Advisory Board An honorary Advisory Board has been formed to provide leadership and public image to the Dominican Development Alliance. The board is co-chaired by the Honorable Robert Fannin, United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, and Joe Garagiola, Jr., Senior Vice-President to Baseball Operations of MLB and composed of 13 members. Their names and background information are the following.
Honorary Co-Chairperson Christopher Lambert - Chargé d' Affairs to the Dominican Repiublic
Christopher Lambert resides in the Dominican Republic and assumes the responsibilities of the Ambassador of the United States until the appointed ambassador arrives.
Honorary Co-Chairperson Joe Garagiola, Jr. - Senior Vice-President Baseball Operations Major League Baseball
Joe Garagiola Jr. has been Sr. Vice President of Baseball Ops for Major League Baseball since 2005. Prior to his current position in MLB, Garagiola was general manager for the Arizona Diamondbacks from their founding as a franchise until 2005 and led the team to a World Series championship.
Jesus Alou - Representative of Former Players
Jesus Alou is currently the representative of the Boston Red Sox in the Dominican Republic and has been an active advocate of the Red Sox involvement in Dominican communities through their foundation called "Lindos Suenos". Alou was a major league player and coach from 1963 to 1980 with San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, Oakland Athletics, and New York Mets and a star with the Dominican Professional Baseball league from 1959 to 1981 where he is second in total career hits.
Junior Noboa - Representative of Dominican Republic Baseball Academies
Junior Noboa is the Special Assistant to the GM and Director of Latin American Ops of the Arizona Diamondbacks and one of the principal pioneers in the development of major league academies in the Dominican Republic. Noboa played eight seasons between 1984 to 1994 as a big league player and coach and is actively involved in reaching out to the local communities surrounding the "Baseball City" complex he designed and constructed near Boca Chica.
Tim Katzman – Representative of Team Community Programs
Tim Katzman has been Corporate Communications Directors of the San Diego Padres since 1995. In conjunction with Padres community liaison staff, Katzman has coordinated hundreds of community activities throughout the Padres fan base in San Diego and northern Mexico as well as in each Padres minor league affiliate. Katzman has traveled extensively to the Dominican Republic and has been instrumental in designing the Padres support to local Dominican public schools.
Jorge Besosa - Representative of the Dominican Private Sector
Jorge Besosa is the Executive Vice-president of Personal and Electronic Banking of the Banco Hipotecario Dominicano (BHD) and was instrumental in making the BHD the "Official Bank" of MLB in the Dominican Republic. The BHD partnership with MLB is committed to helping Dominican players give back to their home communities.
Felix Garcia - Representative of the Dominican Private Sector
Felix Garcia is co-owner of CDN, the official broadcast of MLB in the Dominican Republic. Mr. Garcia holds a distinguished career in business and community service in the Dominican Republic. CDN provide promotion and coverage of community service programs by teams, players, and MLB.
Hector J. Cruz - Representative of the Dominican Sports Press
Hector J. Cruz is currently Sports Editor of the Listin Diario newspaper in the Dominican Republic and leads the popular sports show called "Semana Deportiva". Author of major baseball publications about Dominican major leaguers, Cruz has been an active proponent of getting players more involved in community outreach programs.
Yancen Pujols - Representative of the Dominican Sports Press
Yancen Pujols is the Sports Editor for the El Caribe newspaper in the Dominican Republic. Pujols is an accomplished sports journalist and has received several journalism awards.
Richard Goughnour – Representative of USAID
Richard Goughnour has been the Director of the USAID mission in the Dominican Republic since 2006. He initiated his career in 1978 in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa and has served in 7 countries. Originally from Minnesota, Goughnour is a lifelong baseball fan who believes that the DDA will help Dominican ballplayers to give back to their communities
David Luther - Representative of Participating Charitable Organizations
David Luther is the founder and head of IDDI (Instituto Dominicano de Desarrollo Integral), a leading NGO founded in 1994 and pioneer organization in creating partnerships with the Dominican private sector for community service.
Dave Valle - Representative of Participating Charitable Organizations
Dave Valle is co-founder and Board Chairman with his wife Victoria of the Esperanza Foundation, a charitable organization founded in 1995. Valle, who played with the Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, and Texas Rangers, made a commitment to help the poor of the Dominican Republic after playing winter baseball in the country in 1985.
Thomas C. Brasuell - Representative of Major League Baseball
Thomas Brasuell is Vice -President of Community Affairs for Major League Baseball and helps to coordinate and oversee the numerous and wide variety MLB activities in the community.
Lou Melendez - Representative of Major League Baseball
Lou Melendez has a 24 year career in Major League Baseball starting as an arbitrator in 1984 until 2000 when he was named Vice-President of International Baseball Operations. Melendez spearheaded the opening of the MLB Dominican Republic office in 2000 and has been instrumental in the expansion of MLB and team activity in Latin America for the last decade. He is particularly committed to issues of player education and community outreach programs.
John Seibel - Representative of Major League Baseball
John Seibel has lived in the Dominican Republic since 1971 where he first served as a Peace Corps Volunteer and then founded his own training and consulting firm ENTRENA in 1982 which has developed into a leading consulting, training, and education organization in the country. Seibel is a permanent consultant with Major League Baseball and assisted with the creation of the DR office in 2000.
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