NNN Team

Sezen Onat - NNN Director, Peace Corps, Veteran Aid Worker.
A 2012 alumnus of the University of Colorado, Boulder, Sezen Onat spent three years with the Nicaragua-based Health Outreach for Latin America Foundation before joining NNN. While serving three years as a volunteer in the Peace Corps in Panama, she worked with her community in the fields of English-learning and coordinated a national leadership development program. She graduated from the University of Arizona in 2018 with a Master of Public Administration and currently works in Atlanta with the US federal government. As the director of the NNN, she believes strongly that collaboration between nonprofit and government entities in Nicaragua is the most effective way to serve the Nicaraguan community.

Matthew Jesse Fioravanti - NNN Founder, Vice Director, Director of Technology
Matthew Jesse Fioravanti has worked in Nicaraguan humanitarian efforts for over 8 years with the NNN and the HOLA foundation. Working as a volunteer program director in Nicaragua, Jesse observed first-hand many issues resulting form poor or nonexistent communication between development organizations and between development organizations and local government. As a result, Jesse founded the NNN project in late 2012 as an effort to increase communication and networking between organizations working on the ground in Nicaragua. Currently Jesse is an MD student in the 2019 class at the University of Colorado in Denver, CO.

Leah Kellogg - NNN Director of Data Collection and Analysis, MD Candidate 2019
Leah Kellogg is an MD candidate at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and completed her undergraduate studies at Colorado College in 2013. In 2007, she started volunteering in Nicaragua and has since worked with many aid organizations throughout Central and Latin America. During these experiences, she noticed that much of the humanitarian work done in these countries is often not well coordinated. This encouraged Leah to join the NNN team to bring continuity and collaboration to humanitarian organizations and the communities they serve.

Gabrielle Gelinas - NNN Director of Public Relations, Marketing Manager.
Gabby began volunteering with the Health Outreach for Latin America Foundation in 2011, the experience sparked her interest in humanitarian efforts in delivering countries. As a marketing manager she employs her analytical and marketing skills to increase awareness of the Nicaragua Nonprofit Network. She accomplishes this through the use of social media and digital channels, targeting nonprofits and government groups with similar interests. Gabby joined NNN to promote cooperation and coordination between Nicaragua nonprofits for the mutual goal of sustainable development.

Nicholas Garcia, DO - NNN Task Force, Veteran international development worker.
Nic Garcia, one of the original board members of the parent organization for the NNN, the HOLA Foundation, is currently serving as a Captain in the United States Air Force as a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine in Okinawa, Japan. He is a member of special operations where he puts his skydiving, climbing and outdoor skills to good use. He first started his volunteer work in 2005 as a member of The HOLA Foundation, and has journeyed to Nicaragua seven times since. After graduating from the University of Colorado, Boulder, he remained in his home state of Colorado for medical school and attended Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine, graduating in its inaugural class of 2012. He continues to do his best to acquire and share his medical knowledge and experiences with The HOLA Foundation and NNN from afar while stationed in Japan.

McKenzie Shappell - NNN Task Force, Immigration Case Manager
A graduate of Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, McKenzie now works as an immigration paralegal and case manager focused on Central American refugee and asylum cases. He works as an activist and executive political committee member with TakeActionMN and as an outreach volunteer with La Crosse, Wisconsin based Global Partners. In this capacity, he spends several weeks a year working as a volunteer technician and interpreter during medical outreach trips to the Matagalpa region of Nicaragua. A new member of NNN, he is eager to dive into the work of supporting locally driven activist organizations, in-country, as they strive to build better lives for all Nicaraguans.

Nicholas Alvey, MD, MPH - NNN Task Force, Chairman of HOLA Board of Directors.
Nick co-founded the HOLA Foundation, the parent organization for the NNN, in 2008 and served as its first Director of Operations for 3 years. Passionate about healthy equity, he is excited about the solutions the NNN can bring to a fractionated non-profit environment that currently exists in Nicaragua. He currently serves as the chairman of the board on HOLA's Board of Directors and is a resident physician of Anesthesiology in Denver, CO.

Rose Martersteck - NNN Task Force, Environmental Health Researcher.
Rose joined the NNN team in 2015 after returning from a six-month fellowship in Nicaragua. After earning her B.S. in Health Science from Northeastern University '16, Rose provided communications and event planning for the NNN, to link NGOs with opportunities to collaborate and improve outcomes. She now works in Sierra Leone, and looks forward to supporting development work in Nicaragua as part of the NNN.

Anthony Rossi FACHE - NNN Task Force, Strategic Analyst, HOLA Board of Directors
Anthony Rossi is one of the original founders of HOLA and served as the organization's first Chairman. Anthony is board certified in healthcare management through the American College of Healthcare Executives, and earned his MBA and MS in Health Administration from the University of Colorado. Anthony is a founder of a number of other foundations and is also a Charter Member of the Rotary Club of Federal City. Anthony completed an Aminstrative Fellowship at Kaiser Permanente of Colorado and continued to diversify his leadership experience from strategic planning to quality improvement through various roles at Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States. Anthony now serves as Director of Market Strategy at LifeBridge Health's Northwest Hospital in Baltimore County, Maryland.

Eric Baulesh JD - NNN Director of Legal, HOLA Board of Directors
Eric holds his Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law and is licensed to practice law in the state of Colorado. He also holds his Master of Business Administration from the University of Colorado, Denver.
Eric currently works as an attorney and manager at ViaSat's Consumer Satellite Services Division. He works closely with the sales and legal departments to structure and prepare complex business deals. He is excited about the opportunity NNN presents to unite volunteers in Nicaragua and provide superior volunteer services to those in need. Eric is a member of the HOLA Board of Directors and is the Director of Legal for the NNN.

Emily Martersteck - NNN Task Force, Biochemist.
Emily began volunteering with HOLA in 2010, and served as Director of Operations 2011 - 2012. After living and working in Singapore for a year she joined Harvard University's Center for Brain Science as a Research Assistant. It was during HOLA's annual trip to Nicaragua in 2012 that some big questions arose: why isn't there more collaboration between the many nonprofits that work in Nicaragua, and local infrastructure? Some communities were being overwhelmed with aid while others went completely ignored. Emily was excited to join the NNN's efforts to create a sustainable solution to this perennial problem.