Global citizenship is
both attitude and action.

William (Bill) Melton

Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Global Internet Ventures

William (Bill) Melton is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Global Internet Ventures, an Internet Holding Company. For more than 20 years, Mr. Melton has been an entrepreneur bringing technology to the financial industry.

He was the original founder of VeriFone Inc, the transaction automation company that has made credit authorization terminals ubiquitous on retail counters throughout the world. He was also an early investor in America Online and served on its Board of Directors for several years. He currently serves on the Board of several private early stage technology companies. He holds a master’s degree in Asian Studies and Chinese Philosophy.

Patricia Smith

Melton Foundation Co-Founder

Patricia Smith, the Melton Foundation Co-Founder, is actively involved in the global fora in the areas of conflict resolution.

Patricia is a playwright with productions throughout the U.S. She is also a photographer who has taught at the Smithsonian Institution, a poet, and an entrepreneur. Currently her work is mainly oriented to founding and directing the PEACE X PEACE Global Network. This organization uses the internet to connect women-based groups in the U.S. in one-to-one relationships with women-based groups working in their home nations outside the U.S. The aim is to foster the conditions necessary to achieve and maintain peace.

Jason Liu

Chair

Jason Liu is currently the Vice President in the Wealth Management division of Deutsche Bank Hong Kong. He serves as the Head of CIO Office Asia and provides macroeconomic analysis to his clients. Prior to this, he worked at Morgan Stanley as Asia Economist for five years and at China’s Anbang Insurance Group as Global Economist for three years. Before that, he also worked as a financial management trainee at General Electric in Shanghai. Jason holds a Master’s degree in economics from National University of Singapore and a Bachelor’s degree in economics from Zhejiang University in China. Jason has been a Melton Fellow since 2002. He joined the Board of Directors of Melton Foundation in 2016 and was named the Vice Chair of the Board in the same year.

Megan Williams

Megan Williams currently works in Cybersecurity at AT&T. She has worked on various projects including network based firewall, premise based firewall, AWS, and several others. She gained a background in psychology at Dillard University and later earned her MSCS from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. She has facilitated several workshops focusing on introducing STEM to underserved youth and continues to work as a STEM mentor. She has a passion for the arts and enjoys creative ventures that include painting, crafting, and learning new musical instruments. Her passion for arts culminated in the start of several small business ventures one of which lead to her work being featured and sold at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. She has been a member of the Melton Foundation since 2003 and currently resides in the greater New York City area.

Steffen Bethmann

Steffen Bethmann works at the Center of Philanthropy Studies at the University of Basel in Switzerland as researcher, consultant and teacher in executive nonprofit management courses. At the same time, he is pursuing a PhD in Sociology at the University of Heidelberg. Steffen has always been interested in philanthropy and nonprofit management. He has played a very active role in the foundation since he became a fellow in 2001. In his free time, he loves to do all kinds of sports – recently, he has fun with basketball, swimming and soccer.

Dr. Yolanda Page

Before assuming the position of Vice President for Academic Affairs at Dillard University, Dr. Yolanda Page was dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB). For twenty years, Dr. Page has served academia in various roles, including instructor, director, department chair and assistant dean. She received her B.A. in English and Business Management from Dillard University and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in American and African American Literature from Louisiana State University (LSU). Dr. Page is listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, has studied abroad in Ghana as a UNCF/Mellon International Faculty Seminar Fellow, and has worked extensively with learning communities and high-risk students. She is married to David D. Page, and they have two children, William David and Brooke Alexis.

Dr. Jagadeesh H S

Dr. Jagadeesh’s bio will soon be updated

Abdul Mahdi

Abdul Mahdi is the Dean of Students and Community Affairs and member of the Executive Board at Ashesi University College. Prior to this, he lived and worked in the United States, where he was the Director of Full-time and Professional MBA Program at the University of Illinois, Urbana, Champaign among other roles at Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago State University, LaSalle Bank, Walgreens and others.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an MBA from Governor State University, Illinois.

Julian Klauke

Secretary

Julian works in the Mediation and Dialogue Support Programme of the Berghof Foundation and has dedicated much of his professional and voluntary life to supporting international exchange, understanding and peace processes. He joined the Melton Foundation in 2011 and has since founded Project Narratives, a peace-building initiative that uses the medium of personal documentaries to foster empathy between conflict parties. Julian holds a B.Sc. in Psychology from the University of Jena and an M.A. in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Marburg

Pia Obro

Pia Obro joined the Melton Foundation in 2003. She was originally trained as a dentist at Universidad de La Frontera and later pursued an MBA from the University of Rochester and an MPH from Columbia University. She has international experience in healthcare consulting, healthcare management and higher education. She is currently a Healthcare Operations Manager at DaVita Kidney Care in the New York City Metro Area.

Ricardo Herrera Lara

Alongside his role as a senior advisor to the Rector and CEO for Institutional Performance Agreements at Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile, Ricardo is also consultant for Higher Education and Advanced Human Resources Development Programs at CONICYT (Chile´s National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research). He previously served as Head of the Teaching and Instruction Office, Head of the Accreditation Office, Head of the International Cooperation Office, Acting Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and General Secretary; all posts at Universidad de La Frontera, Chile. He holds a MA and Ph.D. in Anthropology from University of Illinois, a Professional Title in Anthropology from Universidad de Chile, and a BA in Philosophy and Social Sciences from Universidad Austral de Chile.

