About Us
ViviendasLeón's mission is to create a more equitable world by fostering sustainable development in both urban and rural communities in León, and cultivating understanding across cultures.
We foster development by working collaboratively with rural communities to build community-driven projects such as schools and housing, thereby increasing community stability as well as individual opportunity.
We create economic stability by providing affordable housing and low interest loans for working families.
We increase understanding and, ultimately, solidarity between the communities of Nicaragua and the United States by bringing volunteer delegations--comprised of U.S. high school and college students -- to Nicaragua to live, work, and learn with Nicaraguans on rural development projects.
» I'm interested in learning more about ViviendasLeón's rural development projects.
» I'm a student interested in participating in one of the volunteer delegations to León, Nicaragua.
» I'm an educator interested in bringing a school group to Nicaragua.
» I'm interested in learning more about ViviendasLeón's urban development projects.
Staff, USA
Evan Markiewicz | Executive Director
Evan is the Founder and Executive Director of ViviendasLeón. He is responsible for overseeing program development, communications, and financial management. Until 2003, Mr. Markiewicz worked under the auspices of the New Haven/León Sister City Project, an internationally recognized non-governmental organization, where he developed ViviendasLeón and other construction programs targeting the needs of rural Nicaraguan communities. Mr. Markiewicz graduated from the University of Southern California in Architecture and holds a Master of Architecture degree from Yale University.
Lindsey Walker | Program Director
Lindsey has experience planning and leading construction delegations in León, Nicaragua, and for two years during the 1990's lived in León as a rural coordinator for the New Haven/León Sister City Project. She has worked as an organizer in low-income communities in Springfield, Massachusetts. She is currently living in Michigan where she works developing recycling programs for her local sanitation district. Her passions include carpentry and teaching construction skills to other women. She speaks fluent Spanish and holds a Masters degree in International Development and Management from the School for International Training.
Raffaela Falchi | Program Coordinator for Universities
Raffaella has experience as an educator in architecture and design. She worked as lead instructor for the Cornerstone architectural workshop CFEA Program offered to at-risk youth who have been through the juvenile hall system. She has also taught architecture classes to San Francisco high school youth through Out of Site/ Center for Arts and Education. The curriculum focuses on community involvement, the role of architecture as a powerful medium to make change in the community and the architectural process from conception to building. Raffaella speaks Spanish in addition to Italian, Portuguese and English. She received a B.A. in Psychology and a Minor Art from UC Berkeley in 2001 and holds a Masters of Architecture from CCA.
Jill Gallagher | Financial Officer
Jill is responsible for overseeing the finances of the organization. Since 1979 she has worked as a bookkeeper for many bay area non-profit organizations including SF Clean City Coalition, The Family School/STRIVE, and New College of California as well as several CPA firms. She has also served as the Board Treasurer for Breast Cancer Action. She has an MA in English TESL from San Francisco State University.
Staff, Nicaragua
Evan Markiewicz | Executive Director
Evan is responsible for fiscal oversight and personnel. See Staff Bio, USA
Indiana Garcia | Program Director, Communications
Indiana is our full time program director in Leon. She is responsible for daily operations, coordinating travel groups and communication between San Francisco and Leon. Indiana has been working with ViviendasLeón since 2003. She is fluent in English and Spanish and holds a degree in Tourism Administration from UNAN in León.
Tomás Donaire Juárez | Project Manager
Tomás is responsible for permits, project management and fiscal oversight of construction projects. He has been involved in numerous infrastructural and housing projects during the course of his career throughout the León region. He was mayor of León from 1984-1988. Mr. Donaire holds a degree in architecture from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma UNAN in Managua.
Yaoska Otero | Bookkeeping
Yaoska oversees fiscal management of administrative and construction activity, monthly activity reports, and coordination of annual audits. She holds a degree in Business Administration from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma Nicaragua in León.
Board of Directors, USA
Dan Leibsohn
Dan Leibsohn is the President and Executive Director of Community Development Finance, a nonprofit financial and research organization, and the head of Capital Flows, a consulting organization. Mr. Leibsohn graduated from the University of Michigan in Economics and received a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University.
Evan Markiewicz
See Staff Bio, USA
Veronica Sanchez
Veronica Sanchez is principal of Veronica Sanchez Consulting, a government relations and public affairs firm specializing in maritime, transportation and public infrastructure projects. She was born in Le—n Nicaragua and immigrated to the United States at the age of three. ÊShe is co-founder and President of the Board of the Directors of the Nicaraguan Children's Friendship Committee (NCFC), a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit organization that provides health and educational programs for abandoned and poor children in Leon. ÊMs. Sanchez previous positions include Manager of Governmental Affairs for a regional ferry agency and the Port of San Francisco. While there, she coordinated the warehousing and shipping of goods to Nicaragua for the Hurricane Mitch Relief efforts. ÊShe worked for former Mayor Art Agnos and held several positions with the California Legislature. She has a law degree from UC Berkeley School of Law.
Advisory Board, USA
Judith Bell
Judith is President of PolicyLink, a non-profit organization advancing innovative policies to achieve economic and social equity for local communities in the United States. She oversees policy development, strategic planning, and program implementation. Prior to joining PolicyLink, Ms. Bell was the Director of the West Coast Regional Office of Consumers Union. Ms. Bell received a Masters in Public Administration at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Dan Geiger
Dan is Executive Director at U.S. Green Building Council – Northern California Chapter. Previously, he was Executive Director of Groundspring.org, a Tides organization serving 800 nonprofits with Internet tools, training, and techniques and Co-Founder and CEO of OpNet, a nationally recognized program that prepares low-income people for the digital economy. Mr. Geiger holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley