LtCol. Dave Greenlees, USMC (Ret.)

Founder and Executive Director

Dave was born in Winfield, Illinois and was raised in Pontiac, Michigan. He graduated from The George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice in 1992 and was later commissioned as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. He is a Life Loyal member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and proud to be an Epsilon man. David remained on active duty as an artillery officer until 1999 when he transferred to the Marine Corps Reserve. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in 2002. Since that time, his diverse legal career includes service as a San Diego Deputy District Attorney, an intellectual property litigation associate with the law firm Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch, and notably as the Chief Senate Legal Counsel to the 7th Olbiil Era Kelulau in the Republic of Palau. In 2008, David opened a solo law practice in Michigan providing defense counsel to indigent clients in his hometown. David is licensed to practice law in California, Michigan, and Washington, D.C.

From 2009 to 2013, he served as the operations officer in the Marine Corps’ Office of Legislative Affairs where he planned and executed the Marine Corps’ legislative strategy in the U.S. Congress and frequently escorted Members of Congress on overseas delegation travel throughout Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. David retired from the Marine Corps in 2016 after 24 years of service.

A raconteur, music lover, and jet-lag addict, David has traveled to 51 countries on 5 continents. His passion is helping others and spending time with his family.

Lydia Greenlees

Board Member, Secretary, and Treasurer

Lydia was born in Jackson, Mississippi and spent most of her childhood in Pascagoula. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Mississippi State University in 1987 and works in the field of biotechnology.

Lydia began her career in science at the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR), served as a Research Associate with Genetic Therapy, Inc. (GTI) from 1988 to 1993 and spent two years with the Laboratory of Cell Biology in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). A move to the West Coast took her to the biotechnology firm of Selective Genetics (SGTx), where she utilized her molecular biology expertise in a variety of gene therapy programs, including nerve regeneration, dermal wound healing and musculoskeletal studies.

One of the highlights of Lydia’s career was participating in the Grand Challenges in Global Health program through a grant awarded Neurome, Inc/UC Riverside by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Under the guidance of her principal investigator, she contributed to research aimed at developing a needle-free mucosal vaccine delivery system to be utilized by developing nations. Realizing her research might directly benefit those with extraordinary need and few resources was tremendously fulfilling and instilled within her a desire to work abroad or contribute to research that would benefit others around the globe.

Selected for a six-month Centers for Disease Control (CDC) contract to coordinate the set up and operation of the Palau Food Microbiology Laboratory, Lydia established laboratory tests for foodborne pathogens, developed specimen handling procedures and quality assurance guidelines, prepared a laboratory manual and trained local staff. Lydia’s Palau experience was a monumental opportunity in her career, for which she is extremely grateful.

After returning to the United States, Lydia contributed to new product development for Oxford Biomedical Research in Rochester Hills, MI and is currently employed with MedImmune in Gaithersburg, MD, where she studies the role of microRNA in disease.

Lydia loves spending time with her family working on craft projects, listening to music, attending plays, traveling and spending time outdoors. She enjoys kayaking, cycling, snorkeling, camping and hiking. Lydia looks forward to tackling some of the world’s toughest challenges by helping those in need both at home and abroad.

Dr. Sarice Boston

Board Member

Sarice was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. Her curiosity sparked an interest in science at a young age and she knew by the seventh grade that she wanted to be a scientist. Her parents were supportive and encouraged her interest in science even as she headed to college. Sarice received a Bachelors of Science in Biology from Northeastern Illinois University and started work as a clinical trial coordinator at Rush University Medical Center. This research position reminded Sarice of her desire to help others through science leading to her completion of a Master’s of Science in Medical Sciences with a concentration in Pharmacology from the University of South Florida (USF). At USF her work in brain cancer as well as the loss of family members to this debilitating disease led her to pursue interest in cancer drug discovery research. She went on to complete her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Maryland Baltimore. This path has allowed Sarice to use her knowledge and skills to help those suffering from cancer by learning more about the disease as well as identify new ways to target it for treatment.

Colin Crawford

Board Member

Colin is the 24th dean of the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville.

Prior to coming to Brandeis, Dean Crawford served as the Robert C. Cudd Professor of Environmental Law at Tulane University Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana. At Tulane, Dean Crawford also directed the university’s multi-disciplinary graduate and undergraduate Development Studies programs. In that capacity, he also taught undergraduate courses in the School of Liberal Arts.

Before Tulane, Dean Crawford was a tenured member of the faculty at Georgia State University College of Law in Atlanta, where he founded and co-directed the Center for the Comparative Study of Metropolitan Growth, which has developed new models for field-based education in comparative environmental and land use law.

