About Us

Greater Good Haiti’s mission is to provide schools for basic primary education, as well as environmental sustainability education through school programs, public forums and community based projects in under-served communities.

Our work is supported primarily through donor contributions, and we are a non-profit, charitable organization incorporated in 2010 under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. All contributions, grants and bequests are tax deductible. Our tax identification number is 27-4788130.

Director

Kelly Kobza
Kelly Kobza is the Founding Director of Greater Good Haiti and lives in Anse A Galets on the island of La Gonave in Haiti. She has sixteen years experience teaching at both elementary and middle school in her hometown, Palo Alto, CA. In addition, five years teaching English as a Second Language in Spain. Kelly is an environmental and social justice activist who has worked with organizations such as Bay Area Action (now Acterra), Beyond War and Amnesty International. She earned a Bachelors degree from California Institute of Integral Studies and completed credential course work in education at Notre Dame de Namur University.

Board of Advisors

Peter Drekmeier
Peter Drekmeier is a former Mayor of Palo Alto, CA and has been working as an environmental advocate for the past 25 years. He helped lead two international Earth Day campaigns, and loves traveling in developing countries. Peter co-founded several organizations, including Environmentalists Against War, Bay Area Action (now Acterra), and the Stanford Open Space Alliance. He currently serves as the Bay Area Program Director for the Tuolumne River Trust in San Francisco. Peter has a political science degree from U.C. Berkeley.

Ross Dreyer
Ross Dreyer is an attorney and part-time activist.  He is currently an IP attorney at Google and serves as a trustee of the Marin County Law Library.  Ross was formerly a litigator at Bingham McCutchen and at Brown & Bain (now Perkins Coie), counsel at Imagi Animation Studios, and counsel to Ralph Nader’s campaigns in 2004 and 2008.  He has also served as adjunct faculty at the University of California, Hastings College of Law.  Ross got his start in activism in the anti-Apartheid disinvestment campaign while a student at the University of Texas at Austin.  He received his J.D. from UC Hastings, and attended the UT and Antioch, where he received his B.A.  He lives in Marin with his wife and three cats.

Peter Goggin
Peter Goggin has been a leader in online health since 1995. As vice-president and co-founder of NetHealth, Peter led the development of some of the first vertical health communities online. He has worked as a consultant specializing in the development of online publications and open-source web applications. Peter is currently Vice-President of book publisher, Epicenter Communications, a Partner at Argonaut Ventures, and co-founder of Malaria.com.

Liat Kobza
Liat Kobza is multimedia manager at Stanford Hospital & Clinics, specializing in media relations, video production and social media strategy. Prior to her work at Stanford Hospital, Liat worked on fundraising efforts as the capital campaign coordinator for the Taube Koret Jewish Community Center development project. Liat received her B.A. in International Relations from UC Davis. She lives in Palo Alto with her husband and two children.

Robert Ovetz
Robert Ovetz, Ph.D. currently teaches history, political science and sociology as an adjunct professor at two California community colleges. He has also worked as an ocean policy advocate for several non-governmental organizations including as the executive director of the marine conservation organization Seaflow. His writings have been published in two books published in the UK and Greece as well as by the United Nations, The Ecologist, Z Magazine, Canberra Times, Orlando Sentinel, San Francisco Chronicle, South China Morning Post, UPI, Capital & Class, and Critical Sociology among others. He has appeared on NPR, CNN, Air America, and in BBC.

Susan Stansbury
Susan Stansbury has a passion for projects that address human health, the environment and social equity. Over the past two decades she has been on boards, directed projects and served as Executive Director with non-profits that address these issues. She co-founded the non-profits Bay Area Action in 1990 and Conexions in 2005, and brings many years of experience in non-profit management and grant writing to Greater Good Haiti. In current professional focus is ecological landscaping and school gardens.

Haiti Staff & Volunteers

Jean Max Augustin
Jean Max Augustin was born and raised in Anse A Galets on La Gonave Island in Haiti.  He moved to Port au Prince where he attended University until the January 2010 earthquake. He has worked in construction and as an interpreter for international organizations such as Lemonaide and Wesleyan World Missions. Currently he volunteers with Greater Good Haiti as the Director of Operations. Max is committed to work for the greater good and views this work as a great opportunity to experience community development.  Max’s vision for Pi Gwo Byen Ayiti is to find the place where the community can come together to envision and to create a sustainable life that is independent from international aide.

Michel-Ange Desir
Michel-Ange Desir has been volunteering as Staff Manager with Pi Gwo Byen Ayiti (Greater Good Haiti) since December 2010. He holds a bachelors degree in law and has studied administration. Desir is a dedicated environmentalist who teaches at the middle school level in Anse A Galets, on the island of La Gonave in Haiti. He is the coordinator of a civic organization called M.O.C.I.R.V.E.R.G (Mouvement civic et Revolution verte pour La Gonave). Desir is married and the father of three children.

Carol Felix

Pierre Fritz
Pierre Fritz provides maintenance, security and property management services at Pi Gwo Byen School.  He was raised on the Island of La Gonave, Haiti.  Pierre Fritz is dedicated to the vision and work of Pi Gwo Byen (Greater Good).

Belange Francois
Bellange Francois was born and raised on La Gonave Island in Haiti.  He is an electrical engineer and currently serves as the director of the Mayors office of Anse A Galets on La Gonave, Haiti which he has done since August 2010.  He has served as a volunteer with Greater Good Haiti since September 2011 as logistician.  He is engaged in volunteer work with Greater Good Haiti because he believes in environmental ethics and he is dedicated to working with impoverished children to name just a couple of points.  The Greater Good Haiti organization has an objective to help educate Haitian children and to help Haitians understand the need for reforestation and to protect the environment.

Rose Mani