Jannelle Wilkins, Treasurer. 
Educator/Administrator

Q/ ¿What motivates you to be a member of the board?
A/ Monteverde has the good fortune to have any number of excellent NGO’s and their work has contributed to make this community the place I want to live.  But all of them struggle and having been a part of an organization, particularly at a time of great financial need, I recognized that we had a valuable resource that wasn’t being fully tapped, tourism.  In fact, tourism was tending toward a more extractive rather than sustainable end.  
When the then Director of CREST (the Center for Responsible Travel), Martha Honey, suggested we begin a program for Travelers’ Philanthropy I saw it as a way for our visitors to begin to give back.  Out of that program, with support from CREST and the Monteverde Institute, and the hard work of Justin Welch as our first Director, the Community Foundation was born.  I was a founding member and have been a member of the Board ever since. 

Q/ For you, what does a sustainable and resilient Monteverde look like, and what role does the MCF play in this process?
A/ We know what we need to do, but we don’t always know how to get there.   Often, we need the will and resources and room to try. The MCF supports those people and projects, both existing and innovative, who are working to maintain the values of solidarity, community, biodiversity, climate resilience, and well-being. Sometimes all we know is that we have to continue to work together to push the envelope forward, to learn from our experiences and adapt to the challenges life throws us.  The FCM provides a fabric for that work, a net of support and interconnectedness that helps us along that road.

Q/ When you are not at work, how do you like to spend your free time?
A/ I love to cook and just spend time at my “finquita” with my chickens, cat and dog, listening to birds and puttering in my garden.  I also love to bird watch and have gotten to know a lot of places around the country by joining the Bird Club of Costa Rica.  Travel has always been one of my greatest passions, so as soon as that is available again, I will be even more grateful for Zoom so I can stay connected from whatever place I happen to be.  

Guillermo Vargas, Substitute Member. 
Forestry Engineer/Educator

Q / What motivates you to be a member of the Board of Directors?
A / It is an organization that responsibly manages the resources it receives and channels to the community. The MCF helps integrate efforts, promotes more joint planning, values ​​the contributions of people, companies and organizations alike. It also motivates me to be on the Board again because the partners and fellow members are people committed to the sustainable development of the community.
Q/ For you, what does a sustainable and resilient Monteverde look like, and what role does the MCF play in this process?
A/ Monteverde will be sustainable and resilient to the extent that we strengthen a comprehensive education, love and care for nature, have mutual collaboration between people, organizations and companies, value physical, mental and emotional well-being over the accumulation of goods. consumption, the care of our children and our young people far above the care for our material properties.
The MCF can be one of the promoters of this concept of sustainability and community resilience. It is a bridge between resources and needs. It does not solve problems or pretend to be considered as a leading organization, but it helps that all together identify and solve their needs, achieve common dreams and feel like main actors of the successes achieved as a community.
Q/ When you are not working, how do you enjoy your free time?
A/ Spending time with my daughters. Working in the garden at Finca Life Monteverde. Greeting the farm animals. Running through the secondary roads of the area. Writing poetry or something similar! Visiting my friends and family.