Our Leadership

Barbara “Bobbi” Hess
Chairperson

Bobbi Hess was a management consultant and chief operating officer for Strategic Insight in Arlington, VA, from where she retired in 2025. She has more than 40 years experience in strategic planning, program planning, and budget development for major defense programs; and federal and Department of Defense training institutions. Over the years, she also has been an active volunteer serving in leadership positions for church, her sons' schools, and the Boy Scouts. She enjoys traveling (especially to Honduras), hiking, entertaining, reading a good book, and most of all, doting on her two granddaughters. Bobbi lives in Burke, VA with her husband Doug. They have two sons. Bobbi has a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from George Washington University, a Masters in Engineering Management from George Washington University, and an Executive Certificate in Non Profit Management from Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy.

Ken Ballinger
President

Ken has worked in Sales and Marketing, New Business, and Market Devlopment in clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine for Johnson & Johnson, Dupont, and Con Agra. He was president of Environmental Bio-control, a unit of the Dupont Company. He currently serves on the Development and Senior Management team of Arkion Life Sciences Company, which is focused on humane, non-lethal control of birds, both in agriculture and urban settings, and avian influenza. Ken has a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Bowdoin College and Masters in Marketing and Finance from Long Island University Post.

Amber Raibley, N.P.
Vice Chairperson

Amber Raibley has worked as a Trauma/Acute Care Surgery Nurse Practitioner for Evansville Surgical Associates since 2012. She attended Indiana University School of Nursing and worked as a critical care nurse for 5 years. She then attended University of Southern Indiana where she obtained her MSN with specialty in Acute Care. In her spare time she loves to hike, cheer for Indiana University Athletics and travel, especially internationally. Her love for travel and career in surgery prepared her for her first trip to Manos Amigos in January of 2020. Amber resides in Newburgh, IN.

Bruce Bryan
Treasurer

Bruce worked for 24 years at ICI Americas (N/K/A AstraZeneca) in Wilmington, DE in both the International Division and the Tax Department, retiring in 1998 as the Federal Tax Manager. Since retiring, he has been the sole owner of R. Bruce Bryan Associates, LLC specializing in providing tax advice and return preparation for various small businesses and individuals including partnerships, corporations, S corporations, trusts, estates, non-profit organizations and limited liability companies.

Bruce has served Westminster Presbyterian Church in numerous volunteer capacities. He has been a trustee, president for WPC during the construction of the 4th wing, tax advisor, member of the long-term planning team, treasurer of the Endowment Fund, and a member of the sound board team.

Bruce has a BS degree in accounting and a MS in Taxation from Drexel University. He is also an Enrolled Agent as designated by the Internal Revenue Service.

Bruce and his wife, Nancy, reside in Westtown, PA and have a daughter, son and five grandchildren.

Karen Ensley
Secretary

Karen is a freelance writer and photographer with some unique work experiences. She was selected as one of three FBI-approved photographers to stand alongside Air Force Two to photograph then U.S. Vice President Al Gore. Karen has worked for multi-national corporations, including numerous years for Air Products, photographing high tech equipment to CEO’s. Her work with non-profit organizations includes photographing annual events featuring hundreds of motorcyclists raising funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association as well as work in Malawi and Honduras. In order to write first person stories for magazines, Karen rappelled inside a cave and drove a racecar- quickly learning to drive stick shift- to race 160mph at Pocono Raceway. Her work has been published nationally and internationally in books, magazines, newspapers, brochures and calendars. Karen’s greatest joy is her family. She is married to Rick, her childhood sweetheart, for 46 years. They are blessed with 3 daughters, 3 sons-in-law, and 5 grandchildren. Whether it’s visual, musical or theatrical, Karen enjoys the arts. She likes reading, gardening, hiking, biking, kayaking and photographing nature’s beauty. She especially loves traveling. She also assists in organizing brigades to the Manos Amigas clinic from First Presbyterian Church of Allentown, PA.

