OUR TEAM

Board of Directors

Meet the members of our dedicated and engaged Board of Directors. From fundraising to acting as project and sponsorship liaisons to making site visits and participating in hand-on global volunteering, the members of the Living Water Children’s Fund team fill many roles and help us prove time and time again that it truly takes a village!

Sherry Fine

Founder & Director, New York

Sherry Fine is the Founder and Director of Living Water Children’s Fund since its inception in 2008. She holds three masters degrees, from Cambridge College, Lesley College, and Smith College and has done extensive volunteering and travel in Africa, Haiti and Central America. She spent two years in the Peace Corps in Jamaica, WI and enjoyed many years as a teacher, principal and social worker in Boston, Mass. She is a proud mother of Jacqueline and Alfonso and grandmother of Dwayne, Deja, Jose, Alina and Averie. Sherry relocated to New York City in 2006 where she presently resides, works as a clinical social worker and directs Living Water Children’s Fund.

Susan Abrams

BOD Member, Massachusetts

Sue is a retired elementary principal, still working as a program supervisor at Boston University in the School of Education. She has three grown children and two wonderful granddaughters. When she is not working or being a grandmother, she is a board member of a variety of town committees and non-profit organizations. Sue first went to Living Water Children’s Centre in 2009 and it’s had a special part in her life ever since!

Barbara Livieratos

BOD Member, Maryland

Going to Haiti to help after the earthquake in 2010 proved to be a life-changing experience for me. There I met Sherry Fine and was soon involved in LWCF’s projects, which now span the globe. My special interests include improving educational opportunities and combating poverty in Haiti and assisting in improving the circumstances of children with albinism in East Africa.

Dorothy Schwartz

BOD Member, Florida

Retired Advanced Practice in psychiatric nursing. Dorothy grew up in Wisconsin, lived in WI, NY, NJ, now in FL. She has 4 adult children, and several grandchildren. Dorothy became involved in LWCF after visiting school then named Joy House in Nairobi slum, and wanted to help the school. After meeting Sherry and joining the board she has focused her energy on helping the school now named after her, and developing sponsorship program for students to go to secondary school.

Aryeh Levenson

BOD Member, Alaska

Aryeh Levenson, a practicing psychiatrist in Alaska grew up running around the forests of Massachusetts and exploring the waters of coastal New England. Despite being part of Red Sox Nation, he was always fascinated by other cultures and lands far away. After high school, Aryeh (pronounced like the three letters: R.E.A.) left his home in New England to obtain his undergraduate degree at Cornell University. There he studied religion, cross cultural psychology and anthropology, and came to a realization that he would never become a professional polo player.

After obtaining his degree, his wanderlust took him to Jerusalem, Israel; where he underwent Rabbinic studies before deciding to go to Medical School at Tufts University in Boston. After graduating in 1990 and completing two years of volunteer work in Israel, he went onto study medicine and psychiatry. Given his love of the wilderness and interest in cross cultural work, he brought his family to Alaska to work in the Indian Health Service, where he spent over 20 years practicing in Sitka and in Anchorage. In addition to working in Alaska, Aryeh has had the opportunity to live and practice psychiatry on the Hopi, Fort Apache, Havasupai, and Red Lake Chippewa Reservations; and work internationally in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Israel.

Aryeh frequently serves as an expert witness for the Alaska State Court System and has extensively worked in the Alaskan bush. He has lectured and/or teaches on a wide array of subjects including mental health, mind-body and natural medicine, spirituality and mindfulness practice.

Aryeh joined the board of Living Water Children’s Fund after a trip to Tanzania where he and his family came across an orphan boy and sought a safe and quality orphanage to help him grow and develop. While earlier he was most involved in Living Water’s projects in Tanzania; he has since primarily worked to expand our programs in Myanmar.

Now that his adult children have inherited his wanderlust and left Alaska to settle themselves in Israel; he lives in Anchorage with his wife, youngest son, foster daughter and dog Akko—who sometimes accompanies him to work.

KleMote McClean

BOD Member, Florida

Born and raised in NJ but has called Miami his home for over 15 years. Klemote is a traveler at heart and a dedicated board member. He is the videographer for LWCF, as well as an aspiring filmmaker. Klemote sees the importance of helping the worldwide community when in a position to, and jumps at the chance to visit our various projects to lend a helping hand.

Dennise Dalma-Weiszhausz

BOD Member, California

Dennise Dalma-Weiszhausz, PhD is a medical device professional currently working at Intuitive Surgical, manufacturer of the daVinci surgical robot. Dennise grew up in a multicultural family in the outskirts of Mexico City, where she studied Biomedical Research at the National University of Mexico (UNAM). She moved to the USA for graduate studies in Molecular Biophysics, which she studied at Yale University and at Einstein College of Medicine. Though Dennise has always been very focused on science, she has always been an avid traveler and incredibly curious about other cultures and ways of living.

Dennise had the opportunity of volunteering through Catholic Charities to help Latin-American undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers adapt to living in the Bay Area. Also through Catholic Charities, Dennise had the opportunity of working in El Paso, TX where she helped asylum seekers from El Salvador, Honduras and Brazil as they were released from detention facilities. It was during this work that Dennise met Sherry and Sue and was so lucky to be invited to be part of the LWCF board.

Now that her adult children have left the nest, and have settled in Israel and Pittsburgh, Dennise lives in the Bay Area, California with her husband, youngest daughter and her two dogs.

Arsha Khan

BOD Member, Toronto, Canada

Born in the States, raised in Canada, Arsha is our newly dedicated board member. Arsha has a passion for travelling and has a special place working with children and helping them reach their optimal success. Arsha specializes in Behavioural Services within her own company and looks forward to bringing a new perspective and opportunity to help the many communities involved with Living Water Children’s Fund!

Elyse McManus

BOD Member, Massachusetts

Elyse McManus is a Junior in High School. Her grandmother, Joann McManus, was an incredible teacher who was strongly connected with LWCF. Elyse now works closely with the Joann McManus Academy in Dar Es Salem, Tanzania. She is incredibly honored and excited to work on the board of LWCF and create change and opportunities for deserving children around the world.

Peggy Walton

BOD Member, Maryland

As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine, Peggy Walton has a vested interest in the well-being of Ukrainian children, given the full-scale invasion of the country. Her involvement in Living Water Children’s Fund centers around supporting displaced children and children living in a “hot” war country. Peggy is a team player, easily collaborating and cooperating with other board members to fulfill the LCWF’s mission of helping vulnerable children around the globe. What better way to live in retirement?

Maria Iorillo

BOD Member, California

Maria Iorillo, Licensed Midwife, comes to Living Water Children’s Fund by way of her volunteer work in Haiti. Maria is a California Licensed Midwife. She has been to over 1600 births over her 38 years of practice in San Francisco. Most of her work is catching babies at home, but she also supports people having hospital births. She volunteered with Midwives for Haiti, teaching local Haitians to be skilled birth attendants. During her visits to Haiti, she befriended the locals, learning about their various projects – a small orphanage and a school for 200 children. LWCF is now helping to support these two projects. Maria joins the board with gratitude and appreciation for LWCF’s dedication to deserving children around the globe. 

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