Executive Director

Dana’s interest in nonprofit work was sparked while pursuing her B.A. in International Development at Clark University, where she had the opportunity to intern at various nonprofit organizations including Habitat for Humanity and Lutheran Social Services of New England. She first joined MPI Nicaragua in 2014 as a Program Director after receiving her M.A. in Community Development & Planning. During her first year in Nicaragua, she fell in love with the communities that MPI serves and was impressed by the organization’s holistic and sustainable approach to development. After a year of working in MPI's educational and business development programs, Dana decided to extend her contract to work with MPI as a Senior Program Director for two more years before joining staff as the Assistant Country Director for MPI Nicaragua. After the Nicaragua site unfortunately had to close in 2018, Dana transitioned to a Development Manager role, and then became the Development Director in Fall 2022. In 2023 she started as the Executive Director and is thrilled at the opportunity to continue to be a part of the Manna Project team! She lives in Hawaii with her husband and two children.

Finance and Administration

As one of Manna Project's founders, Lori has been a vital part of the MPI team since graduating from Vanderbilt University in 2004 with degrees in Psychology and Elementary Education. Lori's involvement began when she helped charter the organization in January of 2004. In September 2004, Lori and 9 others journeyed to Nicaragua where they founded MPI's first international site. Lori taught preschool and designed and implemented the first art and literacy programs. Lori acted as the Nicaragua Country Director before creating and stepping into the role of Executive Director. Lori served as the Executive Director until 2016 when she stepped down to focus on her family. She continues to be involved with Manna Project as the Financial Manager and as a board member. She lives in Orlando, Florida with her husband and two sons.

Communications + Institutional Relations Manager

Abby comes to Manna from a background in experiential education focused on meaningful, symbiotic cultural exchange internationally. Most recently, she developed and ran community development projects in rural Costa Rica. Abby is a Linguist by education and is interested in social understanding and biases derived from language. Currently, Abby lives in Costa Rica with her cat.