Annina Arthes
Vision Programs

James “Jim” Hatfield
Logistics

Richard “Rick” MacKenzie, MD, MBOE, FACEP, LSSBB
Medical Programs

Rick, was an Emergency Physician and an innovative physician executive for 38 years. During his tenure at Lehigh Valley Health Network located in eastern Pennsylvania, Rick served as the Associate Chief Medical Officer of Productivity, Medical Director for Organizational Effectiveness, and Senior Vice Chair for Operations and the Department of Hospital and Emergency Medicine. He helped create a continuous clinical perspective in the application of Lean Management, Organizational Development, Quality Improvement, and Project Management principles across LVHN. During his career, Rick pursued further operational science knowledge. He holds a Master of Business in Operations Excellence and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from the Fisher School of Business at the Ohio State University. Academically, Rick was a member of the Core Faculty of the LVHN EM Residency and Associate Professor of Medicine for University of South Florida College of Medicine. He published several peer review articles in Emergency Medicine and health systems change. Rick lives with his wife Trisha in Pleasantville, NJ.

Ted Strand
Assistant Treasurer

Peter “Pete” Thompson, D.D.S.
Healthcare Services & Dental Programs

Pete Thompson served in the US Naval Dental Corp and practiced general dentistry for 35 years in West Chester, PA where he was a partner in Sumner, Spellman, and Thompson, P.C. before retiring. Pete has been active in the West Chester community serving on the West Chester Area School District Board of Education, the board of the Friends Association for the Care and Protection of Children, and the West Chester Rotary Club. He volunteered for several years at Community Volunteers in Medicine and since 2011 has held the position of Vice President of Dental Affairs. He has also been an Adjunct Instructor of Dentistry for Temple University School of Dentistry. Pete has traveled to Mexico and Honduras as part of dental teams treating the underprivileged. Pete received his Doctor of Dental Surgery from Temple University Dental School.

Michael “Mike” Tysowsky, Ph.D.
Vision Programs

Since joining the Board in 2004, Mike has made more than 50 visits to Honduras, where he guided the establishment of an interim clinic along with Bob Sumner. He coordinated the planning, design and construction of the new healthcare center. He served as a catalyst for building a medical network, seeking out diverse international partners and identifying ways in which each could work in a collegial environment in support of the new clinic. He is actively engaged with leaders in the host community and in developing strategic direction, seeking financial support and developing programs that contribute to the building of social infrastructure. Mike, an entomologist and now retired, former biosciences executive from Zeneca in Wilmington, DE, worked in R&D, new product development, marketing, public, environmental and scientific affairs and held leadership positions at national trade associations in Washington, DC and on the West Coast. His areas of interest are public health, communications, strategic planning and implementation. Mike has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Wake Forest University, a Masters in Entomology from West Virginia University, and a Ph.D. in Entomology from University of Maryland.

Robert Sumner, D.D.S. (1932 - 2025)
Founder

Robert “Bob” Sumner practiced dentistry for 36 years in West Chester, PA, where he was a partner in Sumner, Spellman, and Thompson, P.C. In 1987, he took the first of numerous trips abroad to provide dental care to people in need. He retired from practicing dentistry in 1995. In 2003, he founded Serving at the Crossroads.

Bob often spoke about reaching a crossroads in life—moments when we must choose our path. When he retired he found himself at his own crossroads, and he chose service. He found that helping others wasn't just about meeting their needs; it was about building relationships, fostering dignity, and empowering communities to care for their own. As Bob once reflected, his vision may have started all of this, but as he always insisted, it took the hearts, hands, and generosity of countless volunteers and donors to make it real.

We miss Bob's gentle leadership, his emotional stories about patients that would bring him to tears even years later, and his unwavering belief that we all have something to give.

Thank you, Bob, for showing us the way. Thank you for choosing to serve at the crossroads. And thank you for inviting us to join you on this remarkable journey of service. May you rest in peace, knowing your legacy lives on—in the clinic that bears witness to your vision, in the lives saved and transformed, and in each of us who were privileged to know you and work alongside you.