Event Detail

This week, we will feature non-profits and organizations based in Montana with international engagement or operations. Guests will share their international perspectives, discussing the international dimensions of their work and its impact on our state.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82714701259
Meeting ID: 82714701259

Mary LaPorte joined the EcoViva Board in 2009 and has served as Board Chair since 2017. Mary led non-profit organizations working in the fields of community economic development, job training & education, and international development throughout her career. Mary was the founding Executive Director of Jane Addams Resource Corporation in Chicago, the founding Executive Director of the Center for Employment Training in Cleveland, and the Chief Operating Officer of International Partners in Mission in Cleveland. She served as a Field Instructor for the Graduate School of Social Work, Case Western Reserve University, throughout her time in Cleveland. Mary earned a Master of Social Work and a Bachelor of General Studies from the University of Michigan.

Mary and her spouse Charlie Rial moved to Montana in 2011. Her volunteer involvement in Missoula centers around community, environment, and international affairs She serves on the board of the Missoula League of Women Voters and is a participating member of the Montana World Affairs Council.

Ana Luisa Ahern is the Executive Director of EcoViva, a nonprofit organization that works in partnership and solidarity with community-led organizations in Central America organized to achieve environmental sustainability, economic security, social justice and peace. Ana Luisa holds a master’s degree in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego where she researched fish spawning activity in a marine protected area in Baja California. She is the co-founder of the Organization for Youth Empowerment (OYE), which provides education, leadership training, and capacity building to low-income children and young adults in Honduras. She is originally from Washington, DC, and spent part of her childhood in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.