We all experience powerful life-changing moments, and this story tells one of mine. I started coaching refugee boys soccer five years ago. Our teams were called the Fugees and competed all over Georgia. At first, I expected to be involved in their lives as a coach; never did I think that these kids would become my extended family. One day during my first season, I was dropping a kid home when I looked over at him and noticed he was holding his stomach.
"What's wrong?" I asked. "I am hungry," he responded.
"Don't worry about it, you'll be home soon and you can get something to eat." I responded, thinking that he was trying to get me to pick up some fast food for him.
"No, there is no food at home," he reported.
I struggled to understand, "There must be something, bread, cheese..."
"No, Coach, it's that time of the month."
"Time of the month?" Later I found out that "time of the month" means the time the food stamps run out. That night I walked him to his apartment. Inside, it was complete darkness. I looked for food, but there was none. Instead, I found his mother huddled in the corner of the living room, rocking back and forth, shaking her head, and muttering, "I work hard every day, every day I work."
After buying groceries and trying to draw a budget for his family (and failing miserably), I realized that I had barely scratched the surface. I felt so naive and helpless. Children living less than five miles away were going to bed hungry, because their parents weren't getting paid enough to make ends meet.
This is just one of many experiences with my players that has completely changed the way I see the world. The past five years have been a wonderful yet terrifying journey led by the children I coach, who guide me and keep me accountable every day for the decisions I make. It is because of them that I have founded the Fugees Family, and it is for them that I ask you to join our family.
Sincerely,
Luma Mufleh
David Williams, President
David is a Partner in the Atlanta law firm of Sheley Hall PC, a law firm that specializes in real estate transactions, leasing and workouts. David’s extensive experience includes work as a Partner in the Atlanta offices of both Seyfarth Shaw and King & Spalding. David’s specialty is representing real estate funds in connection with the formation and structuring of the funds, the acquisition, development, financing and disposition of the funds’ real estate portfolios. David studied French and German at Oxford University and earned his J.D. at the University of Chicago Law School. He is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, and the American Bar Association.
Sara Beth Watson, Secretary/Treasurer
Sara Beth is a Manager in the Corporate Strategic Federal Tax Services group at the Atlanta office of Grant Thornton LLP, where she has specialized in Research & Development tax credits and other corporate tax incentives for the past 5 years. Sara Beth is a member of the Atlanta Black-Jewish Coalition, Project Understanding Class of 2009, a young leadership program sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Atlanta. Sara Beth is a Georgia CPA and a member of the AICPA. She earned her MMA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and her Master of Accountancy from the University of Florida.
Kathy Bremer is the Managing Director of BoardWalk Consulting, a non-profit consulting group specializing in matters involving non-profit board development. Kathy has extensive experience in both public relations and non-profit management. For 8 years, she was Partner and Managing Atlanta Director of Porter-Novelli. Kathy also worked for several years as the Senior Vice President for External Relations for CARE, managing strategic planning, marketing, fundraising, and corporate partnerships.
Joy DiBenedetto is the Founder and Chief Editorial Strategist for Human Unlimited Media, a.k.a. HUM and HUMNEWS, working to build the world’s first and only full world, all-nation news agency. Until March of 2008, she was vice president of network booking and research for the CNN News Groups. She joined CNN in 1995, and went on to create and manage GuestSource, CNN’s guest booking service for television and radio affiliates. Prior to this, Joy was a press officer for CARE, the international relief organization, and a caseworker handling senior citizens for New York City.
Elise Eplan is currently self-employed as a Philanthropic Consultant. In the most recent past, Elise served as Vice President for Special Initiatives of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Prior to this, Eplan was the Program Director for The America Project, an urban community development program of The Carter Center. Elise was also the founding president of Hands On Atlanta, and she currently serves on the Hands On Atlanta advisory board. Elise is also the past President of the Atlanta Chapter of the American Jewish Committee.
Lynda Herrig is an Associate Partner at Newcomb and Boyd where she began her career as a mechanical engineer. Her work has included mechanical system design and project management responsibilities on over 80 projects. Lynda is a LEED 2.2 Accredited Professional and is also an ASHRAE HFDP Healthcare Facility Design Professional and serves as a corresponding member of ASHRAE's Technical Committee TC9.6 Healthcare. In 1997, Lynda took a 10 year break from Newcomb and Boyd to teach science at The Paideia School before returning to the firm in 2007. She is a member of the American Society for Healthcare Engineering and is on the board of a small non-profit called GAIA Vaccine Foundation. Lynda holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Smith College.
Esmael Hill is a Retail Services and Investment Sales Professional based in Cushman & Wakefield’s Atlanta office. Esmael is primarily focused on the acquisition and disposition of single-tenant, net lease assets. Prior to joining Cushman & Wakefield, Mr. Hill worked as an Investment Banker in Atlanta with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., and as a Project/Construction Lender in the SunTrust Commercial Real Estate Finance Group. Esmael received a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Real Estate from Georgia State University. He is an active member of the ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers), the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors, and the Atlanta Silverbacks Soccer Club.
