Founder, José "Chencho" Alas, was born in El Salvador and served as a priest there until being exiled in 1977 for his work and advocacy on behalf of the poor and oppressed. He has worked in the fields of peace and rural development in Central America for the last thirty years.

Some of his experiences appear in his book, Church, Land, and Peasant Struggle.

Chencho received Peace Abbey's Courage of Conscience Award in 1991 and a Tanenbaum Center for Interfaith Understanding Peace Activist Award in 2000.

For more info on Chencho, click here.

Anabella Mejia, an architect, represents the FSSCA in El Salvador.

She accompanies delegations, serves as a liaison to local institutions, assists in report and grant writing, and provides logistical support.
Michelle (Shell) Balek, our Delegations Coordinator, has a Master's degree in Sustainable Development with a concentration in Community Development and Social Action at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, VT.
Program Manager Diana Maag Parker recently moved to Austin from New Orleans. She holds a BA in Geography from the University of New Orleans with a focus on Latin American Studies and Urban Economic Development.