Helen Marquez
Executive Director
Helen Marquez has more than 25 years of experience in both non-profit and for-profit operations and financial management. Her many accomplishments in both sectors include spearheading the implementation as project manager of the first project funded by a San Francisco Department of the Environment alternative energy and efficiency grant, and managing more than $2 million in environmental justice and capital improvement grants through the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Community Development. She created, negotiated and implemented employment services in collaboration with the San Francisco Giants and others. Her experience also includes grant writing, city and county grant requirements, government compliance, accounting and fiscal systems, financial audits and reporting, human resources, business forecasting, labor union negotiations, and dispute resolution. She has a strong background in non profit management and city and county contract compliance experience.
While the first half of her career was spent in the private sector, including management-level positions in commercial banking, the hotel industry, and the legal field, Helen began working with nonprofits and the public sector in 1997. She managed a $1.7 million annual budget as Chief Financial Officer for Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, a multipurpose community center that offers more than 30 programs for individuals and families including employment training, day treatment for physically disabled seniors, after school tutorials for children and youth, cultural sensitivity, peer counseling, and home supervision for youth on probation. As Fiscal Director for Mt. Diablo Habitat for Humanity, she handled the financial management of three housing subdivisions, and government compliance for federal housing grants in Contra Costa County and for Habitat International. Prior to joining Resource Development Associates, Inc. (RDA) in 2005, Helen was the Accounting Manager for John F. Kennedy University, where she had oversight responsibility for the accounting functions and cash management of more than $30 million in student loans including part time staff accountant for the Pacific Southwest Conference of Evangelical Covenant Churches and has spent most of her adult life serving those most in need. Her dreams and her passion to helping to bring families together, are the driving force in her vision for the future. Helen believes in the power of joint ventures for many solutions in business and in non profit. No one said a non profit could not be run like a business, it should, with the profits going back to continue with the mission of the organization and if unrelated business income occurs, then we should pay taxes.
Business is good for non profits and will continue to sustain non profit agency's needs as continued donations fluctuate. As progam funding become dependent on grant cycles, cities and counties funding, and the competition for a very limited pool of money become scarce, many great senior, youth and community based fantastic programs have been closed just because of lack of funding or reduction in donations. This method of raising funds or preparing for long term growth under these uncertain economic times has seen better days. Non profits have to become self reliant. She knows as she has had to endure a series of lay offs and reduction in workforce for just those reasons.
Ms. Marquez is currently providing consulting and business management assistance to International Manufacturing Source Solutions Ltd. (IMSS) its genesis was the founding partners' needs to maintain a competitive edge in the face of escalating manufacturing costs in their own companies. In those early experiences, they saw a need and have shaped a company whose single, unique focus is to help other companies profit from their lessons learned. It is the sole function of IMSS to help others through the daunting task of initiating offshore production capability. The IMSS team is dedicated to building stable, working relationships and facilitating commerce between offshore manufacturers and stateside clients. IMSS is a working conduit for global supply chains. Ms Marquez is taking the opportunity to learn international trading from IMSS to prepare Eco Dream to compete in the global economy and to provide services worldwide. In the meantime, Helen also offers her services to New Connections www.newconnections.org serving those in need as Finance Director as she continues to serve those most in need.
Helen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration, and an Executive MBA from Trinity College and University, NY specializing in non profit management. She is fluent in Spanish and French.
Logan Starman
Director of Sales & Marketing
logan@ecodream.org
Logan was born in Paris, France, is a father of a 16-year old daughter, and claims to have been a "workshop junkie" for most of his adult life, studying a wide range of topics including communication, teamwork and leadership, neuro-psychology, theology, meditation, and his favorite of all, relationship dynamics. With an Argentinean father and French mother, Logan lived his early childhood in South America before moving to Canada where he lived until his early 30's. Today Logan lives in Northern California where he works as a development consultant for a variety of businesses and non-profit organizations.
Logan has been leading teams most of his life. When he was 12 years old, he brought together and led a group of schoolmates interested in what was then very popular (before computers took over the gaming industry), “role-playing” games such as “Dungeons & Dragons.” By the time he was in high school, this game, which he had invented, had become so popular that several groups had been created to play it and he was urged year after year to have it published. Ever since then,he has toyed with the idea of developing it as a most unique “team-based” computer game.
Immediately after high school, he became interested in filmmaking and more specifically, directing. To obtain development funding for a feature-length screenplay he had written, he put together a team of independent filmmakers, producing with them several promotional shoots involving street-kids and raising interest in his script. Later, a producer offered to purchase his screenplay outright (which would have made him well over $350,000 if he had given up his right to direct it).
Throughout his twenties he continued to form and lead film and video production teams and companies. Eventually he found that his talent and interest was more in leading teams for project and business development, as well as understanding relationship dynamics, than in the industry of filmmaking. By the time he reached his thirties, he left the film and video industry altogether and moved into consulting; leading relationship-based workshops, then found his niche in “team- based” consultancy focused on business, relationship and personal development.
Three years ago, after several years offering coaching to a variety of clients, Logan realized something most important about achieving “success”, something that our world’s greatest entrepreneurs (including Donald Trump and Bill Gates) have said many times before in one way or another: No person has ever reached a significant level of success without a team. Noticing that his clients who worked with a team based model became significantly more successful than those who worked alone, he decided to develop a unique “team-based” program for those clients who did not have a team to work with. He called this program DreamTeam Success Groups and, after three years of research and development, he considers it a most indispensable program for those wanting to achieve success in areas such as business and project development.
His DreamTeam Success Group is exactly what Ecodream was looking for and Logan was hired to lead its successful business development division and its new teams, taking the agency to another level. Logan's love and dedication to the mission of Ecodream as he takes his place within the organization, strategizing with staff, our Board of Directors, as we create alternative paradigm shifts in housing, business, research and technological advances to create green collar jobs, while building green sustainable entry level housing and reach for the future social economic challenges.
Certified as a Public Trainer and NLP practitioner, Logan taps into 15 years' experience in business development, interpersonal studies and social work to compliment his ability at delivering effective consultancy in the areas of business, relationship and personal development. With over 10 years' experience developing and leading various production teams, as well as several years leading coaching- based groups, Logan's passion for and understanding of relationship and team dynamics enables him to provide excellent results-oriented coaching in team-based settings serving the organization, and the community with evidenced based best practices approach to training for the jobs of tomorrow while leading Sales and Marketing at the agency today. We are very fortunate to have Logan on board with Ecodream.
Benjamin P. Bailon
Director of Community Affairs
Benjamin Bailon brings 30 years experience working with community, non profit agency, State of California, experience injob creation and retention programs and was the apprenticeship coordinator for the Port of Oakland for many years since retiring. With his expertise dealing with city and county government entities, Ben brings a tremendous ability to seek opportunities for those most in need, to create economic development in depressed communities where we may be building.
Other Staff are hired per project or as needed for special projects.
Please Note:
Enrique AKA (Rick) Garza Reyes is currently not affliated with Ecodream Affordable Housing, Inc, nationally, locally or internationally As of July 1, 2008. Please contact our office if you have pending business. Thank you 800-925-0390.
Rick Garza Reyes
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