supports Leaders ...to develop sustainable villages
Supports leaders to Develop sustainable villages
Supports leaders to develop Sustainable villages
Dao Yang, generally known as Dr. Yang Dao, is a Hmong gentleman from Laos. He received his Ph.D. in social science from the Sorbonne, University of Paris, France, in 1972.
Kingdom of Laos. After the takeover of Laos by the communists in May 1975, Dr. Yang immigrated to France, where he served in a variety of educational and journalistic capacities in Paris. Since 1983, he has lived in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, where he has been on the staff of the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and the College of Liberal Arts, on the faculties of Hamline University and Metropolitan State University. In 1994, he joined the Board of Administration at the Saint Paul Public Schools in Saint Paul, Minnesota, when he successively worked as a Southeast Asian Culture Specialist, an Assistant Director in the English Language Learner Department and Director of the Multi-Language Communications Office in the Communications and Public Information Department. From 1994 to 2005, he was also on the Board of Directors of the Saint Paul Foundation and on the Board of Trustees of the Science Museum of Minnesota. Finally, he is a retired professor at the Department of Asian Cultures and Literatures of the University of Minnesota, U.S.A.., and today Dr. Yang is a consultant on South-East Asia educations, cultures and traditions. Dao Yang is the Laos Country leader for Lift Kids. From July 1972 to 1974, he headed the Human Resource Department of the Ministry of Planning in the Lao Royal Government. In April 1974, he was appointed by H.M. King Sisavang Vatthana to the National Political Consultative Council (Laotian National Congress)
Abdimalik Askar’s odyssey from Somalia to Minnesota and back to Somalia took 15 years and many stops along the way. When civil war erupted in Somalia in1991, the Askar family fled to Kenya where they spent two years in a refugee camp. Abdimalik was 17 at the time. In 1993, his aunt brought the family to San Diego. For the past year, Abdimalik has been the outreach coordinator for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU). In that capacity, he works with the 11-college Metro Alliance to develop programs, events and workshops that bring minority, low-income and non-traditional high school students into the colleges and help retain them until they graduate. He is also working on a documentary based on a recent trip to Somalia with a film crew and several MnSCU faculty and administrators. Abdimalik is the Somalia country leader for Lift Kids.
Ms. Yasukawa has more than twenty five years of experience in the fields of architecture, planning and education. She has worked as an architectural designer and project manager in both Argentina and in the U.S.
and her portfolio includes projects in North America, South America and Europe. Her portfolio also includes LEED and Sustainability consulting for different types of projects. She has taught architectural design as a member of the faculty of the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba in Argentina and has served as an invited critic to the thesis students at Cal Poly Pomona. She is currently associated with University of California Irvine and Cal State University Fullerton on their Sustainability Education programs. Ms. Yasukawa has been honored with three AIA Design Awards for her work on University Campuses and Urban Landscape. She has founded YCC International LLP, and she is presently a Principal in the firm.Ms Yasukawa was one of the Founders of the United States Green Building Council-Orange County Chapter in 2003 and is presently serving as the Advisory Chair and National Liaison for the Chapter. She is the World Green Building Council Special Representative for Latin America and one of the Founding Members of the Argentina Green Building Council. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Egyptian Green Building Council. She is also the leader for Lift Kids in Argentina and Education Director for Lift Kids Global Study.
Ram Krishnan is a 1967 graduate of IIT Madras. When the campus decided to take an extended summer vacation due to severe water shortage, he arrived in the campus 4 days after hearing about the water crisis. Prof. P.V. Indiersan, a past Director of IIT Madras and his wife Jaya, had visited Ram in Minneapolis (USA) 1 year earlier and introduced him to the concept of Rain water harvesting (RWH). Ram is an active member of India's Development Coalition of America (IDCA). As a volunteer with CARE International, Ram supports various Global Poverty issues by CARE. Ram and his wife, Nayana, have lived in the US for over 35 years. He founded and operated a Logistics Consulting company for 15 years in the US. Born in Trivandrum, schooled in Madras, Delhi and Bombay, he completed his Engineering studies in IIT Madras. He is quite active in the IIT alumni activities and is the past President of IITM alumni group in the USA. Ram Krishnan is committing his next 4+ years to work for sustainable and scalable projects in the villages of India, where about 800million people live and earn less than Rs 100per day. Ram is the India country leader for Lift Kids and Lift Kids’ global water harvesting expert.
All Lift Kids Village Projects are led by people of that country, culture and community. Our leaders posses varied backgrounds of experience and professional excellence within scientific, social, government, and ecological disciplines providing a diverse wealth of expertise. In keeping with our philosophy of sharing best practices, our leaders confer with each other and others to ensure open and sensible project planning.