Presented by: Brian Backe and Andrew Herman
Brian Backe has 40 years of experience as a senior leader and board chair/member in eight different nonprofits, from a local food bank to a five-million-dollar international fair trade enterprise to a global international development organization. Since retiring from Catholic Relief Services, he is found the nonprofit Center for Nonprofit Leadership to provide consulting and coaching with US and African nonprofits in Uganda and Ethiopia. Brian has an MBA from San Francisco State University and BS in Human Resources from the University of Maryland.
Andrew Herman founded Monte Azul in 2018 and has worked extensively in the areas of social entrepreneurship and nonprofit management throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Andrew supported the development of a producers cooperative of coffee growers in rural Dominican Republic and has led a rural development project in El Salvador. Mr. Hermann has been recognized by his alma mater as “One of 12 Xavier Grads Changing the World” for his work in the Dominican Republic. He is a graduate of Xavier University’s Philosophy, Politics, and the Public Undergraduate Program, and holds a Master’s of Arts in Public Affairs from Xavier University. He has served as Executive Director of Monte Azul since 2021.