Contact Us
World Cocoa Foundation
1411 K Street, NW Suite 1300
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202.737.7870
Fax: 202.737.7832
Email: wcf@worldcocoa.org
William Guyton
President
View Bio
Robert Peck
Program Director, Latin America
View Bio
Tracey Duffey
Program Director, Southeast Asia and West Africa
View Bio
Charlie Feezel
Education Program Director
View Bio
David Noyes
Education Program Coordinator
View Bio
Virginia Sopyla
Program Coordinator
Catherine Alston
Program Coordinator Cocoa Livelihoods Program
View Bio
Clementine Leahy
Administrator and Event Organizer
View Bio
Holly Houston
Finance & Budget Analyst
View Bio
Meg Young
Education Program Associate
Mbalo Ndiaye
Program Director Cocoa Livelihoods Program
View Bio
William Guyton
Bill Guyton is the president of the World Cocoa Foundation, private sector, non-profit organization supporting farmer outreach as well as environmental, health and educational programs. Currently, Bill oversees regional public-private partnership programs that focus on cocoa sustainability. He also helps to coordinate an international applied research program with USDA and other partners.
Bill assisted in forming the World Cocoa Foundation in July 2000, which now has nearly 70 chocolate companies and trade association members from North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Prior to joining the chocolate industry, Bill was Director of Business Development at the U.S. Grains Council where he helped to identify new market opportunities. Bill worked for more than 10 years in developing countries, advising and implementing agricultural and environmental programs for USAID, the World Bank, GTZ, OECD, Peace Corps and other development organizations. Bill holds a Master of Science Degree from Michigan State University in Agricultural Economics and a Bachelor of Science from Colorado State University.
In addition to his responsibilities at WCF, Bill is a member of several development and trade organizations including The Corporate Council on Africa (Board, Executive Committee, Agriculture Committee Chair), The Partnership to Cut Hunger in Africa (Board), The Alliance to End Hunger (Member), World Food Law Institute (Member), The Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development – AIARD (Executive Committee), and InterAction (Member).
Robert Peck
Robert is the program director of the World Cocoa Foundation. He is responsible for the technical and financial oversight of WCF programs, particularly in Latin America.
Before joining the Foundation, he worked at the Leveraged Finance Department at CIBC World Markets and at OPIC where he helped project teams negotiate outstanding loans in workout processes. For four years he directed natural resource and environmental programs for a government agency in Colombia.
Robert holds an MBA and a Masters in Public Policy degree from Georgetown University and a BS in Agricultural Studies from Iowa State University.
Tracey Duffey
Tracey Duffey is the program director for the Southeast Asia and West Africa programs of the World Cocoa Foundation.
Prior to joining the Foundation, she was the Africa Regional Director for Junior Achievement Worldwide establishing their Africa Regional Operating Center in Ghana. Tracey has worked in the field of entrepreneurial development, corporate social investment and institutional capacity building for over 15 years, nine of which she has spent working overseas in Sub-Saharan Africa, traveling within 24 countries in the sub-region. She has coordinated and implemented business development projects with corporate foundations, the European Union, USAID, and other development organizations.
Tracey holds a BA from Mount Union College. She began her international development career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mauritania under the Small Enterprise Development program.
Charlie Feezel
Charlie Feezel has worked in international development, primarily in Africa, since he was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Burundi in 1983. While working for the Peace Corps from 1985 to 1996, he trained over 3,000 Volunteers in teaching, business development and culture crossing skills. He has experience in program design and management, monitoring and evaluation, workforce development, education and economic growth. At USAID’s Africa Bureau in the Office of Sustainable Development Education Division, he was technical officer for the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help's Teachers for Africa program and the Ambassadors’ Girls Scholarship Program of President Bushes' Africa Education Initiative. He was the country backstop for Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Mauritania and Botswana. His work focuses on girls’ education, youth, workforce development, and organizational development in education.
David Noyes
David Noyes is the program coordinator for the ECHOES Program.
In 2008 David completed a two year service with Peace Corps in Burkina Faso as a secondary education volunteer teaching mathematics, physics, and chemistry at a large public high school. In addition to his teaching duties, David worked on introducing technology-based teaching methods at his school through the creation of a school Internet café, installation of a video projector in a teaching laboratory, and teacher training on finding resources online and using the relevant software to incorporate these resources into lessons in the classroom. David also worked on a number of additional projects including the development of a student theater group, school reforestation projects, and development of math and science research projects for inclusion in the school curriculum.
Prior to his Peace Corps service, David worked for seven years as a graduate and postdoctoral researcher in Astrophysics at the University of Maryland. During this time he also gained valuable university teaching experience.
David holds a PhD and BA in Physics from the University of Maryland and Boston University respectively.
Catherine Alston
Catherine Alston is the program coordinator for the Cocoa Livelihoods Program.
Recently she completed a two year service with Peace Corps in Burkina Faso as a community development volunteer focusing on gender development and girls’ education. During her service, Catherine facilitated baby weighing and vaccination days and worked with local health care providers to educate women on infant health and nutrition. She also developed and implemented three Girls’ Camps where young village girls came to learn about reproductive health, future careers and how to set and achieve goals. Catherine took the opportunity to travel through eight other Sub-Saharan African countries.
Prior to her Peace Corps service, Catherine accumulated over five years professional experience in Anthropological fieldwork and has held project management positions in the past.
Catherine holds a MA and BA in Anthropology from the University of Arkansas and Florida State University respectively.
Clementine Leahy
Clementine Leahy is the Administrator and Event Organizer of the World Cocoa Foundation.
Prior to joining the Foundation, she was working in the private sector as an import/export coordinator for a major logistics provider in France, her home country. She brings five years of experience in intercultural and client relationship management, as well as in global logistics.
Clementine holds a BS in International Logistics from Arnhem Business School in the Netherlands.
Holly Houston
Holly Houston is the Finance & Budget Analyst for the Cocoa Livelihoods Program.
She worked in the non-profit healthcare finance sector at Citigroup in New York for over three years prior to joining the Foundation. Her work included financial and credit analysis for healthcare providers issuing bonds to fund capital projects and the planning and coordination of annual industry conferences.
Holly has volunteered with Big Brothers / Big Sisters, Junior Achievement, the Capital Area Food Bank, and recently traveled to Honduras and Ghana's Village of Hope Orphanage on medical and educational missions.
Holly holds a BA in International Finance and French from the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University.
Mbalo Ndiaye
Mbalo Ndiaye is the Program Director for the Cocoa Livelihoods Program of the World Cocoa Foundation.
Prior to joining the WCF Cocoa Livelihoods Program, he served as Senior Advisor to FAS/USDA Agricultural Attaché in Francophone West Africa, especially in the areas of agricultural economy, trade and food security. Mbalo has also worked as program director for various U.S. and international PVOs in the region including Catholic Relief Services, Counterpart International and Plan International.
Mbalo holds an MSc in Natural Resources Management from the University of Minnesota, a Certificate in Advanced Environmental Studies from the University of Dakar, Senegal and a BS in Forest Sciences from the University of Dschang, Cameroon.