Staff
HDI — NYC (HQ)
Ralph L. Cwerman, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Co-Founder
Mr. Cwerman is President, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of the Humpty Dumpty Institute. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Muus Asset Management Inc., Senior Vice-President of the United Nations Association
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Joseph Merante, Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Merante is responsible for managing the Institute's strategic relations with the U.S. Government, including the U.S. Congress, the United Nations and its affiliated agencies, and the Institute's broad network of supporters and partners.
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Prior to joining HDI, Mr. Merante, a career U.S. Foreign Service Officer, served in Europe, Africa, and Asia, and his last overseas post was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy to the Vatican. His domestic assignments included both European Affairs and Public Diplomacy. He also served at U.S. Mission to the United Nations from 1986 to 1989, and from 2004 to 2006.
Mr. Merante holds a B.A. in Political Science from Fordham University, a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University, and a M.S. in Resources Management from the National Defense University.
David Prettyman, Chief Strategic Officer
David Prettyman is responsible for overseeing international programs and managing HDI’s new program development efforts. He joined the headquarters office in June 2012 after managing the educational component of HDI’s Safe Educational Opportunities Program in Laos.
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Prior to HDI, Mr. Prettyman with International Relief & Development (IRD) in various positions including Asia Regional Representative, Country Director for Laos and Indonesia; and Deputy Director for Sustainable Food and Agriculture Systems. He has also worked for the AmeriCares Foundation, Project Concern International, CARE, and was a Peace Corps volunteer. His overseas work includes Indonesia, Laos, Papua New Guinea, India, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Romania and Malaysia.
Mr. Prettyman holds a Masters degree in Development Management from the School of International Service at American University and a Bachelors degree in history from Davidson College. He is fluent in Bahasa Indonesia and a native speaker of English.
Kate Moulene, Chief Marketing Officer, Co-Founder Global Creative Forum
Ms. Moulene previously held the position of CEO of Capian Enterprises and also served as West Coast Bureau Chief for InStyle Magazine. Her campaigns and programs have generated over 2 Billion worldwide media impressions and raised tens of millions of dollars for over forty different leading non-profit programs.
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As West Coast Bureau Chief for InStyle Magazine, Ms. Moulene served as the on-air correspondent for NBC’s TODAY Show, and a variety of other media outlets including CNN and Oprah. Her journalistic experience includes reporting for the International Herald Tribune Money Report in Paris.
Michael Blood, Director of Finance
Michael Blood joined HDI in October 2009 as a Program Manager for Mine Action. Prior to HDI, Michael worked for the New York City Office of Management and Budget, the US Mission to the United Nations, and the Texas Lieutenant Governor.
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Michael’s duties are split between programmatic and operational support for the countries in which HDI has landmine eradication programs, and overseeing all budgetary, accounting, and grant compliance requirements for the organization.
Michael spent 4 years living overseas before earning his Master of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas.
Michele’s governmental experience includes progressively responsible positions on the city, state and federal levels most notably the US Department of State where she held the position of Deputy Chief of Protocol at the US Mission to the United Nations. She has also worked internationally for the Government of the Principality of Andorra and the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson.
She holds B.A. in English from the State University of New York, College at Fredonia and studied at the University of Seville in Spain. She serves on several boards, such as the United Nations Development Corporation and Battery Dance Company.
Most recently, Michele Lee Clarke-Ceres served as Chief of Protocol to the Governor of New York State and as Chief of Staff to the First Lady of New York State. She was later appointed New York State Honorary Chairperson of United Nations Day 2010. Michele is fluent in Spanish, and has a working knowledge of French, Catalan and Portuguese.
She returned to HDI as a Program Manager for U.S. – U.N. Relations in August 2010. As a Program Manager, Candice promotes dialogue between U.S. Congressional Staffers and members of the United Nations through bipartisan delegations. Her responsibilities also include highlighting the diversity and culture of the United States by organizing delegations to various parts of the country for members of the U.N. Diplomatic Corps.
