Meet our Board Members
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VICE CHAIR/FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE
My name is Simba Rusita; I am family and community oriented naturally. Growing up in the poorest nation (Burundi) in the world, taught me many lessons about the importance of belonging to a community. I love bringing people together and share food and conversations. Human beings can survive the harshest and most hostile political, economic, environmental, and physical conditions as long as they have support from one another.
Together, united as a people we can thrive and create our own heaven here on earth. It is my lifetime goal to lift my fellow human beings out of spiritual and financial poverty by helping them to access the right knowledge and necessary resources to reach and maintain their full potential. I have educated many youth in London, Somerset (England), and Burundi in the Old African doctrine of “UBUNTU” – love your neighbor as you love yourself. I helped many women with HIV to access micro loans to start up their businesses in Burundi. I have organized many artisan fairs in Burundi to promote the local artists and artisans to reach a wider market for their goods.
I have occupied countless leadership positions in Non-profits in England, Burundi and Uganda and help them with their strategic leadership plans, organizational structures and fundraising initiatives.
I hold a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management and International Business from The University of London South Bank University, London, England. I have 20 years of experience working with Businesses and NGO’s in five different countries on three different continents.
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Ronnie is the owner of Dirty Dawgs Pet Care of Tucson, a pet care business with two facilities offering dog boarding, daycare, grooming, and a DIY Dog Wash. Since moving to Tucson in 2012 with her husband Patrick, Ronnie has fallen in love with the vibrant community and unique desert landscape. A passionate advocate for sustainability, Ronnie believes in integrating eco-friendly practices into both businesses and non-profits. She is deeply committed to supporting Ishkashitaa, a local organization that promotes sustainability and assists refugees, and she actively works to make Tucson a more sustainable and inclusive community. When she’s not busy running her businesses or traveling, Ronnie enjoys gardening and escaping into the world of sci-fi novels.
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Mark retired from a long successful career in retail (Costco General Manager) in 1999 and moved to Tucson, where his wife of 43 years, Lynda, hails from. Determined to begin a new career in education (at age 50), he enrolled at Pima Community College where he received his associate degree in education and served as an officer with the East Campus Student Government. He went on to the University of Arizona, receiving a bachelor’s degree in education Summa Cum Laude in 2004 and a master’s degree in higher education in 2008. He served as an officer in the Future Teachers Club and vice president of Phi Lambda Theta, a teacher’s honorary, while at the University.
He began work as a teacher’s aide in a class for “at risk” students at Catalina High School (a low-income, inner-city school) in 2004 before becoming the school’s college counselor from 2006 to 2014. During that time Catalina’s post-secondary attendance went from less than 60% to over 80%. Catalina students earned in excess of $25 million dollars in scholarships. After retiring from this position, he was elected to serve on the Pima Community College Governing Board in November of 2014, which he chaired during 2016-2017. He currently serves on the Pima County Planning & Zoning Commission and as the chair of the Metropolitan Education Commission’s Executive Board. He has continued to counsel students of all academic and family income levels on being prepared for, applying to, and successfully funding their college aspirations.
Mark was awarded the Metropolitan Education Commission’s “Crystal Apple Award” in 2011 and the Century Link/Arizona Diamondbacks “All Star Teacher Award” in 2013. He has a long history of community service including serving as president of the Pima Community College Alumni Association, the Pima Community College Foundation and chair of the University Of Arizona Hillel Board Of Directors.
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Laura Porfirio is a lifelong Tucsonan and educator with 30 years of experience fostering learner autonomy, making meaning through contextualized instruction, and centering learner and community voices. She earned a BA in Anthropology and an MA in Education focused on participatory practice in teacher and student learning. She has taught all Adult Basic Education subjects, overseen daily operations at a large urban learning center, managed professional development programming for teachers, and led leadership and diversity training for adult education students and staff in Arizona and across the nation.
