (Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu and New Caledonia), Caribbean (St. Lucia), and Canada. In the past 25 years Olga has taught a wide variety of courses including leadership skills for women and youth, strategies of change, communication for development, gender and power, as well as advocacy and citizen engagement. She has also conducted skills workshops in facilitation, presentation, and mobilizing local resources. In 2008, Olga received the Coady Institute’s first Excellence in Teaching Award. Olga holds a MA in Journalism and a BA in Psychology (Honors), both from the University of Western Ontario, and has completed course work towards a PhD in Adult Education from the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. She has been a member of the Board of Directors at Community Forests International since 2010.

Stefan Kirkpatrick – Board Member

Stefan Kirkpatrick is a boatbuilder living on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. His understanding of forests comes from his use of local and exotic timber products in the boatbuilding industry, as well as a few seasons planting trees in Northern Ontario and British Columbia. Stefan’s interest in Community Forests come from a view that small-scale management of forests and quality, value-added wood products can work to build healthy communities