Board Members

Zuza was born and raised in East Germany and was deported to West Berlin for political reasons during the Cold  War. She received a Fulbright scholarship to study at the University of  Texas at Austin and completed a MA in linguistics anthropology. She  moved to Boulder, CO in 1991. She has worked as an educator for more than 20 years, working in bilingual as well as private schools. She is involved in the Boulder community, advocates for immigrants and inclusiveness, environmental education, empowerment of marginalized  people, global awareness and peace.

She has been actively involved with FCP since 2006 and member of the FCP board since 2008.

Mercedes is from Nicaragua, where  her chemical engineering degree led her to government work in water  treatment and analysis during the 1980′s and 1990′s. She worked for  seven years in sustainable agriculture programs throughout Central  America, while at the same time founding a non-profit in Nicaragua that  helps impoverished women learn how to build and use solar ovens and  solar food dryers. As executive director of this non-profit, Mercedes  promotes healthy alternative lifestyles for rural Nicaraguans that also  preserve and protect the environment.

Mercedes and Greg Bowles have been married for 16 years.

Barbara moved to Boulder in 1983. After  receiving an undergraduate degree in environmental studies and a masters  of science in environmental health sciences, Barbara’s professional  career involved environmental regulatory work for the U.S. Environmental  Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Interior. Outside of work,  she has enjoyed, at least once, all of the outdoor activities offered  by living in Colorado.

She first became involved with FCP through Project FE and decided she  wanted to spend more time helping individuals and communities. She was  impressed with the opportunities through FCP for artistic cultural  exchange, education of the young, and continuing environmental work  through the creation of clean water supplies. FCP seemed a perfect fit  for volunteering her time towards these ends.

Françoise has more than 20 years of  experience working on environmental issues and political campaigns. Her  work as an elected official on the Boulder City Council and on city  boards has helped shape Boulder’s sustainability policy and programs,  especially with transportation planning, waste reduction and Boulder’s  Climate Action Plan. In the nineties, her work was focused on forest and  wildlife conservation as an advocate with the Sierra Club and as a  children’s environmental and art education teacher.

Francoise has taught French and art as a public school teacher in  Colorado for many years. Her dedication to social justice and  sustainable solutions led her to join Friendship City Projects at its  inception in 1984, where she has been active as a board member since  2007.

Mark brings years of water engineering experience.

His specialties include project management, treatment plant  construction, treatment plant permitting, alternative project delivery  methods, utility planning for water and wastewater

Gary has served on the FCP board since  1990. He has been directly involved in the engineering and management of  four water systems in the Jalapa valley and has visited Nicaragua six  times. Gary is an Aerospace Engineer with 30 years of experience in the  design, analysis, fabrication, and test of thermal, cryogenic and  optical systems. He has authored 25 publications in his field and holds  three patents. He works at Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. in  Boulder.