WHO WE ARE

Donna Goodman has been innovating participatory, values-based water and environmental education through the involvement and empowerment of children, adolescents, their families and teachers for over 30 years in more than 65 countries. Donna served as Programme Advisor, Climate Change and Environmental Education for UNICEF and served as President of the UN-Interagency Committee on Education for Sustainable Develp\opment, on behalf of UNICEF Education Section. She had authored publications and served as a consultant to different organizations within the United Nations system, including UN DPI, UNDP, UNEP, , United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and World Health Organization.

In the private sector, Donna served as Global Program Director for Swarovski Waterschool overseeing operations on the great rivers of the world, including the Danube (Austria), Amazon (Brazil), Yangtze (China). Mekong River (Thailand), Ganges (India), Mississippi (USA), Nile (Uganda), Mississippi (USA). She was consultant to Turner Broadcasting, Cartoon Network Latin America and Program Developer for Kids1, a New Jersey based company leading the way on school leadership for at-risk students in the United States.

Before joining the United Nations, she was named as one of the Top 100 women in global franchising for her work as co-founder of a company called: Little Scientists – A Hands-On Approach to teach science to young children. She is author of a number of United Nations and UNICEF publications, including Every Body Counts, Every Drop Matters: United Nations Classroom Resource Guide on Water and was coauthor of five titles geared to hands-on science education which were published by McGraw-Hill in 1999-2000.

Lindsey Lee Cardella, ECI President

Lindsey was a child delegate to the United Nations Conference on the Rights of the Child in the year 2000 at eleven years of age. Interacting with kids from around the world sparked Lindsey’s interest in cultural diversity. She went on to join an international high school service project, building toilets and houses in Nicaragua. While also joining local projects such as Habitat for Humanity, building houses in Connecticut. In college, Lindsey studied in a Semester at Sea program to experience 14 different countries while visiting schools, and local governments as part of her university study.

Lindsey graduated from the University of New Haven with a bachelor’s degree in International Justice and Security. After college, she continued to travel with a focus on sustainable development, animals and children. She lived in India for six months working with the WASH education program, and Raja Ji Tiger Reserve. Lindsey currently lives in Florida where she previously worked in conservation for endangered species, and is currently working in child welfare at the Department of Children and Families. As an Investigative analyst and field support consultant she is able to help struggling families undergoing homelessness and famine within the United States; while also proudly serving as the president of Earth Child Institute. 

Ann Smith, ECI Co-Founder

Ann Smith is co-director of Circle Connections, Inc and Chair of International Connections for the Sophia Women’s World Conference, in Sofia, Bulgaria, 2010. She serves locally and globally as a community and global organizer, mentor, coach, facilitator, educator, consultant, professional speaker, director of worldwide transformational leadership programs, and author.

“We, the two-leggeds, have finally realized we have made a mess of things and that now is the time to engage our children in finding solutions and actions that will bring lasting peace and prosperity for all creation. I pledge to work with people of all ages in waking them up to the problems and inspiring them to act both locally and globally. When we truly listen to the children and engage them in finding solutions and actions that make dreams a reality, we will succeed. Earth Child Institute is the heart and soul of bringing us together in harmony with the four-leggeds, winged, scaled, and leaves.” – Ann Smith

Bruno Maia, ECI Program Director, Latin America

Bruno holds a Master’s degree in Education for Sustainability from Griffith University in Australia and a bachelor degree in Social Communication from PUC-Rio in Brazil. His areas of speciality include education, social communication and sustainable tourism. He has 20 years of experience working with NGOs, private companies, governmental organizations, academic institutions an international agencies in more than 30 countries.

Karim Mumuni, ECI Program Director, Ghana 

Karim Mumuni has a degree in Social Work and is currently pursuing a B.S. in Psychology at University of Cape Coast. He worked with the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), monitoring and evaluating the performance of NGOs in this sector and assisting in the provision of portable drinking water, empowerment of rural women with skills, and promotion of girl-child education. As the research assistant of the Ghana MDGs/GCAP Secretariat, Karim coordinates the activities of the platform members representing various goals of the MDGs and organizes capacity-building workshops. In 2011 Karim established ECI Ghana, which has since engaged in projects such as empowering students to plant trees, conducting clean-up exercises (WASH), and organizing forums to educate students about the need to keep our environment green and sustainable.

Lee Frankel-Goldwater, ECI Advisor

Lee is a devoted social innovator and environmental educator. His work explores how collaborative approaches to community engagement can improve the design, implementation, and assessment of cross-border environmental initiatives. Lee's recent projects include a community-based planning initiative with Boulder Food Rescue, co-leading community development projects in Spain, Israel, and Costa Rica with The Sustainability Laboratory, and a leadership and action network study with the Savory Global Institute. He has also developed the Teaching Excellence and Onboarding Program for online instructors, as well as the AI Literacy Ambassadors, bringing together faculty from across campus to support teaching and learning in the age of AI. Lee's long-term professional goals include building new programs in transformative environmental education and helping to bridge gaps in cross-cultural understanding towards a more unified and equitable global society. Professor, University of Colorado.