Her accomplishments include: scaling a student representational leadership and advocacy training program to become a statewide and national success, developing integrated education and workforce training pathways for adult learners, community organizing for grassroots power and connections to get local funding allocated to build two brand new facilities for adult education, and helping to launch digital storytelling in adult education in Arizona. She has served as President of Arizona Association for Lifelong Learning (AALL), developed model civics programming, and managed integrated basic education and skills training for students’ career pathways development.
Currently, Laura is a free-lance educator working as a trainer with Creative Narrations and Elevation Educational Consulting Group and doing other educational services consulting. As a trainer with Creative Narrations, she has been training participants representing adult education, tribal health, and community health workers to produce multimedia movies from their stories of lived experience. As a consultant/facilitator with Elevation Educational Consulting Group, she has done participatory research, curriculum and standards, and various trainings for education staff and leaders. She serves on the Awareness Committee for Arizona Association for Lifelong Learning and on the Students as Leaders Task Force for the Coalition On Adult Basic Education.
She believes that collaborative learning is transformative when people make real-world connections, tap into their knowledge and experiences, uncover their strengths, and become agents of change in their schools, families, communities and workplaces. Her involvement in story work and diversity training are natural extensions from her passion for building community and collective power and amplifying voices that need to be heard.
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BOARD CHAIR / FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE
Christina Early is a self-proclaimed desert rat, moving to Tucson from Houston, TX with her husband, Steve in 1990. She has recently retired from a career in the restaurant/service industry. She and her husband, Steve, owned and operated 2 restaurants in downtown Tucson over a 12-year period. Christina met Iskashitaa in 2004 when they participated in a market in downtown near their 1st Restaurant, Chris’ Café. She instantly loved the mission of Iskashitaa. She and Steve have volunteered for many events tabling events ever since. Chris has worked with Iskashitaa to obtain from the Arizona Department of Health Service our Cottage Law Registration. Christina has used her enjoyment representing Iskashitaa at events to further work with office staff and volunteers to establish procedures for successful community outreach experiences. Christina hopes to continue to assist Iskashitaa with the post-covid Culinary Division including food preservation and cultural cooking classes, fundraising luncheons while focusing on growing this wonderful organization.
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Devon Sanner graduated rom Rincon/University High School, he attended the University of Arizona as a Flinn Foundation Scholar and National Merit Scholar. Completing a bachelor’s degree in Russian and Political Science, he pursued graduate studies in Slavic Languages and Literatures and Language Education at Indiana University.
After a stint in Teach For America in Phoenix, Sanner decided to follow his passion and pursue a career professional cooking. Graduating with honors from Le Cordon Bleu Scottsdale Culinary Institute, he returned to Tucson to join the staff at Janos and J BAR, helmed by James Beard Award-winning chef Janos Wilder. Chef Sanner worked his way up the ranks from extern/commis to become Chef de Cuisine in 2009, honing his skills in Southwestern cuisine and classic French technique. When both Janos and J BAR closed in 2012, Chef Sanner joined Janos as Chef de Cuisine at Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails, executing a truly global menu. In 2016, Chef Sanner took on the role of Executive Chef in opening The Carriage House, an event space, cooking school, and catering operation, again alongside Janos Wilder. Additionally, Chef Sanner is a founder and President of the Gastronomic Union of Tucson, a not-for-profit affiliation of more than 3 dozen of Tucson’s best and most beloved chefs, fostering a culinary community of creativity, professional development, and community engagement in the United States’ first UNESCO designated City of Gastronomy. Sanner is also Tucson City of Gastronomy Chef Ambassador, representing Tucson at public events here and abroad. Chef Sanner’s restaurant, Zio Peppe, opened in May, 2021, and has quickly garnered acclaim and a warm reception in the Tucson community and beyond.
Chef Sanner has joined the Iskashitaa Refugee Network Board of Director where his culinary skills and business knowledge will be a great addition.
