Patricia Thorndike Suriel

Executive Director

Patricia Thorndike Suriel, one of the founders of the DREAM Project, is a native of Rochester, New York. She has had 20 years of successful experience as manager and owner of two small businesses in the tourism industry in the U.S. (Kinderhut) and the Dominican Republic (Iguana Mama). She is a certified pre-school director with 12 years of experience teaching and directing preschool programs in Colorado's Rocky Mountains. Bilingual in English and Spanish, Tricia has established strong ties to local Dominican communities while promoting international awareness of the DR by inviting and working with dozens of journalists from many countries. With homes in Cabarete and Ithaca, NY, Tricia and her family remain firmly planted in both cultures and communities.

Jonathan Wunderlich

Dominican Director

Jon has been living overseas for the last ten years working as a Teacher and Business Consultant while giving seminars on Intercultural Communication, Business Negotiations, and Business Presentations. A graduate of Ithaca College with degrees in Literature and Writing, Jon has lived in Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, and Germany. Originally a DREAM volunteer, he began working with DREAM fulltime in June 2004.

Sarah Ross

Program Director

A graduate of Michigan State University with a Masters in Curriculum and Teaching, Sarah spent three years working in Wyoming, Michigan teaching English as a Second Language to 6th - 11th graders. Before this she worked at PUCMM University in Santiago, Dominican Republic as the Program Coordinator of CIEE: Council on International Educational Exchange. Sarah has worked for the DREAM Project for three years and has a strong passion for children.

Kim Hults

Program Coordinator

After graduating from Middlebury College in 2006 with a B.A. in Spanish & American Civilization, Kim came down to volunteer for DREAM full-time through the support of the World Leadership Corps.  Kim spent one year working at the Colonia Nueva and DREAM Center sites, and was so inspired and fulfilled by her work with the community that she decided to stay on for another year.  This year, Kim returns as a staff member, and will be working largely with visiting student groups and full-time volunteers.

Monica Simonetti

Volunteer Coordinator

Before coming to DREAM, Monica worked as both a translator and an outreach support counselor for the United Nations in the World Food Program. In this position she educated HIV positive woman regarding their, as well as their children's, health and nutrition. Monica lived in Santo Domingo for two years before moving to Cabarete. Upon moving to Cabarete, Monica volunteered with DREAM supporting a first grade classroom at the Colonia Nueva School and stayed on to become DREAM Volunteer Coordinator.

Yajaira Lopez

DR Office Manager

Yajaira Lopez, the DREAM Project Office Manager for the DR, was born and grew up in the neighboring town of Sabaneta, located on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic. Yajaira joined DREAM in the fall of 2005. Yajaira graduated high school in the fall of 2006 and is now in her second year of college at Utessa University, studying marketing.

Emily MacDowell

US Office Manager

Emily MacDowell, a native of Vermont, graduated from Ithaca College in 2006 with a B.A. in writing and anthropology. She has studied abroad in Merida, Mexico, studied anthropology in Hawaii, interned at the Smithsonian's Museum of the American Indian, and spent a semester in Washington DC interning in the research department of National Geographic Magazine. She is a freelance writer and volunteers as coordinator of the nonprofit Children of Rural Africa. She has been with the DREAM Project since December of 2007.

Caitlin O'Shea

Summer Camp Logistics Manager

Caitlin is a graduate of Cornell University who worked closely with DREAM Executive Director Tricia Suriel for three years in the Ithaca office before joining the staff in the Dominican Republic. On her previous visit to the Dominican Republic, Caitlin joined a service group to build a school and decided to return to the Dominican Republic to continue serving the children of the North Coast. Caitlin worked Cabarete in 2005 and directed the 2006 Guzman Ariza Summer Camp under the support of the DREAM Fellowship Program. She recently worked in the US office as US Director of Operations and will continue to work for us this summer.