[Washington, DC - November 10, 2009]  Health Volunteers Overseas is pleased to announce several changes on the Board of Directors that were made at the November meeting. 

David Frost, DDS, MS, who has served as Chair so ably since 2003, will continue to serve as Chair Emeritus.  In addition, he will be co-chairing the new Oral Health Initiative which is being sponsored by the American Dental Association and the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.

The new Board Chair will be Julia Plotnick, MPH, RN, FAAN, who brings a wealth of international experience to the position.  In 1996, she retired as Assistant Surgeon General, Chief Nurse of the U.S. Public Health Service.  In addition to her many HVO volunteer trips and international assignments for the World Health Organization, Rear Admiral Plotnick is the Administrative Consultant to the New Jersey Collaborative Center for Nursing and served as a Visiting Professor in the Rutgers College of Nursing. 

Joining the Board are Richard Fisher, Jody Olsen, and Laurie Zivetz, each of whom brings a rich background of experience in international development.

Richard Fisher, MD, is an orthopaedic surgeon and currently serves as chair of Orthopaedics Overseas, the founding division of HVO.  Dr. Fisher has been an active HVO member for many years, and has served in Bangladesh, Peru, Bhutan, and Vietnam.  He served as Country Director for HVO's USAID-funded rehabilitation project in Mozambique and was a member of the Technical Advisory Group for HVO's Vietnam Rehabilitation Project.

Jody Olsen, PhD, just completed 8 years at the Peace Corps as Deputy Director (and as Acting Director for the last 8 months of that period). Her international experience began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tunisia and Country Director in Togo.  Since then she has held leadership positions with Youth for Understanding, the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, and the Academy for Educational Development. Her work with these organizations and Peace Corps has given her extensive travel experience in more than 85 countries.  Dr. Olsen previously served on HVO's Board (1997-2001) but had to step aside when she was appointed to the Peace Corps. Dr. Olsen was recently named as a Visiting Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland.

Laurie Zivetz, MPH, PhD, has a strong background in international development with a variety of respected organizations including the American Red Cross, Management Sciences for Health, the World Bank, Project Hope, CARE, and USAID. She served as Country Director for CARE International programs in Vietnam, the Caucasus, and the Philippines, and worked long-term with NGOs in Nepal.  She has worked in over 4 dozen countries, and is currently an independent consultant providing evaluation, strategic planning, and analysis support to a range of development agencies.