Our Team

Ralph became the President & CEO of Assist International in May 2015. He served as the Vice President of Assist International from June 2011 until being named President.
He is passionate about bringing partners together to address the needs of the world’s most vulnerable people. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of children who are victims of poverty and HIV/AIDS, women in the developing world who struggle with raising a family in poverty, and the millions of people who do not have access to basic medical care.

Jim is the Vice President / Director of Program Operations for Assist International. He provides executive program leadership across all focus areas of Assist International.
Jim started volunteering on Assist International projects in 1994 and accepted a full-time position as Vice President of Project Management in 2010. He has developed experience and expertise in a wide variety of international development projects, including global health, safe water, poverty solutions, and orphaned children.
Whether he’s in the mountains of Latin America or the deserts and rainforests of Africa and Southeast Asia, Jim enjoys partnering with local stakeholders in every culture, working to improve the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people.

Dana Hotton is the Director of Finance for Assist International. She has over 20 years of experience in non-profit accounting. Dana has been a part of the Assist International team since 2005. She ensures that the highest internal controls and accounting standards are used to manage donor funds.

Michelle Sudfeld is the Director of Administration / Director of Orphan Programs. Her goal is to see Assist International staff optimize skill sets and opportunities. She is passionate about rescuing Orphaned & Vulnerable children in developing countries, working closely with our in country partners in Africa, Romania and Thailand. In addition to seeing homes and schools built for the many orphaned children in desperate need, her passion is to see our orphan villages viably sustained through donor support and enterprise solutions.

Cheri Reynolds, an attorney, has (re)joined the Assist International team after practicing law for several years, focusing on civil litigation. She is the Director of Program Development, leading the innovation pillar of the Safe Surgery 2020 initiative on behalf of Assist International. She was instrumental in the development of Assist International’s women’s empowerment program and some of its orphaned and abandoned children’s programs.
Cheri is most excited when advocating for those in need and loves to solve problems—especially when the solution brings innovative ideas to alleviate healthcare gaps and poverty inequity. Children always have and always will have her heart, and she is passionate about advocating for their safety and well-being.

Benjin Joshua is the Medical Program Manager at Assist International. He is passionate about driving change in developing countries through strategic partnerships and human-centered program design.
Benjin manages the deployment of medical equipment in low and middle income countries while identifying solutions to improve medical device sustainability. He has helped develop Nuestro Equipo Medico and Mediquip Global, two key healthcare technology management (HTM) related pilot programs funded by GE Foundation. He is also leading the effort to develop a global HTM program for GE Foundation

Tim Reynolds is the Senior Program Manager of Infrastructure. He has led humanitarian projects for the 20 years, overseeing multiples infrastructure projects in the developing world, including Assist International’s orphan villages in Romania and Uganda.

Committed to finding reliable ways to demonstrate program impact, Victoria McKitrick is Assist International’s Monitoring & Evaluation Manager. She helps define key indicators of program success, analyzes data, and creates reports that illustrate progress. She is inspired by using data to develop programs that deliver the most positive social change around the world.

Matt enjoys working with local, in-country partners to help them meet the needs of their communities. He is involved with many Assist International initiatives, including the Atiak Orphan Project, AOET (Aids Orphan Education Trust), Health Facility Medical Equipment Projects, and Project 41- a program that provides bicycle-powered irrigation pumps to poor farmers so that they can grow crops during droughts and dry seasons.

Brian Blazek is the Operations Manager at Assist International. He is passionate about driving global change by bringing aid to the world’s most impoverished people and then assisting them via social entrepreneurship to give them skills, tools and confidence to pull themselves out of poverty.
Brian has direct oversight of all global procurement, inventory management, and logistics of humanitarian aid, including medical equipment, relief goods, and other items related to program support and sustainability. As of July 2016, he has been responsible for the distribution of over 300 shipments of humanitarian aid to 35 countries spread across 5 continents.

Erin joined the Assist International team as a Program Coordinator in 2017. With a background in biomedical engineering, Erin helps develop programs designed to improve access to reliable, quality medical care in developing contexts through BMET training and other healthcare technology management innovations.

Martin is the Warehouse Manager at Assist International. He manages receiving, warehousing, and equipment packing. He ensures that all outgoing shipments meet international shipping requirements.

Edie is the Child Sponsorship Coordinator and joined Assist International in 1998. She is passionate about reaching the lives of orphaned and abandoned children, providing a permanent, loving family so they can grow and develop knowing they are loved and valued. While working at A.I., she has seen these children grow up, develop healthy relationships, complete their educational and vocational goals, and start families of their own.

Trevor Cook is passionate about advancing partnerships to produce positive impacts in the developing world. As Program Coordinator, he tracks Assist International’s programs under the GE Foundation’s Developing Health Globally initiative.

Chase Reynolds joined Assist International full time after almost ten years of volunteering and leading teams on Assist International infrastructure projects. As Safe Surgery 2020 program manager, Chase is responsible for coordinating with partners to implement Safe Surgery 2020 programs. Chase enjoys traveling to other countries and connecting with the local people across personal and professional levels.