Board of Directors

Writer, photographer, publisher, and naturalist Frances Klatzel recently co-founded CORE International to Create Opportunities and Resources for the Excluded. The present focus of CORE’s work is in Nepal, where she has lived and worked for many years - first, amongst the Sherpa people in the Khumbu region of Nepal in the 1980s; more recently, for a national park in the Makalu area and documenting development experiences.

Since 1998, she has owned and operated a small publishing company in Nepal, which produces books on culture, environment, and development. She has also helped fund raise for various worthy causes over the years. During these efforts and work for development agencies, she started wondering how to help those left out from conventional projects. CORE is the result of that quest.

Karen Barkley, Secretary-Treasurer

Karen Barkley has lived an eclectic life starting with a Bachelor Degree in Social Welfare from the University of Calgary, then on to a career as a dancer, choreographer and teacher. This led her to a Diploma in Arts Administration and working on international festivals and theatre in Banff, Alberta. Karen is an avid outdoor person enjoying climbing, skiing, hiking, biking and mostly just communing with nature. Her travels in India, Tibet and Nepal kindled in her a desire to give back and help create a more equitable world.

The passion in Karen’s life is women’s rights and the environment. After completing 2 years in Nigeria as a VSO volunteer doing capacity building with a Women’s Rights organization Karen is now living in Kathmandu, Nepal. Under the auspices of the Canadian Uniterra volunteer program she is working with FECOFUN – Federation of Community Forestry Users as an Organizational Development Advisor. As co-founder of CORE International Karen is now fulfilling a dream to be in the position to find and fund worthwhile projects.

Heidi Grasswick, Vice-chairperson

Heidi Grasswick is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Middlebury College in Vermont where she also teaches in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the Environmental Studies Program. A lifelong feminist, she has a strong interest in social and environmental justice issues, particularly in the international context. Originally from British Columbia, Heidi splits her time between Vermont and western Canada.

Jane Lewkonia, Board Member

Jane is a family physician who studied and practised medicine in U.K.before moving to Canada in 1976. She has been in family medicine for 35 years and completed training in Tropical Medicine and Community Health in 2003.
She has travelled and trekked in Nepal, India and Africa and recently worked with an N.G.O. for 3 months in remote hill village community clinics in the western districts of Nepal. Jane is married and has two sons.

Wally Berg, Board Member

Defined by his peers as "one of the world's premier mountaineers", Wally is a member of a small, elite group of high-altitude climbers. A proven leader, Wally's accomplishments in planning, organizing and leading successful mountaineering expeditions has established him as one of the world's foremost international adventure guides. Wally has stood on the summit of Everest four times and has had six successful ascents on 8,000 meter peaks, including Mount Everest, Cho Oyu, Lhotse, which was the first American ascent. Under the leadership of Berg, hundreds of people reach the tops of the continental high points known as the Seven Summits. During the 1990's, Berg became the foremost "Seven Summits" Guide.

Wally Berg is an accomplished photographer. His dramatic photography has been published in prestigious media such as National Geographic, Time Magazine Online, Wired Magazine, Mountainzone.com, among others.Wally Berg is the Founding Director of Berg Adventures International, in Alberta Canada. In 1999 Wally was made a Fellow of the Explorers Club.

Maureen McCall, MD, MPH, Health Advisor

Maureen studied at the University of Alberta and Queen’s University. She has 20 years experience as a Family Physician. Her interest in international health began with volunteer work in Honduras in the early 1990’s. In 1997, she graduated from Harvard’s Master of Public Health program. Dr. McCall’s international work has focused on primary health care and women’s health and sexual health issues in particular. She has worked in Central America, Bangladesh, Indonesia, China, Nepal and Tibet. This experience has given Maureen a deep interest and commitment to the work of CORE. She lives with her family in Red Deer, Alberta.