PULSERA STAFF
Chris Howell, Co-Founder
In addition to working with teachers across the country to coordinate pulsera sales, Chris heads the project’s educational mission in the U.S. He leads the project’s Educational Committee and has collaborated with Spanish teachers to develop the videos, activities, and lessons that we offer to all schools hosting pulsera sales.
Chris also plans and co-leads the teacher trips to Central America with Evan Durand. He wrote & developed the project’s core educational values, and is developing a guide that further examines the lessons we’ve learned over the past decade. He also manages inventory, films & edits the project’s growing video collection, and develops new initiatives for teachers to see the work we do in Nicaragua & Guatemala firsthand.
Colin Crane, Co-Founder
Colin led one of the first-ever pulsera sales while still attending American University in D.C. in 2010 and has been working to build and expand the Pulsera Project ever since.
Colin handles a wide range of essential tasks in the project, from creating all of our visual branding & design materials to managing the website and social media, coordinating pulsera sales with hundreds of teachers and university students each year, handling much of our U.S. accounting, co-creating all of our educational videos, acting as resident photographer, sending out retail orders, attending state & national language conferences, and getting covered in paint making our colorful sale folders and tri-fold displays.
Jillian Bonner, U.S. Administrator
Jillian joined the U.S. Operations team in 2013 to develop Spanish curriculum when the educational program was in its infancy. She has collaborated with teachers during trips to Nicaragua and the Educational Committee to grow this integral part of the project. She is proud to have watched the educational mission of The Pulsera Project come to fruition and to have enriched K-12 Spanish classrooms in all 50 states.
Jillian coordinates pulsera sales with teachers and students across the U.S., packs and ships every pulsera box, counts through mountains of pulseras, attends regional World Language conferences and takes care of the Pulsera mascot, Kennedy.
Evan Durand
Regional Director
Evan is originally from Athens, Ohio but settled in Granada, Nicaragua over a decade ago. Over the years he’s been an entrepreneur, project manager and bicultural consultant for individuals and business. In addition to spending time with his family, he currently serves as the director of our operations in Nicaragua and Guatemala.
While in the past Evan worked directly with artists and partner organizations, his latest role is developing and supporting our local team to manage operations. He also leads student and teacher trips, helps guide our strategy in the region, and spends time investigating high-impact organizations for the Pulsera Project to partner with!.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Cathy McCauley
Cathy McCauley is the newest addition to the Pulsera Project's Board of Directors, joining us at the end of 2022.
Cathy has taught Bilingual, ELL and AP/IB Spanish courses over her 30 year career. She has worked with the Pulsera Project for over 10 years and has participated in two of the teacher trips to Central America, connecting with pulsera artisans and partner groups in both Nicaragua and Guatemala.
She has also represented the project at the AZLA and CLTA foreign language conferences on the project's behalf.
Sue Patterson, Co-Founder
Sue is the project's wonder-woman accounting guru, and handles all of the project's financial tasks! She works as a volunteer and dedicates hundreds of hours to the project on top of her full-time work as a software support team-leader for Ellucian.
Sue has been part of the project's unpaid staff since 2009, keeping track of school sales and Nicargua projects along with mountains of receipts. When Sue's sunny disposition isn't visiting the project's many artisans or educational partners, she and her husband Chris are scouting the Nicaraguan outback looking for new student trip adventures.