WDF‘s income is earned through contributions made by board members to specific project initiatives and successful solicitation of major gifts. The WDF and WDLI boards serve voluntarily; however occasional consultant fees may be paid to internal or external experts and advisors on a project basis.

Selected WDLI Advisory Board Members

Liliana Nealon

Liliana Nealon has over thirty years experience in the international financial markets. She started her career at Dun and Bradstreet, doing international credit reports and translations. She spent the next ten years at Citibank, N.A., where she became the first female trader in the FX trading room. In the early 80‘s she was hired by Wells Fargo New York to head up its corporate foreign exchange department, to provide foreign exchange advisory services to US and global multinationals.

She then moved on to Merrill Lynch International Bank and Union Bank of Switzerland, where she established highly successful and highly profitable corporate foreign exchange desks. She was also responsible for the development of new products in the field of currency options and international money markets. During this time, Liliana was often quoted in the press, had a daily TV spot on international markets, and was broadcasting a market commentary which was read by over 400 subscribers.

As a result of a personal tragedy, Liliana established her own company in the early 90‘s. During this time, she wrote for and was published by Worth Magazine and Life@Work. She also became a highly paid and successful expert witness in the field of foreign exchange, working for such law firms as Paul Weiss Rifkind in New York City.

In 1997, she joined American Express Bank Limited as the Regional Treasurer for Global Trading, managing trading rooms in New York and Chile. While there, she reorganized the Santiago office, tripled sales revenues in New York, developed leading edge products, and developed and presented training programs and seminars on options and the international money markets. Other responsibilities at American Express included the successful implementation of a Diversity Initiative, setting best practices for the rest of the organization. Liliana was also the Executive Sponsor of the SALT Employee network, and was selected to be a member of the corporate Diversity Council, the only non-senior executive to participate. Liliana was chosen among thousands of participants as a winner of the Great Citizens Award for extensive volunteerism.

Following the events of September 11, 2001, Liliana felt called to join the non-for profit world, and was hired as the Chief Financial Officer of the American Bible Society. While there, she increased efficiencies, directed huge budget reductions without personnel losses, introduced major investment banking firms to the organization, and generally improved efficiency and transparency of financial reporting, all while dramatically increasing employee satisfaction.

In 2004, Liliana joined World Vision as an Executive Director, and was charged with development in Long Island and New York City. Liliana has a BA in French Literature from Marymount College. She is fluent in four or five languages. She lives in Eastern Long Island, has six children and one grandchild. She loves reading, photography, sailing, reading and kayaking.

Jeanne Lewis

Jeanne brings to WDF a passion and experience in knowing, serving, and caring for women and children in Latin American and Africa. She has spent many years creating bonds and providing hope, and she works with individuals and organizations that assist in achieving those goals.

In the last ten years, her travels and work have included time in Guatemala, Cuba, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and in Africa, Zambia, Rwanda, and Kenya. This work has been diverse and included traveling with Project CURE doing hospital needs assessments, arranging for container shipments to locations, World Vision travels with a small womens group to care for the needs of women/children around the issue of HIV/AIDS and education, and projects developing partnerships.

Jeanne currently serves on the advisory board of Project CURE, the board of Chikumbuso,( a school in Zambia for children and orphans and a haven for AIDS widows who have started a small business of crocheting plastic bags for sale). She is also a board member of Advance Guatemala, an organization that creates collaboratives for groups and organizations with an interest in serving the needs of Guatemalans. Jeanne is also on the Board of Governors for Opportunity International.

Jeanne studied art at the University of Colorado and ASU and lives in Scottsdale, Arizona where she is involved in mentoring refugee college students and works on refugee and homeless issues. She has three grown children and 7 grandchildren.

Arthur Karuletwa

Arthur Karuletwa is the founder of Inzozi Coffee and also founded Bourbon Coffee. He has been involved in developing Rwandan coffee for the past 10 years, working in every phase of the industry. Arthur grew up in Uganda and Kenya as a Rwandan refugee, and returned to Kigali in 1994 immediately following the genocide. Having completed his studies in marketing communications in the United States, Mr. Karuletwa moved to Seattle and became involved in the coffee industry, working at a major coffee distribution center.

In 2003, he was requested by the president of Rwanda to return to Kigali and become involved in developing the coffee sector. He worked through 2004 as a consultant to the Ministry of Agriculture, developing and implementing training programs for rural coffee farmers. At the same time, he founded the Inzozi Coffee Trading Company, a coffee importing company based in Seattle. The core problem at that time was that all Rwandan coffee—even the limited quantity of specialty-grade coffee available—was disappearing into blended products sold by US distributors. Rwanda was receiving no recognition as a producer of fine coffee. Inzozi was intended to provide an outlet for branded Rwandan specialty-grade coffee in the US market.

In 2005, Arthur imported a full container (18 tons) of coffee into the US. The following year, he brokered trades of over 30 containers through Costco, Starbucks, and other large buyers. The Rwandan brand had become fashionable in the US. Also in 2005, he advanced the concept of a Rwandan retail brand operating a chain of coffee shops in the U.S., conceived as "micro-embassies" of Rwanda. The first attempt at implementation in the US was hobbled by government intervention. In 2006, the direction changed, and Arthur was tasked with opening a showcase coffee shop in Kigali. The first Bourbon Coffee Shop was opened in February, 2007, in the Union Trade Center in downtown Kigali. From the beginning, Mr. Karuletwa oversaw all aspects of vision, design, construction, and operation.