Betsy Holland is Director of Corporate Responsibility for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. In this role, she oversees the company’s community outreach efforts, corporate contributions, government affairs, and environmental sustainability programs. She began her career at Turner Broadcasting in 1997 as one of the founding members of the company’s Corporate Affairs department. She is a member of the LEAD Atlanta class of 2006, a program of Leadership Atlanta. Betsy currently sits on the Board of Directors for ToolBank USA, and serves on the Board of Deacons at Morningside Presbyterian Church. She is a graduate of Smith College and holds her certification in community relations from Boston College.
Beth Jordan is currently involved in outreach at Northside United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. As a member of the Northside Missions Board, Beth has been instrumental in launching “A Great Day of Service,” a service initiative encouraging volunteerism among Northside members. Beth also has a passion for service work in Central and South America. She has been an active volunteer at The Westminster Schools of Atlanta, serving on the Parent Council for over fourteen years, and she volunteers at RRISA (Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Service of Atlanta) with the Threads of Hope program. Beth has experience as a Software Engineer for Columbia Chemicals, and as a consultant at Arthur Andersen with an emphasis in Management Information Systems. Beth graduated from The University of Georgia with a degree in Management Information Systems.
Holly Leeson is involved in outreach and missions at Northside United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. In her previous work, she was a private job coach for young adults with autism entering the workforce for the first time. Prior to that, Holly spent 10 years teaching in the Fulton County, Clayton County and Atlanta City School systems where her focus was on severely emotionally disturbed adolescents. Part of her tenure teaching was at the South Metro Psycho educational program, a facility serving children who could not be educated in a traditional school setting. Holly has also held a number of volunteer positions at Morris Brandon Elementary, and at Lovett and Westminster Schools. At Lovett she served on the new parent capital campaign. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Education.
Ellen Macht is a consultant assisting nonprofits with merger opportunities, operating needs and board governance issues. Ellen has over thirty years of experience in the private sector and as the Executive Director of The Clean Air Campaign, a large nonprofit that focuses on reducing traffic congestion and improving air quality. Ellen has also worked at several banking and corporate finance firms, including Arthur Andersen, NationsBanc Montgomery Securities (now Bank of America) and Manufacturer’s Hanover Trust (now JP Morgan Chase). Ellen holds a BBA from Emory University and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She serves on the Goizueta Alumni Board of Emory University; she has also served as a former board member of GOAL, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping young women of today become leaders of the future, as a steering committee member of Mothers and Others for Clean Air, and on the Governor’s Telework Taskforce.
Molly McMahon is the Program Officer for Gray Matters Capital, focusing on development of a school rating system for the affordable private school market in India. Prior to joining Gray Matters Capital, Molly was the Country Director for the Riecken Foundation in Honduras. She has also been an Education Pioneer Fellow and a Peace Corps Volunteer. Molly has a Master of Public Administration degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), and a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs from the University of Oregon.
Luma Mufleh, ex officio member
Luma is founder and director of Fugees Family, Inc., which incorporated as a non-profit organization in 2006. Luma has coached soccer for over 10 years, and is currently the head coach of the Fugees Soccer teams. She has owned two small businesses: Fresh Start for America, a cleaning business employing refugee and immigrant workers, and Ashton’s, a coffee shop and café. She earned her BA in Anthropology from Smith College.
Tracy Ediger, ex officio member
Tracy is co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Fugees Family, Inc. She directs all volunteers and educational activities for Fugees programs. She earned her MD/PhD degrees from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2003, and has worked for the Maine Centers for Women, Work, and Community; as well as volunteered at Jubilee Partners in Comer, Georgia, teaching English and cultural courses to incoming refugees.
Fugees Family, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to working with child survivors of war. We build upon the power of soccer to galvanize these kids by giving them the support and structure they need to realize their vast potential. Five years ago, Coach Luma Mufleh started a Fugees team to provide refugee boys with free access to organized soccer. Since then, our programming has grown to include year-round soccer for 86 boys and girls aged 10-18, after-school tutoring and soccer for 50 elementary-aged students, a private academy serving 36 students, and an academic enrichment summer camp.
The Fugees Family provides a space for the kids to heal and meet others like them, from different countries, who have been through similar experiences. The players might begin by regarding one another with distrust or even hostility. By conducting drills with various players grouped together and enforcing an English-only policy at all times, the kids learn to cooperate. Africans and Asians, Northern and Southern Sudanese, Muslims and Christians, Sunni and Shia Muslims - they all play on the same team, finding their commonalities instead of focusing on their differences. Their bonds make them more secure in their own identity and more capable of acclimating to the mainstream.
The Fugees Family works to afford our kids equal access to the educational opportunities others in their age group have, helping them to acquire the social and academic skills necessary to succeed. Our goal is for the players to work hard and graduate from high school with a plan for college, technical school, or job training. We are committed to an approach that takes the whole individual into account: we are consistently involved in all areas of the kids' lives, we set high expectations on and off the field, we foster a familial atmosphere, and we have fun.