PROJECT
MISION
El Proyecto Akokan Los Pocitos, is a civil initiative, without profit, that works with, from and for the community of Los Pocitos, giving emphasis in its most vulnerable zone, promoting creative solidarity and participatory actions with the main objective to achieve the integral improvement of the community through social transformation, environmental, social and economic sustainability, equity, gender perspective and the protection of its distinctive local heritage.
VISION
El Proyecto Akokan Los Pocitos is an organization (Community Association or Company social) recognized at local and national level as an innovative organization, leader in community work and which constitutes an example of good practices for others communities with similar characteristics, due to their results in the transformation of the social reality of the most vulnerable zone of the community of Los Pocitos, among those that stand out in terms of physical, environmental, social and heritage transformations.
CEO
Debora Vázquez Tamayo began her community work with Gigantería, a street theater group, where she served as an actress, musician, producer, makeup artist, costume and prop designer, and administrator. She was part of the team for 15 years, and it was during this time that her passion for working with and supporting needy communities was born. Debora studied at San Geronimo in Havana, graduating with a degree in Heritage Management, specializing in Socio-Cultural studies. She is the founder of the Akokán project, established in 2016, and has been the general coordinator for the past two years. As the first sustainability mechanism for Akokán, she created Café Oddara, where she is both the owner and chef.
W. Christopher “Chris” Dunn is a general practice attorney with Randall & Bruch, P.C. based in Southeastern Virginia, licensed to practice law in all Virginia courts, the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States. With a varied practice that covers multimillion-dollar construction cases, felony criminal cases and family law, Chris is also the go-to attorney for representing teachers on behalf of the Virginia Education Association.
Prior to becoming an attorney, Chris was a public-school teacher and administrator for twenty-five years and still maintains active licenses as a teacher and principal.
Chris earned degrees from multiple universities including undergraduate degrees in Economics from the College of William and Mary and in Music Education from East Carolina University, a master’s degree in School Administration and Supervision from Cambridge College, and a Juris Doctor, with Honors, from Regent University.
While visiting Cuba, Chris made several friends who, like him, seek to support the Cuban people in whatever ways possible. He has also become involved with various organizations that work to spay and neuter feral cats on the island, limiting their over-population.
Chris currently resides in Chesapeake, Virginia with his better half, attorney Asha Pandya and his three cats, Buster, Odie, and King.
If you’d prefer to donate by check, please mail it to:
341 Pearl St, Cambridge, MA 02139
For bank transfer or Zelle donations, please email us at info@conrazoncuba.org to receive further details.
ATTENTION: Please do not use the word “CUBA” for bank transactions.
Thank you for your generosity and support!
Pamela Ward is on the Board of Advisors of the Pine Street Inn, New England’s largest provider of emergency shelter, job training and permanent housing for the homeless and for several years chaired their Permanent Housing Committee. She sits on the board of the Ghana Scholarship Fund which provides university scholarships and operates a learning center for youth from economically disadvantaged regions of Ghana. She is involved with Boson’s largest food center serving upwards of 600 people weekly. Pamela has volunteered with Ethos as a money manager for the elderly, spent years as a Hospice volunteer and was on the board of the Union Park Neighborhood Association.
She held senior management positions with Bank of Boston (now Bank of America) in credit, corporate banking and operations. After 15 years in banking she began her independent consulting practice providing lending support services to commercial banks nationwide.
Pamela holds a degree in Management and Finance from Simmons College and lives in the South End of Boston with her husband Edward Collins. She travels extensively, enjoys tending her city gardens and cheering for her beloved Red Sox.
Michelle Wojcik is the Owner and Director of Galería Cubana. She established the gallery in Provincetown, MA in 2007 with a mission to introduce artwork rarely seen in the United States and support artists on the island. Since the gallery’s inception, Ms. Wojcik has hosted scores of exhibitions in both her Provincetown gallery and during the years 2009 – 2018 in Boston where she operated a second gallery. Throughout this period, she has sponsored many Cuban artists to travel to the U.S. for exhibitions.
In addition, Ms. Wojcik has led groups of collectors on Arts & Cultural excursions to Cuba annually since 2011. With a mission to educate travelers on life in Cuba, she arranges travelers to meet artists in their studios and homes. Myriad ongoing relationships and projects have grown out of these exchanges with Cuban artists and musicians. Of the most notable projects is the feature length documentary film Alumbrones released in 2013. The film presents 8 artists represented by Galeria Cubana. Ms. Wojcik served as co-producer of the film.
Prior to opening the gallery, Ms. Wojcik worked for the World Policy Institute’s Cuba Project (2001-2004) in New York, NY. In this role, she examined the political and economic effects of the U.S. embargo on Cuba and worked to promote dialogue on Cuba policy. Among her accomplishments, was her role in coordinating a medical delegation to Cuba hosting two former surgeon generals to examine Cuban healthcare. Ms. Wojcik was also a key coordinator of the 2004 National Summit on Cuba hosting former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev.