Dean Crawford has lectured and published widely in the U.S. and abroad, concentrating his work especially in Latin America. He is a faculty associate at an interdisciplinary graduate program offered by four top universities in Rio de Janeiro. He regularly teaches comparative environmental law and policy courses at both the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and at the University of the Andes, in Bogotá, Colombia. In the Spring 2017 semester, he was resident at the University Carlos III in Madrid, Spain, as the holder of the UC3M-Santander Chair of Excellence. Dean Crawford also visited Bucerius Law School, in Hamburg, Germany, as the Max Kade Visiting Professor. He has also lectured and taught in China, Cuba, France, Japan, Panama and South Korea, and was a Fulbright scholar in the Dominican Republic.

As a scholar, his work concentrates on comparative environmental and land use law and policy, with a special focus on the social and urban implications of environmental and land use planning choices. Dean Crawford is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese and has a working knowledge of French. He has a law degree from Harvard Law School and degrees in modern history from Cambridge and Columbia Universities. He was admitted to practice law in the State of New York.

Dr. Kim Hiatt

Board Member

Kim was born on a dairy farm in New York, but spent most of her formative years in the suburbs of Washington DC. She spent a year as an exchange student in Norway before heading off to college. She got her Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from the University of Maryland and then worked at Kirkegaard and Perry Labs in the antibody purification division. A job change to research at Genetic Therapy, Inc was instrumental in influencing her desire to better understand human disease. She left there to pursue more education. She received her Master’s degree in Physiology from Georgetown University and went on to complete her medical studies at Georgetown University School of Medicine. With an interest in research and human disease, specializing in pathology was the obvious next step. After completing residency in Anatomical and Clinical Pathology at Georgetown University Hospital and University of Maryland Medical Systems, she went on for fellowship training in Dermatopathology at Johns Hopkins University. For the next decade, she was a dermatopathologist on the faculty of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences where she enjoyed the warmer climate and getting away from the congestion of the big city. As a faculty member, Dr. Hiatt taught medical students, pathology residents and dermatology residents, mentored students with interests in skin disease and wrote original research papers, text books and chapters. She has been invited to lecture locally, nationally and internationally. In 2012, Dr. Hiatt left the university to open her own Dermatopathology laboratory where she quickly learned the world of small business ownership.

When not working, Kim enjoys cooking and being outside hiking, biking and gardening. But above all, she enjoys time spent with her husband, 4 children, granddaughter and multitude of dogs and cats that choose her family to be theirs.

Linda Meredith

Board Member

Linda is a mother, wife, and environmental scientist. She graduated from Occidental College in Los Angeles with a degree in chemistry. She is currently a senior environmental scientist with Leidos, Inc. and works primarily in support of the Department of Defense to clean up hazardous waste at military installations. She conducts risk assessments to support decisions concerning cleanup of sites, develops risk-based remedial action objectives and cleanup goals, provides analysis for the selection of remedial alternatives, and evaluates residual risk following remediation efforts. Together with her husband Dave, she has three children – a son who is a recent college graduate, a daughter in college, and a daughter in high school. Linda has been a very active community volunteer – e.g., Girl Scout leader, marching band concessions lead and pit crew member, and orchestra treasurer. She loves playing and listening to music and has had the fortune to travel to many countries – most recently to Haiti with Trellis Arch! She became a passionate supporter of Trellis Arch after getting to know Dave and Lydia and learning about their work.

Dave Meredith

Board Member

Dave is a Senior Vice President at Project Enhancement Corporation, an environmental and security services firm supporting the Department of Energy and other agencies. He has broad experience in environmental project management, budget and program analysis, requirements analysis and program planning. For the past 25 years, Dave has primarily focused on management of radioactive waste and cleanup of environmental contamination resulting from 50 years of nuclear weapons research and development. After graduating from UCLA with a degree in biology, Dave took a job at a private geochemistry research and consulting firm, where he became manager of the geochemistry laboratory. It was here that he hired Linda, then an eager new college graduate landing her first job in her field, now his wife of 27 years and mother of their three wonderful children. Dave enjoys travel with his family and maintaining long family traditions, most especially hosting the annual family Thanksgiving celebration for 27 years and running. He has also enjoyed many volunteer opportunities over the years in support of his children’s activities, especially scouting and marching band. With those winding down a bit, Dave is now very much looking forward to new adventures with Linda focused on service opportunities.

Kervens Michel

Haiti Country Director

Kervens runs our entire Haiti program and is based in Miami, Florida where he maintains our warehouse of school supplies, medical equipment, clothing, food, and bottled water for shipment to Haiti.