Pedro Poblete Lasserre

Vice Chair

Pedro is a social scientist and engineer interested in the use of IT for social development, Human Rights, and international aid and cooperation. He works as a freelancer for NGOs and other non-profits, developing better technologies that support their missions. Currently, Pedro is associated with the Indigenous Rights and Resource Governance Research Group from Laurier University (Canada), developing online resources for promoting Indigenous Rights, and he is also involved in a Melton Fellows-driven project that promotes sex education in refugees settled in Germany. He has previously worked in multiple NGOs and research institutions in Chile, Canada, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Uganda. He holds a Master of Science in Human-Technology Interaction from Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands) and a Bachelor in Social-Community Psychology from Universidad de la Frontera (Chile).

Qiang Lu

Qiang Lu currently is assistant dean at ZJU-UIUC Institute, a partnership between Zhejiang University and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is mainly in charge of academic affairs and student affairs at the institute and also as major coordinator for undergraduate studies between the two universities. Prior to this, he had been the director of information and test center at Undergraduate School, and director for graduate studies at the College of Civil Engineering and Architecture in Zhejiang University for many years. He is specialized in numerical computation and simulation for hydraulic structures, computer programming and database implementation, etc. He has served as a member of the Melton Foundation’s faculty team at Zhejiang University for nearly 20 years.

Torunn Meighan

Treasurer

Torunn Meighan is Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of the Melton Foundation. Prior to working for the Melton Foundation, she was the Corporate Controller for Molson Breweries USA in Reston, Virginia from 1990 to 1995, and was the Corporate Accounting Manager for Guinness USA in New York City from 1984 to 1995. Prior to that, she worked in public accounting. Torunn has a B.S. in marketing and statistics from the Norwegian School of Management in Oslo, Norway, and a MBA in accounting from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration in Bergen, Norway.

Winthrop Carty

Executive Director (Ex Officio)

Winthrop Carty
Executive Director (Ex Officio)
The Melton Foundation
Cambridge, MA, USA

Henrika Amoafo

Junior Fellow Representative

Henrika Amoafo
Junior Fellow (Non Voting Representative)
Ashesi University College
Greater Accra, Ghana

Winthrop Carty

Executive Director

At the Melton Foundation since 2006, Winthrop has led the development of a global citizenship program and expansion of its worldwide network of partners and collaborators. He also initiated the “Leveraging Networks for Impact” roundtable series, supported activities for MIT D-Lab’s Practical Impact Alliance, and is active in the New England International Donors community and the Wellbeing Project Ecosystem. Winthrop co-founded the Innovations Journal (MIT Press) in 2005 and served as its case studies editor until 2012. At the Harvard Kennedy School, he led the effort to build a global network of Ford innovation award programs and authored numerous articles and case studies on social innovation. He holds an M.Ed. from Harvard University and a B.A. in Political Science from Boston University.

Winthrop is fluent in three languages and relishes collaborating with the full spectrum of humanity. Many things fire up his neurons, from music to cooking for his family. He balances all this excitement with forays into nature.

Torunn K. Meighan

Chief Financial Officer

Torunn is responsible for the Foundation’s internal and external financial reporting, budgeting, treasury, taxes, legal affairs, and governance and compliance requirements. Prior to working for the Melton Foundation, she was the Corporate Controller for Molson Breweries USA in Reston, Virginia from 1990 to 1995 and was the Corporate Accounting Manager for Guinness USA in New York City from 1984 to 1995. Prior to that, she worked in public accounting. Torunn has a B.S. in marketing and statistics from the Norwegian School of Management and a MBA in accounting from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration.

Torunn is a rising French student, always looking for opportunities to travel to France.

Patricia Ortiz

Director of Operations

Patricia joined the Melton Foundation in 1996 as a Fellow. She is a Physical Education teacher and graduated from Universidad de la Frontera in Temuco, Chile. After graduation she worked in a private school teaching elementary and middle school students. She coached high school track and field for four years in Chile and then moved to Honduras, where she worked for two years as a volunteer teacher in an orphanage with at-risk children. After a short time in Oregon (USA), Patricia began working for the Melton Foundation in various capacities and currently serves as Director of Operations.

Patricia finds that running is a joy and a great way to discover beautiful landscapes for her other hobby – photography.

Lars Dietzel

Director of Strategy

Lars first joined the Melton Foundation as a Fellow in 2002 and has supported the Melton Foundation in numerous capacities ever since, first as a volunteer and since 2011 as part of the Melton Foundation staff, where he currently serves as Director of Strategy.

Prior to joining our team, he served as a community worker in cross-community centers in Belfast (Norther Ireland). Lars also worked at Culture et Expression, an organization dedicated to supporting migrants in Le Luc en Provence (France), and he was part of the senior management team of one of the biggest international summer schools in the UK. He holds a M.A. in Education Science and Languages from Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz and Friedrich Schiller University, Jena (Germany).

Lars loves to try different foods and digests them by playing music, riding a bike or having conversations with friends and family. A glass of wine doesn’t hurt either.

Alafia Stewart

Learning Director

Alafia coordinates the Learning Program for the New Fellows and Junior Fellows of the Melton Foundation. She is also a Senior Fellow who joined the foundation in 2006. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from Dillard University, New Orleans, an M.B.A in Human Resources from Universidad Interamericana, Puerto Rico.

An Oakland California native, Alafia is a social activist, entrepreneur and educator. When not community organizing, she can most likely be found singing karaoke and/or trying all the amazing food the San Francisco bay area has to offer. Alafia lives by the motto: “2+2=4, but so does 3+1. There is almost never just one way to solve a problem so diversity in perspective is vital.”