It was her longstanding interest and study in human rights, international development, and social entrepreneurialism that led her to open the gallery. She was first impressed by the depth of
artistic production and creative use of materials in Cuba when living in Cuba over the course of two summers while in graduate training. She developed a further curiosity for this sector of the Cuban economy that was permitted as private enterprise. With her background, she found a window of opportunity to launch the gallery in 2007.
Ms. Wojcik has periodically lectured on the history of Cuban art and the contemporary Cuban art market at several universities including Boston College, Boston University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Ms. Wojcik has a Masters Degree in Applied Anthropology at American University in Washington, DC and an Masters of Philosophy (PhD ABD) in Anthropology at the New School for Social Research in New York, NY. While earning her degrees, she studied abroad in London, England, Havana, Cuba & Krakow,Poland.
Lora Brugnaro, MS, CPS, has resided in Boston, MA since the 1990’s. She was born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas and has always cherished the love and community she experienced there despite the back-drop of a developing nation with few resources.
Lora has a BA in Political Science and a Master’s in Vocational Counseling. She worked in human services her entire career, working directly with people with physical, cognitive and mental health disabilities in crisis intervention, stabilization supports, in gaining secure housing and financial independence. As an advocate for equal rights and better access to public services she has spoken to legislators both in Washington and Massachusetts on system change.
She has held several voluntary positions including member of The Eunice Shriver Center Advisory board, member/Vice-Chair of the Mass Developmental Disability Council Board, member of MAPSE, mentor with Parters for Youth with Disabilities. She received an MVP community award from The New England Patriots in 2010 and the Disability Voice award from Mass Rehabilitation Commission in 2022, as well as citations from the state for excellent service. She has spoken at national conferences such as The American Association of People with Disabilities and was recently keynote at The APSE-The Network on Employment conference. Her advocacy has extended to the classroom where she has spoken to classes of Northeastern, Boston College and Mass General Institute students about accessibility and disability. Currently she works part-time on a peer support project for a homeless program at the largest community based hospital in Boston dedicated to serving the underserved.
She has been on 2 tours of Cuba and has made some very special connections to several of the projects Con Razon is supporting.
Mr. Collins chairs the board of Hope House Inc. the largest nonprofit inpatient substance use disorder treatment center in New England. He is also a pro-bono consultant, specializing in board governance and strategic planning, for Empower Success Corp, a nonprofit providing consulting services to other nonprofits. His is a founder and treasurer of The Ghana Scholarship Fund (GSF), Accra, Ghana. The GSF provides university scholarships and operates and a learning center for youth and students from economically disadvantaged regions of Ghana. He is a board member and treasurer of Con Razon Inc. which is committed to reducing poverty and improving the quality of life in Cuba by supporting schools, cultural and community organizations that serve at risk families, children and adults.
He has served on a number of nonprofit boards over the years such as: Project Place which provides employment training for homeless men and woman; VBC, Inc which provided job training and housing services to veterans and their families; Junior Achievement vice chair, a non-profit provider of in school business education taught by business volunteers; Board chair of Inroads which trains and develops minority college students for careers in business and Treasurer and executive committee of The Huntington Theatre Boston. Lastly for a number of years he was president of the Union Park Neighborhood Association.
Ed was an Executive Vice President of Bank of Boston (acquired by Bank of America). At retirement he was responsible for corporate lending to middle market companies in the US and Canada. He also held a number of different leadership positions throughout his 27-year banking career. He is a Viet Nam veteran with a degree in Economics from the College of the Holy Cross. He lives in the South End of Boston with his wife Pamela Ward.
In 2002, Andrew heard a student describe unique transformational learning experiences at The Met High School in Providence, Rhode Island, which at the time was the first and only school in the Big Picture Learning network.
Andrew became an Advisor, working with an advisory group through to their graduation, then moved to California to support the growth of the Met Sacramento High School. These experiences led him to develop the belief that student-interest-driven real-world learning is a crucial determinant of both individual life outcomes and community well-being.
After completing his Doctorate in Education Leadership at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Business School he joined the leadership team of Big Picture Learning.
As Co-Executive Director of BPL, he works to hustle organizational resources every day, and assists with expansion of the network including launch and development of innovative schools, programs, and initiatives across the USA and internationally. Andrew lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA with his wife and two children.
Originally from Poland, Ms. Rozwadowska-Shah first came to the US as a foreign exchange student at Boston College and has lived in Boston for more than 15 years. She holds a master’s degree in economics and political science and has worked for the Polish Foreign Ministry and the European Union Institute in Poland. In 2011, she co-organized the MIT European Career Fair.
Ms. Rozwadowska-Shah also serves as a contributing member of the Cambridge Neighborhood Association and on the board of directors of Boston’s Polish Cultural Foundation. She has helped students and teachers connect with the world through innovative and educational travel packages through Colibri Boston since 2009 and believes that education is the most efficient tool in creating world peace and prosperity. She has supported AAIDD Delegations since 2014 and will manage the Delegation’s logistical arrangements.
