Amenyo Board of Directors
Rev. Dr. James Christensen
President: Jim grew up in Western Massachusetts and graduated from Springfield College with a BS in Psychology. After Springfield, Jim graduated from Andover Newton Theological School with a Bachelor of Divinity Degree and later from Bangor Theological School with a Doctor of Ministry Degree. In 1970, Jim was ordained in the United Church of Christ, a denomination in which he still holds ministerial standing. His parish ministries have been in South Berwick, Maine; Wooster, Ohio; Marblehead, Massachusetts, and Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Jim retired from active parish ministry in 2010.
A founding member of the Amenyo Foundation in 2013, since 1999 Jim has traveled to Ghana more than twenty times. During these 19 years he has participated as a partner with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, the Council of Chiefs and Elders of Kpenoe, the Mawuko Girls Senior High School in Ho, and the Schoonhaven Cured Lepers Village.
In the village of Kpenoe, Jim is known as Togbe Amenyo I, having been enstooled as a Development Chief. Jim serves a member of the Kpenoe Council of Chiefs and Elders.
Jim, along with his wife, Marcia, serves as leader for Amenyo Foundation’s annual group travel to Ghana. Persons involved in such travel have ranged in age from 8 to 84 years old and have included educators and students, clergy and seminarians, social workers and architects, artists and workers in medicine, entrepreneurs and retirees … all persons who wish to be part of living the Foundation’s ideals.
David I. Frothingham
Treasurer: David has always lived in the Northeast, attending high school in Massachusetts, and receiving his undergraduate degree from Colby College, in Waterville, ME. He later earned his MS in Financial Planning from Bentley University, in Waltham, MA. He has worked in financial services for more than twenty years.
David’s involvement with Kpenoe began more than a decade ago, which led to his first trip to Ghana with his family in 2010.
David’s has returned three times since including his fourth visit in 2018. An avid soccer player, David has been privileged to bring soccer balls, uniforms and other training equipment to Kpenoe as part of each of his past visits. In Ghana, soccer is, by a wide margin, the most popular sport.David was a founding member of the Amenyo Foundation, and has served as a Director and Treasurer since its inception. David lives in southern New Hampshire with his wife and two sons.
Deborah Hopkins
Director: Debbie Hopkins is a former educator and "production potter”. Having lived in Europe and Asia during her husband’s business assignments, she always harbored the desire to travel to Africa. Her dream was fulfilled when she joined one of the Christensen’s tours. She saw first hand how great the needs were and is one of the founding members of the Batik Boutique, sewing and seeking events in which lovely batik bags are sold to provide funds for further education of students in Kpenoe, Ghana.
Dr. John A. Brooks, Ph.D.
Director: John Brooks grew up in a military family, living in various locations in the United States. Graduating from Lexington High School, John later received an undergraduate degree from Boston University and Masters and Doctorate degrees in geology from the University of New Hampshire.
Prior to going to school for his graduate degrees, John worked as a professional carpenter and owned businesses specializing in antique boat restoration and energy savings.
Following gradation from the UNH, John worked for 28 years as a professional hydrogeologist, concentrating on the development, permitting, and protection of groundwater resources along the east coast of the United States and in the Dominican Republic. John is currently owner of Brooks Hydrogeologic Consulting, PLLCJohn recently had the opportunity to travel to Ghana with the Amenyo Foundation. He was thrilled to be introduced to the people of Kpenoe and learn about various aspects of life in the Kpenoe area. John is married to Janice Brooks. Their daughter traveled to Kpenoe with the Christensen’s in 2006.
Marcia A. Christensen
Director: Marcia Atkinson Christensen graduated from Lexington High School in Lexington, Massachusetts where she spent her entire childhood. She attended Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in English Secondary Education. Shortly after graduation she married James Christensen.
Although her degree was in English, Christensen spent most of her working life in the arts. First teaching visual art at Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Maine where she was also head of the arts department. When she and her husband moved to Ohio, she became Education and Exhibition Coordinator at Wayne Center for the Arts in Wooster, Ohio. Throughout this time she was also working as a professional artist and attending university classes in the arts and art history. She illustrated two young adult books: The Eyes of the Raptor and The Grey Ghost both written by Julie Hahnke. Currently she continues creating watercolor paintings and exhibiting throughout the United States.
In 1999 the Christensens went on their first mission trip to Ghana West Africa. Since that first trip Marcia has visited Ghana at least 20 times often co-leading groups with her husband. After discovering the beauty of Ghanaian batiks she organized an all volunteer group of sewers call the Batik Boutique which makes and sells beautiful batik items to raise money for the projects of Amenyo Foundation. All proceeds are returned to Ghana in the form of scholarships and addressing health needs
The Christensens have three children and three grandchildren.
Shirley Fredrick, MD
Director: Dr. Shirley A Frederick is a Family Medicine Specialist in Sanford, Maine. She graduated with honors from University Of Connecticut School Of Medicine in 1990. Having more than 30 years of diverse experiences, especially in FAMILY MEDICINE, Dr. Shirley A Frederick affiliates with many hospitals including Maine Medical Center, Southern Maine Health Care, York Hospital, cooperates with many other doctors and specialists in medical group Mainehealth.
