Our Team
Bangladesh Trust
Amna Rahman
Chair
Amna is a retired school teacher and has been living in Bangladesh for the past 33 years. She was born in India, a descendant from the ancient Rajput Suryavanshi warrior Bargujar clan.
Arsalan Ali
Vice Chair
Arsalan is a Bangladeshi national. He attended Shrewsbury School in the UK followed by an undergraduate degree at University College London in construction management.
Sadia Moyeen
Senior Advisor
Sadia lives in Bangladesh. Sadia was born and raised in India. She married a banker and moved about the Far East before coming back to Bangladesh. Sadia operates a beauty business and has been writing a beauty-related column for Dhaka’s Daily Star newspaper for over a decade.
Executive Committee
Gina Gabel
Co-founder and Interim President, Thrive Global
Gina received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from John Carroll University and master’s degree in special education (LD) from Michigan State University.
Amna Rahman
Vice President, Thrive Bangladesh
Amna is a retired school teacher and has been living in Bangladesh for the past 33 years. She was born in India, a descendant from the ancient Rajput Suryavanshi warrior Bargujar clan.
Cristina Imperial Carl
Vice President, Thrive Philippines
Cristina Imperial Carl, graduated from Yale University and built a career in the hospitality industry. She is the CEO of Worldwide Internships Philippines. Her company specializes in creating life-changing experiences abroad for university students and young graduates through professional internships. The organization aims to give young professionals the tools and opportunities to get international experience, and a chance to live abroad.
She partners with purpose-driven organizations such as “Give Life” where she and her company offer assistance and provide scholarships to underprivileged students. She lends a lot of her time by helping students attain their goals of international travel and training, and by providing them career advice.
Rebecca Arnold
Secretary
Rebecca is a global public health professional specializing in health communication and behavior change. She worked for Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs and has a master of public health degree in community and behavioral health. This active Rotarian and her 16-year-old son have lived in Bangladesh from 2012-15. Rebecca is originally from Rock Island, Illinois – home of The Blues Brothers! She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Madagascar and has lived and worked in Tanzania, Indonesia, and Turkey.
Board
Arsalan Ali
Arsalan is a Bangladeshi national. He attended Shrewsbury School in the UK followed by an undergraduate degree at University College London in construction management.
Kanwal Bhagat
Kanwal has an undergraduate degree in physics and a postgrad in computer science. She’s lived in Dhaka for the last 17 years with her husband and two teenage boys. A wearer of many hats she’s worked in banking, as the registrar of American International School of Dhaka and, most recently, as an entrepreneur.
Priscilla Heffelfinger
Co-founder & Executive Director
Priscilla moved to Dhaka in 2012. Her A-ha! moment? It came unexpectedly when she and her friends felt genuine joy at seeing the impact made by giving a banana to a hungry child. Priscilla feels crazy lucky that Thrive took root; she can’t imagine a better way to spend her time than by helping Thrive thrive. Having worked in the development sector for more than 20 years, Priscilla visits Bangladesh and the Philippines, and keeps an ear out for other in need of food. When not handing out bananas you’ll catch her hiking with her family of six. Make her day: Ask how you can join Thrive.
Get in touch with Priscilla!
Sadia Moyeen
Sadia lives in Bangladesh. Sadia was born and raised in India. She married a banker and moved about the Far East before coming back to Bangladesh. Sadia operates a beauty business and has been writing a beauty-related column for Dhaka’s Daily Star newspaper for over a decade.
Vance Muñoz
Vance also served on the Graduate School Advisory Board at Northeastern University and participated in their Mentoring Program. While at Nike, he co-founded their Hispanic Caucus and was a founding member of Nike’s Summer Internship Program focused on minority students.
Jack Perry
specializes in high-stakes litigation and regulatory compliance matters across a broad array
of sectors.
When not at the office, he spends his time cheering on his three children and going on long
walks with his wife, Missy.
Lisa Skylar
Debbie Pfeifer
Debbie is a communications consultant with more than 25 years of experience helping companies with media relations, corporate positioning, and community relations. She began her career at a Los Angeles-based public relations agency, headed communications at companies including PowerBar and Wesabe, and served as a consultant for numerous start-ups and established corporations. She has volunteered and provided strategic counsel for nonprofits focused on literacy, gender equality, and education. She is a board member of the Community Foundation Serving Southwest Colorado and Durango PlayFest. A recent Colorado transplant, Debbie and her husband enjoy hiking, paddle boarding, and trying to keep up with their twin boys on the ski slopes.
Advisory Council
Mishal Karim
Senior Advisor
With over two decades of experience across multiple continents, also citizen of the UK and Bangladesh. Mishal has extensive investments in agrotech, fintech, digital marketing & PR, as well as renewable energy. This includes a stake holding in Business Research International (BRIC) a global investment company with large holdings in Renata Pharmaceuticals, one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in Bangladesh. A self-made entrepreneur at age 42, his diversified investment portfolio features numerous businesses, each successful in its own right.
Zulfikar Ali
Zulfikar is a Bangladeshi national and a true entrepreneur at heart. He is the Managing Director of Ezzy Group, which is a group of companies spread across several industries. He is also the Honorary Consul of Guatemala in Bangladesh. Besides being an entrepreneurial spirit, he has always been passionate about giving back to the society and supporting everyone around him. For Zulfikar, joining Thrive is a means to direct this passion into creating the most positive impact possible. On a typical day, you will find Zulfikar at one of the three places: at work, at the gym, or at home with his family.
