Kim Forrest

Board Chair

Kim joined StoveTeam’s Board in 2018 after serving on staff as the organization's Programs and Volunteer Manager for 2 years. Prior to joining StoveTeam, Kim had been living, working, and studying Anthropology and Archaeology in Guatemala and Mexico since 2009, through which she developed an interest in helping solve the social and environmental challenges facing Latin American communities. During her time working at StoveTeam, she worked with StoveTeam factories and supporters on business development, grant writing, research, and volunteer trips. She currently works professionally as the Marketing Director for her family's company in Eugene, FORREST Technical Coatings. Kim holds a B.A. in History from Whitman College and a Masters in Anthropological Studies of Mexico and Mesoamerica from the Universidad de las Americas-Puebla (UDLAP) in Mexico.   

Alex Tait

Director

Based in Portland Oregon, Alex Tait is currently the Chief Compliance Officer for Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of Avangrid, Inc. which is one of the leading renewable energy developers in the United States. Originally from the United Kingdom, Alex has held several leadership roles within the international utility and renewable sectors in areas such as corporate strategy, compliance and sustainability. Previously, Alex was a member of the Board of Advisors for eight years at the World Affairs Council of Oregon.

Alex graduated from the University of Aberdeen, earning a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, has an MBA from the Edinburgh Business School and attended the executive development program at the Wharton Business School. He is a certified compliance and ethics professional and a non practicing certified internal auditor.

Walt Meyer

Director

Walt Meyer is an environmental engineer and works for West Yost Associates in Eugene, Oregon. He specializes in planning and design of drinking water and wastewater treatment systems for communities in Oregon. He is an expert in water quality planning and advises cities and districts on their long term water quality compliance strategies.

He has participated in several Stove Team International studies on the performance of wood stoves including the studies in San Jose de Las Lagrimas in Honduras and El Tigre in Mexico. He also served in the Peace Corps in Queretaro, Mexico, working with the Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico en Electroquímica as an environmental engineer. 

Heidi Groot

Director

Heidi Groot is the General Manager Human Resources, Midstream for Chevron Corporation, based in San Ramon, California. She is responsible for oversight of the HR function activities for Supply and Trade, Shipping and Power and Pipeline businesses and is a member of the HR Management Team and Executive Women’s Group. Since joining Chevron in 2002, Heidi has held leadership positions of increasing responsibility in California, Florida, Nigeria, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Argentina. She is fluent in Spanish. Heidi joined the StoveTeam board in 2022, motivated by the opportunity to apply her experience in human resources, organizational capability and coaching to support STI’s focus on health, the environment and improving lives and communities. 

A native of Southern California, Heidi graduated from University of California, San Diego, with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a Dual Major in English and Spanish Literature. Heidi obtained an International MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management, in Glendale, Arizona.

Rich Goldstein

Director

Rich Goldstein brings to StoveTeam a diverse background spanning manufacturing (both domestic and international), jewelry design, software development, healthcare, and integrative health. He has worked with large enterprises, as well as smaller businesses.  Primarily his work has been in the private sector, with some experience in both non-profit and public sector organizations.  He has spent time in Asia, Europe and Central America, where he was introduced to StoveTeam in 2019. 

Having attained a Masters degree in Public Health, Rich has dedicated a significant portion of the past 25 years to exploring health-supportive behaviors that individuals can adopt independently of healthcare and medical interventions. He has managed a medical practice in California and worked for the public health department in Austin, Texas, focusing on health informatics.

Rich is deeply committed to enhancing healthcare, with a particular emphasis on individual health and well-being. He firmly believes that systemic change is necessary to address the complexities inherent in the healthcare landscape. Moreover, he strives to ensure that a person-centered and compassionate approach is effectively implemented, regardless of socioeconomic status or constraints.

 Nancy Hughes

Founder of StoveTeam International

Nancy Hughes is a graduate of Whitman College, the mother of three and the grandmother of four.  Prior to establishing StoveTeam International, she was a stay-at-home mom.

In 2003, while participating in a medical mission in Guatemala, she met Irma, a young woman whose hands had been burned shut after falling into an open cooking fire. Wanting to help, she started a small Rotary Club project that morphed into an effective international charity that has helped develop local factories to produce life-saving, fuel-efficient cookstoves in the developing world. The Ecocina stoves, designed by StoveTeam, reduce wood usage by 50% and carbon emissions and particulate matter by over 86%. They reduce both burns and respiratory illnesses.

In the twenty years since StoveTeam International’s inception, 82,000 stoves were produced and distributed and they have improved the lives of more than half a million individuals in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Mexico. Nancy is a CNN Hero, a Rotary White House Champion of Change, an American Mother of Achievement, the recipient of the prestigious International Purpose Prize, the Bending Toward Justice Award, a Whitman Alumna of Merit, a member of both the Oregon and Idaho International Women’s Forums and a recipient of the Atlantic Philanthropies’ International Purpose Prize, awarded to individuals over 60 who have made a difference in the world. For her work establishing StoveTeam she was one of only 100 in the world to receive the 2009 Rotary Service Above Self Award. Her work has been featured in National Geographic, the Rotarian, Forbes and on PBS Newshour.