Bruce McCracken
Secretary: Bruce grew up in the Atlantic City area and graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison with a B.S. in Geography and later from Clark University with a M.A. in Education. His early professional life started with four years of teaching geography in Acton, MA. He then cofounded a wood stove business followed by a year teaching middle school math and science in Gilman Vermont.
Though retired now, the remaining 34 years of his working days were spent teaching seventh grade Eastern Hemisphere geography in Wolfeboro, NH. Presently he sings in a church choir and in Clearlakes Chorale; a community chorus and serves on the board of the local food pantry, the town's energy committee, and his church's fundraising committee. He has travelled three times to Ghana with the Christensens and worked with his middle school to raise funds for the Kpenoe Junior High School. He has served on the board of Amenyo Foundation since it was incorporated in 2013
Kimberly Perrotta
Director: Kim holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the College of Wooster in Ohio. During her time at Wooster, she first had the opportunity to travel to Africa. Her love for the spirit and culture of Africa first took hold during her semester abroad in Nairobi, Kenya. She first traveled to Ghana in 2001 with her dad. This was just as the today’s vision of the Amenyo Foundation was just beginning. At that time, the focus was on finding batik fabric, and teaching people in the community how to sew ties to be sold to raise funds upon return home.
In 2002, She traveled again to Kenya in the summer after her college graduation. Her love for people and travel spurred her desire to become a nurse. In 2010, just before Kim started nursing school, she had the opportunity to travel again to Ghana and Kenya. She started the nursing program at MCC in the fall of 2010 and graduated with an Associate’s Degree in Nursing in 2012. She worked at Parkland Medical Center in Derry, NH as a staff nurse on the Medical Surgical Unit for 9 months and then moved to their Surgical Vascular floor for 2 years. She was the geriatric coordinator for the facility, who developed a plan to help Parkland become certified as a Senior-Friendly Facility through New York University’s NICHE (Nurses Improving Care of Healthsystem Elders) program. Then in 2014, she was able to travel back to Ghana with her family and during that trip, she worked in the nursing clinic at the EP church. The weeklong experience completely changed her practice and made her newly impassioned about nursing practice.
Partly due to this work in 2014, she was awarded the HCA Excellence in Nursing, Compassionate Care Award and also the NH Foundation for Healthy Communities’ Clint Jones Award. Then in the spring of 2015, she was promoted to the clinical leader of the Medical Surgical Unit, a position she held for 2 years. Kim achieved her Master’s Degree in Nursing Leadership and Management from Walden University in 2015. She joined the full time faculty at Manchester Community College in January of 2017.
Cashlyn Powers
Director: Cashlyn grew up outside of Boston and in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Post secondary education included engineering at NH Technical Institute and business management at Granite State College. She started Dream Catcher Works; a productivity, organization and design company.
The company primarily assists small business owners with the management of their company; writing policy and procedure and consulting. She went to Ghana with Jim and Marcia Christensen in 2014. Her fascination with the country and the people continues today. She loves the culture - ceremonial rights, family, the music and dancing, the faith.
Cashlyn loves working with other terrific people to join our brothers and sisters from across the world, deepening our understanding of the world and the beautiful people we share it with.
David Stansfield
Director: Dave Stansfield was born in Maine and grew up in South Berwick, graduating from South Berwick High School. Dave attended the University of New Hampshire and received a BS in Mechanical Engineering, Class of 1969. He began his career as a Mechanical Engineer/Program Manager that year at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Thirty-seven years later he retired from PNS, having worked in SUBMEPP, an engineering department
that specialized in planning maintenance for all the submarines in the US Navy’s fleet. Upon retirement he received a Meritorious Civilian Service award for his contributions to SUBMEPP and the NavyDave has always lived in South Berwick, the last forty years with his wife, Mary. His daughter, Dawn, lives in Lincolnville, ME with her children Will and Emily. Son, Jon, lives in North Berwick with his fiancé and his son, Jacob.
Dave is, and always has been, an active member of the First Parish Federated Church in South Berwick, serving on almost every committee and office. He’s currently Clerk. Dave’s years of retirement have been filled with volunteer work in the community: former board member of the non-profit Project Music Works, current treasurer of SoBo Central an umbrella non-profit that sponsors ten programs including the Food Pantry, Keeping South Berwick Warm fuel fund, friends of Powderhouse Hill ski slope, to name a few. Dave and Mary love to travel, camp, hike and snowshoe.
Dave has traveled on several mission trips: two to New Orleans for Katrina disaster relief, two to Maine Seacoast Mission with youth from church and one with the youth to Church World Service headquarters in Maryland. In September 2018 Dave and Mary traveled to Ghana with the Amenyo Foundation. They were moved by their welcome by the people of Kpenoe and the Schoonhoven Cured Leper Village.