Rose Blanchard
Rose is a public health professional specializing in water, sanitation, and hygiene promotion. She received her master of public health degree in environment and health from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Earlier, she worked for USAID in the Bureau for Global Health and also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in The Gambia, West Africa. While living in Bangladesh for two years, Rose worked for Population Services & Training Center (a local NGO) as a technical adviser for a project focusing on improving environmental health in poor urban communities. This Raleigh, North Carolina, native and her family have since left Bangladesh for Morocco. Rose is an outdoor enthusiast and loves exploring the wonders of the world with her husband and three children.
Kathy Fry
Louie Gabel
Louie, a former federal prosecutor and experienced trial lawyer, is a partner at the international law firm Jones Day. Louie regularly counsels Fortune 500 companies and executives facing government investigations and high-stakes civil litigation. From 2012 to 2013, Louie served as the Resident Legal Advisor to the U.S. Embassy in Bangladesh, where he trained lawyers, judges, and investigators on advance trial skills, anti-money laundering, and the detection and prosecution of terrorist financing. Louie graduated from John Carroll University and obtained his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School. Today, Louie lives in Michigan with his wife and three daughters. He enjoys golf and basketball, and loves taking adventurous trips across the globe with his family.
Leni Hester
Leni is a professional photographer and volunteered with Thrive since she moved to Dhaka in 2015. Though she currently lives in London, she is still involved with Thrive and tries to get back to Dhaka whenever possible.
Shelley King
Shelley is a repeat entrepreneur, strategist and digital marketer experienced in Consumer Goods & Services. She’s spent her career developing products and customer experiences that drive revenue for Fortune 500 clients in the cannabis, retail, communications and media industries. From taking Bravo The Real Housewives on tour across the U.S. to developing employee experiences with McKinsey, Shelley is passionate about solving problems with talented teams. Shelley recently joined Accenture on the Products team in the Atlanta office.
Joe Labriola
Joe is the Executive Director of PAWS in Atlanta. Previously, he served as the Executive Director of Second Helpings Atlanta. Second Helpings Atlanta is a non-profit food rescue organization whose mission is to reduce hunger and food waste in the metropolitan Atlanta area by rescuing surplus food and delivering it to those in need. Prior to joining Second Helpings Atlanta in May 2015, Joe was the Vice President of Product Marketing at PGi, the Chief Marketing Officer at Enterprise Information Management and spent 30 years at IBM before he retired in November 2010.
Anna Monica De Ocampo-Casperino
In 2017, she and her family relocated to the Philippines to be closer to relatives. Her current position at Robinsons Land Corporation is Investor Relations and Lead for Environmental Sustainability.
She earned a degree in Exercise and Sports Science from George Washington University. Monica has worked in the fields of hospitality, health care, real estate, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability.
She enjoys traveling, golfing, and spending time with her husband and three lovely children. Monica is enthusiastic about helping others and transforming their lives.
Farhan Rahman
Farhan is an entrepreneur & professional with a passion for tech startups & socially responsible businesses. With a decade of experience working in Bangladesh, his key areas of focus are in business strategy, fundraising & management consulting, and possesses a keen understanding of innovative youth-centric marketing at scale. Farhan inherited a life-long enthusiasm for philanthropy from his parents & grandparents who have been ardent supporters of various causes particularly with regard to children’s issues such as education, nutrition & healthcare. In his personal time, he enjoys martial arts and useless trivia. He graduated from Bowdoin College in Maine with a degree in Government & Legal Studies specialized in International Relations with a minor in Economics.
Archana Raj
Although she grew up and completed her post graduate studies in Dress Designing in India, Archana has been living in Dhaka with her family for almost 30 years. She originally moved to Dhaka to work with a major apparel company before becoming a brand manager for several multinationals for few years. Eventually, she branched off as an entrepreneur in the same field. In 2017, she and her family moved to New Delhi, but she still goes back to her home in Bangladesh, where her business is located.
“Thrive is a perfect fit not just for my schedule but also in its founding, I can see exactly where my contributions go and the impact that they have. I love that it was founded by mothers who wanted to help children have access to nutrition everyday, and that doing something that’s so small for me can be so big for the kids on the receiving end. Having worked in Bangladesh’s primary industry for so many years I know just how impactful access to meals are for these children.”
Dana Zarzycki
Dana graduated from James Madison College at Michigan State University. She has a background in non profit fundraising in the areas of politics, health research and education, and higher education. She spent nine years living in Australia and Brazil with her husband and son. While in Brazil, she volunteered in a orphanage close to her home, where she snuggled babies and worked with toddlers to develop fine motor skills. Today, she is a photographer living in Michigan.
Team
Priscilla Heffelfinger
Co-founder & Executive Director
Priscilla moved to Dhaka in 2012. Her A-ha! moment? It came unexpectedly when she and her friends felt genuine joy at seeing the impact made by giving a banana to a hungry child. Priscilla feels crazy lucky that Thrive took root; she can’t imagine a better way to spend her time than by helping Thrive thrive. Having worked in the development sector for more than 20 years, Priscilla visits Bangladesh and the Philippines, and keeps an ear out for other in need of food. When not handing out bananas you’ll catch her hiking with her family of six. Make her day: Ask how you can join Thrive.
Get in touch with Priscilla!
Sharmin Sultana Akhi
Operations Manager, Bangladesh
Sharmin Akhi “Akhi” was born and raised in Bangladesh. Akhi received a Master’s in Computer Science at Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka.
Akhi manages Thrive, Bangladesh’s operations and donor support. She works with Direct Fresh to create nutritional menus and to ensure the meals are delivered without fail.
Akhi has always had the intention to help needy people towards the betterment of the world.
Janelle Carlos
Operations Manager, Philippines