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He was immediately drawn to Iskashitaa Refugee Network after his first community harvest in 2011. As a pediatrician, his educational path included Johns Hopkins University, Tulane University, and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. He began his practice in Nogales as a member of The National Health Service Corps. Later, after practicing one year in Malawi, he completed his public health degree at the University of Arizona and ultimately joined their pediatric faculty practice, including serving as medical director of Casa de los Niños. He is committed to improving the social, emotional, and physical health of our most vulnerable residents. As a board member, he would like all Southern Arizonans to experience the social, cross-cultural and agricultural enjoyment of an Iskashitaa harvest and related activities to encourage inclusion.
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Joan is a Tucson resident of eight years. She is a microfinance consultant and has worked all over the world. She served on nonprofit boards since 2010, including her neighborhood association board. She joined the Iskashitaa board in 2014. She is committed to improving the lives of the refugees with whom Iskashitaa works, and to making Iskashitaa a more sustainable organization with greater outreach so as to benefit more refugees.
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Mathurin is originally from Chad, Africa, has an Associate in Business Management from Pima Community College and recently graduated with his Business degree with an emphasis in global business from NAU. Mathurin is was an AVID Tutor at Catalina Magnet High School, and now works in solar energy at Technicians for Sustainability. After serving as an AmeriCorps member for three years, Mathurin came to Iskashitaa with a deep appreciation of refugees’ challenges and the importance of community nonprofits. He served as Treasurerer on the Iskashitaa Board of Directors. His path as an Iskashitaa Board Member and volunteer aligns with his academics and future endeavors to make the world a better place.
In Memoriam
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We are deeply saddened to share the loss of our dear friend, supporter, volunteer extraordinaire, Roy DeBise-Loomis. Chef Roy gave tirelessly to Iskashitaa and individual refugee families, leading our culinary program, teaching food preservation workshops and directing innovative fundraising activities. The local food specialty items in our IskaShop are products of his creativity. Roy had a joyful, giving spirit that touched us all. We can only hope to continue his work and support his husband, Rolly Loomis, of 41 years during this time of grief.
"Roy fed people from all walks of life encouraging folks to gather at the table to share a meal and be in fellowship together.
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Robbie Dick was born in the Roaring Twenties in Ely, Nevada, a mining town in the northeastern Nevada high desert. She earned a degree in chemistry with a minor in math from Occidental College and worked as a chemist for a while. Then Robbie discovered she could work as a waitress and travel! So she did! First to National Parks all over and then to South America on a steamer. After marrying and having kids she and her family travelled to camp in Mexico and Europe. She has always contributed to the social activism of the Methodist Church most significantly, she and her husband were very active in the Citizen Diplomacy work at St. Francis. This involved fifteen trips to the Soviet Union to encourage dialog in an attempt to end the cold war. They have visited over twenty countries on several continents since 1995. In her lifetime of travel Robbie found that people may look different, eat different foods, and speak different languages, but are all basically the same wonderful human beings. That is why she felt passionate about Iskashitaa’s important effort, to interact with refugees and learn from them, as they learn from us. And she felt she had lived through too many wars. She wisely believed that if we get to know each other, we have a better chance for peace.
Learn about the Jim & Robbie Dick Memorial Social Justice Scholarship, dedicated in her honor, here
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Sue Troutman was a beloved long-time volunteer at the Iskashitaa Refugee Network (IRN) who sadly passed away in 2017. To honor her memory and to help continue her work supporting refugees, her husband has established the Susan Marie Troutman Refugee Advancement Fund which will be supported by the A.W. Aldag Family and local community members who would like to help our newest residents, who are currently volunteering/participating with Iskashitaaa programs, get a firm footing on their path to U.S. citizenship.
This program offers an annual award of up to $1,000 per applicant to support various educational activities. Money may be used toward driving school, tutoring, training toward certification/s (CPR, First Aid, Food Safety, etc.) and/or to obtain items/tools or services (laptop, internet access, etc.). The goal is to remove barriers that are in the way of helping individuals and families from gaining additional skills and self-reliance in their community.
The annual total funding is $5000, allowing for five or more scholarships to be awarded. Recipients will be required to account for how the funds were used with records and/or receipts.
All inquiries should be directed to: iskashitaascholarship@gmail.com
with subject line: SMT RefugeeAdvancementFund, or contact 520-440-0100.