Pat Harding, President

Pat holds a BS in physics and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Her career spanned software development and marketing in industrial automation for major corporations. In the mid-90’s, while working part-time at Apple, she and her husband founded a boutique travel business. She left her job as Worldwide Pricing Manager at Apple in 2005 to move to San Miguel.

Paul Germani, Treasurer

Paul Germani is a former CFO and Treasurer for a $45M manufacturing company in Eugene, Oregon. Since moving to Oregon he has been the controller for three manufacturing companies and a communications company. Prior to Oregon he was a teacher and counselor in New England. Paul spends his time in San Miguel struggling with the Spanish language and volunteering for Feed the Hungry. Since 2007 Paul and his wife have spent summers in Eugene and the rest of each year in Colonia Caracol.

Sheila Byrns, VP - Mentor Program

Sheila was a Child Welfare worker for 14 years, working in foster care, prior to becoming a Clinical Psychologist. She received her BA from the University of California at Berkeley, her Masters at JFK University and her Ph.D. from the California Graduate School of Family Therapy.  Apart from working with couples and families, her specialty was working with trauma survivors - including physical and sexual abuse, and violent crime. Sheila was also a member of the Big Sister's Program for over 10 years.

Phylis Culp, VP - Fundraising Chair

Phyllis is a former certified public accountant and finance executive at a Fortune 100 company.  She has also done grant writing and reporting for the Pasadena Unified School District and for other nonprofit organizations on whose boards she has served.

Fran Mahoney, Scholarship Chair

Fran was an academic dean and faculty member in the University System of New Hampshire before retiring to San Miguel. She designed degree programs for adults returning to get their bachelor’s degree and created a nationally recognized model for faculty development for teachers of adults. She has an M.A. in English literature, an M.Ed. in counseling, and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology. Her special interest is personality theory, especially in relation to the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory.

Carmen Salmerón, Secretary

Fully bi-lingual and bi-cultural, Carmen is a native of Mexico with long-standing family ties to San Miguel de Allende. After teaching English for 8 years at CBTis (Centro de Bachillerato Technologico Industrial y de Servercios Preparatorio), she started her own Cultural Facilitation business, offering written English and Spanish translations, simultaneous translations, problem resolution and case and event management.

Sue Beere, VP - Volunteers

Susi is a three-time editor of Atención (San Miguel’s English-language weekly) and current member of the Biblioteca Publica's Board of Directors, the second largest biligual library in Mexico. She has been a fixture in San Miguel charitable and educational projects since 1971.

Amanda Kay Ruiz, Past President, & VP, Guanajuato Branch

A Guanajuato resident, Amanda is a former civil rights and class action attorney who specialized in poverty law issues including prisoners' and children’s rights, elder abuse, and disability law. Previously she worked in the oil and gas industry as a geophysical engineer.

Peggy Ball, VP - Publicity

Peggy's professional career includes President of the Indonesian Heritage Society, Executive Director of the OK Mozart International Festival, General Manager of a geophysical services company, and a school teacher.  Her B.A. in Art has underscored an artistic bias throughout, and her greatest passion is for people and their diverse cultures.  She is a resident of Guanajuato.