Jump to: Bahia Street Staff | Boards of Directors | International Advisory Committee

Rita Conceição, Bahia Street Center Director

Rita Conceição, an anthropologist and professional photographer, grew up in a shantytown of Salvador. Her personal struggles and journey give her the depth of understanding that makes Bahia Street such a success in its programs. She is a graduate of the Federal University of Bahia and has worked as a political photographer and video technician, among other jobs. She continues to be involved in civic activism and community research projects related to the African-Brazilian experience in Salvador. Ms. Conceição directs Bahia Street Brazil and the Bahia Street Center and works in partnership with Seattle staff in the design and implementation of study trips and academic programs in Brazil.  She won the World of Children Humanitarian Award in 2008 and the Ivy Inter-American Award in 2009.  Rita Conceição’s biography

Sandie “Sofia” Zieve, International Director

Sandie “Sofia” Zieve has lived in Salvador for extended periods between 2007 and 2011. While there, she taught English to the girls and staff at the Bahia Street Center.  Prior to becoming the international director, Sofia served on the Bahia Street U.S. board between 2009 and 2011. Over the years she has collaborated with Rita, and gotten to know the students and the center itself. Sofia is inspired by the impact that the center has made on the lives of the girls and on the local community. Sofia earned her master’s in physical therapy from Columbia University. She is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish. She taught English as a second language to Hispanic adults in Boston, volunteered at Casa Latina in Seattle, and was a delegate to the 2006 Global Microcredit Summit in Nova Scotia. Sofia has two children living and studying on the east coast. She enjoys playing tennis, salsa dancing and traveling.

BAHIA STREET STAFF

SALVADOR, BAHIA, BRAZIL

Bahia Street Center Director Rita Conceição has a staff of five people, as well as five interns, who look after all aspects of running Bahia Street as a comprehensive learning and community center. Lead staff include:

Arlete Ferreira: Administrative Coordinator

Manuela Barbosa: Academic Coordinator

Juliana Santos: Secretary

Photo: Rita (center) with key staff members.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES

Sabine Parrish, U.S. Program Manager

Sabine joined Bahia Street in the summer of 2011.  She is a senior at the University of Washington, working on a B.A. in Anthropology, with a linguistic concentration in Portuguese.

LEAD VOLUNTEERS, SEATTLE

Bebe Besch, Design Volunteer

Bebe Besch, a Seattle graphic design student, designed our 2010 annual report and continues to support Bahia Street’s various fundraisers & events.

Ed Grinslade, Technology Support

BOARDS OF DIRECTORS

Bahia Street US

Moshe Hecht, President

Mo Hecht is an educator with a strong interest in supporting community programs that benefit underserved populations. He currently serves as the Rainier Community Center coordinator in south Seattle and has worked for many years with disadvantaged youth.

Joyce Mork-O’Brien, Secretary

Joyce Mork-O’Brien is a freelance grantwriter, knowledgeable about the non-profit world and funders.  She is active with the Puget Sound Grantwriters Association where she chairs the Advanced Training and Institute Committee. Joyce has served on the Bahia Street Board for over ten years, most recently as board president. She lives in the Beacon Hill area in south Seattle, is married, has a 27-year-old son, and hails from the cold midwestern state of Minnesota.

Ann Vu Loveridge, Treasurer

Ann Vu Loveridge was born in Vietnam and moved to the Pacific Northwest when she was 8 years old. She is an artist, an entrepreneur, and more importantly, an educator. She is a first generation college student who received her BA in Interdisciplinary Arts and her M Ed. in Adult Education. She now works at the University of Washington’s Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity TRiO Student Support Services program helping low-income, first-generation, and/or disabled student succeed in their educational goals. In May 2008, she had the opportunity to participate in the UW Brazil study abroad program “Society, Equality, and Change” in conjunction with Bahia Street. She connected with Brazil, Salvador, the culture, Rita, and the girls. She saw the impact of Bahia Street first hand and is excited to be a part of the organization.

Margaret Willson, board member, Bahia Street co-founder

Margaret Willson, a widely respected anthropologist, spent many years living in the shantytowns of Salvador, an experience that gave her the knowledge to co-found Bahia Street in 1996 with Rita Conceição. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the London School of Economics and has taught in Britain, Holland, Greece and the United States, as well as in Brazil. She launched Bahia Street study trips in 2001.  Dr. Willson published Dance Lest We All Fall Down: Breaking Cycles of Poverty in Brazil and Beyond (University of Washington Press) in 2010. Her work has been recognized recently in Washington State: she received the Thomas C. Wales Award for Passionate Citizenship in 2007 and the Jefferson Award for Public Service in 2008.  Margaret served as Bahia Street’s international director from 1997-2011.

Melanie Wyffels, board member/ Bahia Street Study Trip Leader

Melanie has worked with international education most of her professional life. She has been involved in cultural projects in Brazil and ESL exchange programs in the US for the last fifteen years. Melanie was born to a family of renowned educators in Brazil and since her earliest age has been exposed to the challenges of education and, as a result, to some very creative solutions derived from the countless educational and political reforms in that country. She is fluent in Portuguese and English and has extensive experience in intercultural communication.

Bahia Street Trust (UK)

The Bahia Street Trust is a registered U.K. charity with an all-volunteer board of directors. The Trust maintains its own website.

  • Susie De Paolis
  • Alex, Earl of Uxbridge
  • Nick Emley
  • Nadine Grieve

Bahia Street Center (Brazil)

The Bahia Street Center in Salvador, Brazil, is a registered non-profit in Brazil with its own board of directors. All of Bahia Street’s Brazilian directors come from backgrounds much like the girls Bahia Street serves.

  • Rita Conceição
  • Valdecir Nasimento
  • Francis Texeira

International Advisory Committee

Bahia Street created its International Advisory Committee in 2006 to provide broad-based support for Bahia Street around the world.

  • Bobbi Ballas (Sydney, Australia)
  • Robert Barclay (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
  • Robert Bonzejar-Flears (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
  • Peter Gow (St. Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom)
  • Don Kulick (New York, United States)
  • Maaike Verrips (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
  • Connie Wong (Seattle, United States)