Dear friends,

As we jump into the summer, we have some staff changes to share with you. To begin, we'd like to introduce Melissa McMahon, our new hire and Director of Marketing and Advancement.

Melissa is a native New Englander, but has lived in the Bay Area for the past 10 years. She studied English at U.C. Berkeley and swiftly moved in to the marketing world, beginning her career in web-based advertising. While she enjoyed her work, it never ignited a passion that she was searching for in her life and career, so she took a year off to focus on writing and travel.

During this sabbatical she realized that her time volunteering with youth through a local organization was where her interests and passions reside. She found The Forgotten International and was moved by our vision and mission and the opportunity to be a voice for the voiceless.  To her, there was no better team for her to be a part of, and she looks forward to supporting TFI in every way.

As Melissa joins TFI, we sadly say good-bye to Marcel Valente, a dedicated member of our staff for the past 10 years. Since the beginnings of TFI, Marcel has been our "Jack of all trades." Among his varied tasks, Marcel has maintained TFI's computers and media, helped Tom craft his presentations to the community, and was even a driver for Robert Kennedy, Jr. when he was a guest speaker for TFI's event in 2012. 

Marcel helped create TFI's "The Work We Do" video which was shown at our Joy of Giving event in 2009 to over 300 people, including our honored guest His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. He also crafted the video showing our delivery of needed goods to an orphanage in Peru called Sagrada Familia. Over the years, Marcel has performed countless duties for TFI, always with good humor and a helpful attitude. We will certainly miss him in the office, but we wish him the very best in his future endeavors!