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Staff & Volunteers
Gemma Givens
Founder
Gemma Givens is the founder of Next Generation Guatemala (NGG). Her story has been covered by the Associated Press, Nomada Magazine, Berkeley News, and Emmy Award winning documentary, The Lost Children of Guatemala, by Telemundo. Gemma was a speaker for the forum, Volverte a Ver, Niñez Desaparecida en Guatemala hosted by Grupo Apoyo Mutuo, guest lecturer for the UCLA course, Indigenous Diasporas: Adoption, and presented at the conference, 200 Years of CentralAmerica in the World/200 Jahre Unabhängigkeit Zentralamerikas in Berlin. NGG received an honorable mention in the new ideas for nonprofit organizations category for the 2020 Emprendete Guatemala competition.
Monica Appel
Social Media Moderator
Monica Appel was adopted from Guatemala in 1997 and raised in Northwest Indiana. Growing up, she was very interested in her Guatemalan heritage, but it wasn’t until she was a teenager that she actively began to explore it. She was an active member her university’s Latinx Student Union, and a member of a Latina oriented sorority. She came across Next Generation Guatemala in her final year of university and was happy to find a supportive community for adoptees. She is excited to meet other adoptees and continue growing the Next Generation Guatemala community.
Rebecca Baillie
Social Media Moderator
Hello everyone! My name is Rebecca. I was born Paola Maria and was adopted from Guatemala in November 1999 at 8 months old from a foster home. I was raised in rural Pennsylvania by a Irish American family. I began seeking my birth family in 2020 after many years of wondering about my cultural origins and suffering from the emotional toll of being adopted. I am currently still searching for my birth family but I am actively trying to both connect with other adoptees and reconnect with my Guatemalan heritage and indigenous culture. Right now I am pursing a certificate in medical Spanish to provide better access to care for my Latinx patients. I enjoy horseback riding, drawing and writing, and listening to podcasts.
Hallie Valentino
Website Designer
Hallie was adopted from Guatemala as a baby. After she met her birth family in 2018, she became eager to be more involved with NGG. She began unlocking what it meant for her to be a Guatemalan-American Adoptee. Hallie's hope for the website and other social media pages is to continue bringing together our community and providing a safe space for her fellow chapínes.
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