Candice is a former competitor of the international, NASA sponsored competition, Odyssey of the Mind. She continues to give back to this program by serving as a judge for state and local competitions.
Julia Ewing, Program Director, Higher Education Alliance
Julia Ewing is responsible for overseeing and expanding the Higher Education Alliance, HDI’s new initiative to connect college campuses worldwide with the United Nations.
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Prior to joining HDI, Julia worked at the UN Foundation, where she was responsible for developing outreach opportunities and special programming for senior staff, UN officials and NGO representatives with student, civic and affinity groups of all kinds. She coordinated all advocacy, outreach and constituency building activities for Senior Adviser & National Advocate, Gillian Sorensen, and managed key relationships with UN agencies, elected officials, partner organizations, organizers in field, and members of the press.
Julia has also worked with several other organizations in various capacities, including the Public-Private Alliance Foundation, the Maestro Cares Foundation, Human Rights Watch, UN Association of the USA, and the Humane Society. She studied Politics at NYU, with a special focus on human rights and international development.
Steve Ginther, Program Director, Mine Action
Steve Ginther joined the Humpty Dumpty Institute as the Program Director for Mine Action in February 2008. As a Program Director, Steve provides overall programmatic, operational and logistic support to HDI’s programs in Sri Lanka, Laos and Vietnam. He is also responsible for research and development of new grant opportunities in mine action and food security.
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He joined HDI after working in international development program management with various NGO’s such as the Global Fund for Children, International Rescue Committee, CARE, and Partners of the Americas, in Latin America and Central Asia.
He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala and received an MSc. from the London School of Economics and Political Science in Social Policy and Planning in Developing Countries, in 1993 and a BA in International Relations from the University of Colorado in 1989.
Rose Servedio, Senior Administrator
Rose Servedio is the Senior Administrative Officer at HDI. She has been with HDI since its inception in 1998.
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Ms. Servedio handles bookkeeping, administers benefits and coordinates travel for all HDI employees. Previously, Ms. Servedio worked at Estee Lauder, Inc.
Boris Shapoval, Program Manager, U.S.-U.N. Relations
Boris Shapoval joined the Humpty Dumpty Institute as an intern in fall 2011, while finishing his BA in Political Science and Hispanic Studies at Bernard Baruch College, The City University of New York.
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He returned to HDI as a Program Manager for U.S.-U.N. Relations in January 2012. As a Program Manager, Boris promotes dialogue between U.S. Congressional Members and members of the United Nations through bipartisan delegations. His responsibilities also include highlighting the diversity and culture of the United States by organizing delegations to various parts of the country for members of the U.N. Diplomatic Corps. Boris is a U.S. Air Force veteran and prior to HDI he worked for Northrop Grumman as a Financial Manager's Assistant. Boris is fluent in Russian and Ukrainian.
Namal has over 20 years of experience in the non-profit sector in Sri Lanka. Prior to joining HDI, Namal was an Administrator at the Danish Development Cooperation Office (DANIDA).
Namal has a degree in Human Resources from the Institute of Personnel Management of Sri Lanka. Namal is a Sri Lankan national and resides in a suburb of Colombo.
HDI — Hanoi, Vietnam
Jeanne Samuel, Country Director
Ms. Samuel serves as HDI’s Country Director for Vietnam. She has over 25 years experience in the humanitarian development field and has worked in the areas of disabilities, human rights, children affected by armed conflict, internally displaced persons and community development. She joined HDI in 2007 serving as Country Director for Sri Lanka before transferring to Vietnam in 2011.
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Prior to HDI, Ms. Samuel worked for the Jaipur Foot Program as Project Director for nine years; The Institute of Human Rights as co-founder and Director; PLAN International; Save the Children UK and Norway; DANIDA and UNHCR. She has a Masters degree in Conflict, Security and Development and a Post Graduate diploma in Conflict Resolution and Security Studies from the University of Bradford, United Kingdom.
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