Bethany Eisenberg

About Bethany Eisenberg

Ms. Eisenberg retired from her Position as VHB’s Director of Stormwater Services to work full time on Guatemalan-run programs working to eliminate the root causes of poverty that result in lack of access to education, clean water, food, jobs, healthcare and the desperate migration of children & families. Projects include emergency care for abused & abandoned children, family counseling & parent training to keep families together, job/skill training, education support, sustainable organic farming, habitat preservation, indigenous land protection, water well production, libraries & medical clinics. If you are looking for a volunteer non-profit where 100% of your donation goes to the projects please look at us : worked here for more than 22 years part time, while also working at VHB in hydrology, stormwater and land engineering and environmental. With 50% of indigenous children suffering from malnutrition and limited access to school, and jobs paying $2 a day, these programs are life and community transforming. Bethany works in the US & Guatemala to help keep children with family, create economies, and futures. Programs are NOT handouts and do not create dependence. They create independence with dignity and respect. Donations are investments in helping others create futures where things like water, school, medicine and a home are not a given and the hurdles to achieve self-sufficiency can literally be insurmountable. Bethany worked for 35 years towards environmental & water protection in the field of hydrology /hydraulics with experience ranging from drainage system design to stormwater sampling & ordinances. Her expertise includes; Low Impact Development, green infrastructure & permeable pavements. She worked with the EPA, municipalities, state agencies, private developers & educational institutions. Work included trainings for water resources engineering and decades volunteering on the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Stormwater Advisory and Recharge Technical Boards developing state & national standards. She volunteered as the Co-Chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers Environmental Water Resources Institute Permeable Pavement Committee for 7 yrs. with a stellar team, designing, managing & editing the ASCE Permeable Pavement Book for design, installation & maintenance. She continues to volunteer working on the update. Bethany has always been dedicated to advancing green engineering practices and carries that forward in her work in Guatemala. Be a part of it! Join Guatemala Aid Fund!

Experience

1. President and Founder

   Guatemala Aid Fund

   Jan 2000 — Present

   Supporting Successful Guatemala Run Programs that Create Futures for Some of the Neediest Kids and Families in the World in their own CountryGuatemala Aid fund is 100% Volunteer Non-Profit dedicated to helping children and families at risk in Guatemala by supporting Guatemalan run sustainable programs focused on long term education, job training, land preservation, food sufficiency and preservation of Indigenous culture. Locally run community programs support early childhood care and continuing support for education for adolescents into adulthood to maximize the probability for self-sufficiency and productive lives. These are some of the neediest children in the world, with an estimated 49% suffering chronic malnutrition. Without these programs education and even minimal health care would be virtually out of reach. These programs are not handouts and the goal is to continue to not only keep the children alive and healthy, but to provide education to aid children as well as caregivers combined with counseling and training so they will have opportunities for employment and a future with dignity as contributing members of their communities. All money raised is sent directly to the Programs we support and we have direct and regular contact. Integral goals of our partner programs include use of the Guatemalan Work Force, sustainable energy and environmental practices, preservation of indigenous languages and cultures, and psychological well being. This is not aid that creates dependency, participation and work is required on the part of the recipients to create permanent change. Your donations are an investment in creating opportunities for those who do not have it to create independent productive lives. The specific Programs we partner with as well as current or pending projects that we support are described on our website: - EMPLOYMENT - ENVIRONMENT - EMPOWERMENT

Education

• Northeastern University

  Civil Engineering Technology

• University of Rhode Island

  Masters Degree, Water Resources

• University of Vermont

  Bachelors, Plant and Soil Science

• University of Rhode Island

  Master's degree

• University of Rhode Island

  Master's degree, Hydrology and Water Resources Science