Who we are at Living Earth Institute (LEI)

The current economic conditions have affected all of us in one way or another. You can be confident that every donation to LEI, large or small, goes directly to communities in need. It is truly remarkable that a small non-profit group, founded in Seattle, can improve the lives of so many people in such a profound way.

The Living Earth Institute (LEI) was founded by a small group of people in Seattle in 1999. All LEI board members are volunteers, allowing donations to go directly to the communities we serve.

Pam Elardo, P.E.
Co-Founder and President

Pam is a professional engineer with over 20 years experience in regional and international infrastructure development. She first worked as a water supply and sanitation engineer in Nepal as a Peace Crops volunteer in the early 1980s. Since then, she has worked in the environmental engineering field with the Washington State Department of Ecology and is currently employed as a section manager for the King County wastewater treatment utility serving the greater Seattle area. In 1999, she started the Living Earth Institute (LEI) and has been actively involved ever since.

Rajeev Goyal
Vice President

Rajeev Kumar Goyal served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal from 2001-2003 after graduating from Brown University. Rajeev joined LEI in 2004 and founded the "Hope for Nepal" fundraising series, which has helped to build schools and rural water systems in Nepal. A graduate of NYU Law School, he is the co-author of "Missing Piece of the Puzzle: Caste and the Conflict in Nepal," published by the Center for Global Justice and Human Rights at the NYU Law School. He is currently serving as the national coordinator for the MorePeaceCorps.org Campaign.

Alice Lancaster, P.E. Alice Lancaster, P.E.
Treasurer

Alice is a professional engineer with 12 years of experience in water resource engineering. She has been working with LEI for four years, contributing to water supply and sanitation projects in Nepal and Nicaragua. For her day job she works with Herrera Environmental Consultants in Seattle, specializing in low impact development stormwater engineering.

Alice Lancaster, P.E. George Onwumere, PhD, P.E.
Secretary

George has more than 15 years of experience in water resources management, including 8 years with Washington Department of Ecology. His past project experience includes highway stormwater runoff characterization for BC Ministry of Transportation and Highways and developing the Coordinated Tribal Water Quality Program for the Quinault Indian Nation. He is currently the Directed Studies Unit Manager tasked with designing, implementing and assessing polluted water cleanup efforts in western Washington.