All board members except emeritus members are independent voting members. Additionally, in order to ensure fiduciary oversight and best practices in charity governance, LWB’s chief executive officer is not a voting member
Alan Dahl, Board Chair
June 2018 to Present
Alan Dahl was in the business of growing healthcare companies for the last 30 years. He started in the post-acute space and has founded or actively participated in the leadership of healthcare companies both in the private and public settings. He co-founded a private equity firm working exclusively on working with small and mid-sized healthcare companies, which was his focus for the last half of his career. Alan and his wife, Carol, are based in Atlanta, have four wonderful children, and are blessed with five grandchildren. They have a long and active involvement in international adoption and children’s charities.
Bob Spires, PhD, Board Vice Chair
November 2016 to Present
Dr. Bob Spires is an associate professor at the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia, in the Department of Graduate Education. He specializes in research on nonprofits using education to address social issues, such as human trafficking and poverty in Asia. He lives with his wife, Amy, and daughter, Jane Claire, in the Richmond area. He has assisted LWB with program development, as well as monitoring and evaluating programs in Cambodia and Uganda.
Doris Acheme
June 2021 to Present
Doris Acheme is from Nigeria and currently resides in the US, where she is an assistant professor at the University of Georgia. As a researcher, her area of interest is in intercultural and intergroup communication. Specifically, she studies the role identity plays in the psycho-social responses of individuals during interactions. Doris is passionate about education and believes that children and teens, irrespective of their backgrounds, gender, and culture, should be given an opportunity to be educated. More importantly, children should be nurtured in other aspects of their lives, whether it be physically, psychologically, or emotionally. As a member of LWB’s board of directors, Doris hopes to contribute to the lives of children in need.
Pim Bhut
April 2021 to Present
Pim Bhut immigrated to the US as a Cambodian refugee in 1984. Inspired by the generosity of volunteers and nonprofit organizations that helped her, Pim has spent the last 20 years supporting Prey Moul, a small village in Cambodia, where she grew up. Independently and through fundraisers, Pim has provided resources to supply the village with clean water and support their local primary school with equipment and supplies. She also supports the Cambodian community at home in Richmond, Virginia, helping run the local Buddhist monastery and organizing cultural events. Through LWB, she hopes to continue her work helping other Cambodian villages in need.
Alisa Chan
June 2020 to Present
Alisa Chan was born in Cambodia, where she spent her first 15 years of life. She now resides in Jacksonville, Florida, and is a dedicated wife and mother to two wonderful children. Alisa majored in accounting in college with a minor in finance. For the past 20 years, Alisa has shared her time and knowledge to help those in need, especially the Cambodian community in Jacksonville. She is unwaveringly passionate in her belief that education is a fundamental human right; so she particularly appreciates LWB’s focus on investing in children’s education. As a member of LWB’s board of directors, Alisa’s goal is to help children grow up with the tools they need to achieve their dreams.
Dan Ellsbury, MD
September 2013 to Present
Dan Ellsbury is a neonatologist at Mercy Children’s Hospitals and Clinics in Des Moines, Iowa, and the national director of quality improvement for a large physician practice company called Pediatrix Medical Group. He also performs clinical research with the NIH through his affiliation with the University of Iowa as an adjunct associate clinical professor of pediatrics. Dan and his wife, Lisa, have 16 children, including ten who have been adopted from China.
Lisa Ellsbury
March 2015 to Present
Lisa Ellsbury has devoted her life to being a mom to kids with severe and complex medical problems. She has a special place in her heart for the many orphaned children she has seen in China and has become an active blogger (seriouslyblessed.com) and advocate for adoption of orphans with special needs. She has connected with a large and generous network of families who have felt the call to care for “the least of these.” Lisa and her husband Dan currently reside in Des Moines, Iowa with their 16 children.
Charlie Guo
June 2020 to Present
Charlie Guo is an analyst at Nissan North America, focusing on pricing, marketing strategy, and development. He has always been interested in social psychology, economics, and technology. Born in China, he is passionate about multicultural matters, China, and helping people across the world. Charlie was first introduced to LWB from his wife, who also has a passion for China. Charlie lives with his wife and kids outside Nashville, Tennessee.
Jennifer LaBahn, MD
June 2018 to Present
Jennifer LaBahn is a pediatrician who lives in Oklahoma with her husband Jacob and their six children. Jennifer began her medical career in the Army, providing inpatient and outpatient pediatric care to children of US service members. She also deployed to southern Afghanistan to provide combat medical care to US soldiers during Operation Enduring Freedom. For the past several years, Jennifer has provided medical and developmental consults to families in the international adoption process. She loves LWB’s programs that support family preservation, good nutrition and medical care, quality education, safe foster care, and adoption advocacy.
Marla Louie
May 2018 to Present
Marla Louie is from Vancouver, British Columbia. She is married to Sam and both are retired health care professionals. They have three adult married children and two grandchildren. Marla volunteers at the local food bank and is an active volunteer in her church community. She has been to Cambodia several times and is an avid supporter of educating the children and youth in several villages where LWB has a presence.
William Messerschmidt, MD
June 2018 to Present
Bill Messerschmidt is a thoracic surgeon and clinical informatics physician lead with Ballad Health Systems in Tennessee. He is Clinical Professor of Surgery at the James H. Quillen College of Medicine of East Tennessee State University. He and his wife, Bonnie, who is a Nurse Practitioner, live in Johnson City, Tennessee. Together they have five children, including two grown sons, three daughters adopted from China, and two grandchildren. Bill and his family are very involved with their church, their children’s school, extracurricular activities, and organizations such as LWB that support international adoption and underprivileged children.
Joanne Owyang
March 2015 to Present
Joanne Owyang has enjoyed a successful career in accounting and finance and is currently the Controller of Finfare. She lives with her husband, Jason, and their three children in Orange County, California. Their younger son and daughter were adopted from China as toddlers. Joanne was first introduced to LWB when they were in the paper-chasing process for their first adoption.
Amisha Patel
June 2020 to Present
Amisha (Amy) Patel is an executive for corporate healthcare companies focused on orthopaedic surgery. Amy was on the clinical side working in sports medicine and completed a research fellowship in spine surgery, focusing on trauma and degenerative issues. She then migrated to the corporate side, working in total joint replacement, pain management, and adipose tissue therapies for patients not ready for major surgery. Amy has published over 200+ articles and eight books. Amy resides in New York City, along with her multiple foster animals. She has been passionately involved with supporting underprivileged and orphaned children around the world.
Don White
May 2006 to Present
Don White and his wife, Grace, are the parents of twin daughters, Reagan (YaYun) and Sydney (YaQiu), adopted from Jiaozuo, Henan, in 2004. Sydney and Reagan are cleft affected and were two of some 30 children who had their clefts repaired on the very first LWB cleft trip in May 2004. Don is an author and internationally known speaker. His latest book is titled “Always End with the Beginning in Mind.” Don spent 40 years in the investment business. His involvement with the MDRT Foundation has resulted in several grants assisting LWB programs.
Amy Eldridge, Chief Executive Officer
Amy founded Love Without Boundaries in 2003 and has led efforts to create and implement life-changing projects for orphaned and impoverished children in multiple countries. Amy believes firmly that passionate and committed people have the power to change the world, and she sees a key part of her job as supporting and encouraging volunteers around the world to manage LWB’s many program areas. Amy is the author of The Heart of an Orphan, chronicling how one tiny baby with heart disease inspired a movement to help vulnerable children worldwide, and The Heart of Community, profiling the individual stories of some remarkable children and offering deeper insight on how a strong and authentic community can help transform the lives of children around the globe.
