Ken Polotan
President of the Board
Ken recently joined the Taking Back Lives board providing advisory services in the areas of strategy, business branding, corporate giving and digital technologies. As a former technology management consultant, he has engaged with both commercial and non-profit organizations, transforming them into high performance businesses. Ken is a change agent and passionate about best practices and supporting social entrepreneurship.
Kay Yoder
Executive Director
Serving as Executive Director, Kay Yoder has been involved with Taking Back Lives since its inception. As a former teacher, Kay has witnessed firsthand the importance of education in this country and is committed to providing those same opportunities to students living in Malawi. Inspired by the compassion and desire to make a difference demonstrated by U.S. youth, Kay is equally devoted to offering practical and meaningful ways in which students can become change-makers here at home and abroad.
Cassandra Yoder
Founder
After making her first trip to Malawi in 2007, Cassandra Yoder founded Taking Back Lives with the mission of providing educational opportunities to the people of Malawi. Since that time, she has worked to build the organization into one that not only enhances the lives of Malawian children, but empowers our youth population in the United States as well. Cassandra is currently a senior at the University of Florida studying microbiology with hopes of attending medical school in Fall 2012.
Bill Laney
Board Member
Bill Laney hales from Seattle Washington and is a retired Financial Planner and Employee Benefit Consultant. Prior to joining Taking Back Lives Board...where he now serves as Chairperson...he spent 18 years involved with a nonprofit farm based orphanage project in Kenya which is now self-sustaining.
Nina Venter
Board Member
Nina Venter became involved with Taking Back Lives in January 2010 through an Independent Study Project. Since then, she was invited to sit on the Board and accompany the organization to Malawi in the Summer of 2010 to research an upcoming Community Development Program aimed at adult education in health care, agriculture and literacy. Nina is a sociology student at New College of Florida, interested in focusing her studies in community building and place making. Nina's strong interests with TBL lies with its aim toward providing educational opportunities for people of all ages and improving the quality of education they are receiving.
Nancy Janus
Board Member
Nancy Janus is a Professor of Human Development at Eckerd College. As a former Peace Corps Volunteer she has long standing interest in service abroad. She has traveled extensively with students, helping them to serve and reflect in such destinations as Southeast Asia and East Africa. Her passion is to show students that anyone can make a difference in the world. She joined the board of TBL because the organization is the incarnation of this belief.
Jackie Aranibar
Board Member
High school student Jackie Aranibar has been involved with Taking Back Lives through her participation in numerous TBL fundraising events, officially joining the organization’s Board of Directors in recent months. Jackie’s commitment and passion for helping others is quickly evident as she devotes the majority of her free time working with a variety of worthwhile causes. As a result of her diverse experiences, she has seen firsthand the benefits that education offers to students both here in the U.S. and in developing countries such as Malawi and enjoys being a part of the process that is helping to provide educational opportunities to everyone!
David Goldstein
Board Member
David Goldstein is one of Taking Back Lives’ high school student board members, representing the Community Youth Development’s STAR Leadership program and The Out-of-Door Academy. Upon hearing about TBL and its goals, David felt drawn to the organization because of his passion for helping the less fortunate. In the future, he hopes to possibly visit Malawi to see firsthand the impact the organization and its projects has had on the Mazembe community.
