About Us
SevaChild has developed a unique network of Indian humanitarian organizations that serves the
most critical needs of the world’s largest population of impoverished people.
SevaChild is an American 501(c)(3) public nonprofit organization.
Our international headquarters is in Idyllwild, California and our Indian affiliate’s headquarters is in Delhi.
Our Focus
- The prevention of vitamin A deficiency disease (VADD), the world’s number one cause of childhood blindness
- Disaster Relief--providing one-month food rations to thousands of families facing hunger and starvation due to natural catastrophes.
- The prevention of disease from contaminated water; drilling wells and installing water pump systems in remote rural villages where the availability of clean drinking water has become a serious issue.
Board of Directors
Rick Carlton
Rick began volunteering In the 1980s to bring international attention to the plight of the Tibetan people while maintaining a career in the health and nutritional industry. He has served for the last 12 years as the president of SevaChild. His focus has been on protecting young children from the ravages of vitamin A deficiency disorders; providing micronutrients to women of childbearing age; and, most recently, on providing clean drinking water by constructing water wells in rural villages where contaminated water sources are causing serious health problems. His interest in, and concern for, the plight of impoverished families in India is the driving force behind this initiative.
Ed Kelly
Chief Financial Officer and Director, Planned Giving
As President of Hearthstone Wealth Management, Ed worked with 14 financial planning professionals in six states, imparting comprehensive financial strategies to clients. His expertise includes tax diversification and Roth conversion strategies, as well as charitable giving approaches that benefit both the donor and the 501(c)(3) organization. Ed is a founding member of SevaChild’s board of directors and serves its donors with his wise counsel for alternative giving.
Ed’s wife Val has been the President of the Peninsula Committee Children’s Hospital in Palos Verdes, California, through which she was instrumental in garnering over $500,000 per year for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Ed and Val have been married for 38 years.
Lynn Wallace Walker
Having moved west to California from Pennsylvania in 1966, Lynn majored in communications at Chapman University, then received her Master’s and Ph.D degrees in communications from Honolulu University in 1995. She has served as the director of the Plantation Health Spa in Hawaii, consulted on holistic health, and traveled the world as Social Director with Holland America Line for Semester at Sea. Having performed and lectured nationwide on the environment to hundreds of audiences for 14 years, she is an avid environmentalist, videographer, producer, singer, and mother. Among her colorful achievements is working with the USO, performing in Thailand and Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
Over the years, Lynn has assisted many authors in bringing their works to publication. With a background mainly in production, video production, and the organization of large events, Lynn brings her considerable acumen to SevaChild. Her passion for helping to make a difference in the lives of children is a formidable asset for SevaChild International.
Jeff Bibler
Jeff has been passionate about serving the world’s poor since studying international relations as an undergraduate. After earning his MA in international relations in 1993, he volunteered full-time in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas to provide hospice care to the terminally ill. He then served with the nonprofit organization Trees for Life for five years, where he managed sponsorship programs at rural schools in India and was a member of a groundbreaking vitamin A campaign in the Orissa state of India that reintroduced knowledge of the moringa tree and its vitamin A-rich leaves. The campaign has since spread to West Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central American countries.
Jeff has also been an educator for over fifteen years and taught English and video production skills to students in Allahabad and Orissa. He also founded and ran his own tutoring business in Encinitas, CA. He is currently a substitute teacher and the development director for SevaChild.
His passions include tennis, hiking, meditation, and international travel. He lives in Encinitas, where he spends time in nature when he’s not teaching or serving the work of SevaChild.
SevaChild Advisors
Lisa Piner
A native of Boston, Lisa Piner has lived in southern California since 1960.
Having previously served as Assistant Financial Officer and Recording Secretary for a 501(c)(3) public nonprofit organization that also delivered funding for the education and medical relief of the needy in India, she has been involved in every aspect of running a nonprofit. Similarly, Lisa handles bookkeeping, editing, and office management for SevaChild. She brings her remarkable energy and twenty-plus years of experience in service of its vision.
Richard Bergin
Richard has been a cameraman and filmmaker since his teens, when he began creating music videos, then drama and social commentary documentaries His clients include the BBC, BBC World Service and other high-profile clients, and his subject matter ranged from pesticide abuse and poverty in the Dominican Republic, homelessness and activism in the United States, wildlife in Brazil, and spirituality and poverty in India.
Richard recently stated that he believes SevaChild "is one of the most effective small charities he has seen," and feels it is ready to expand exponentially because of its well-proven achievement of small-cost delivery per child. “Why would you choose another charity when SevaChild can deliver such life-changing benefits for only pennies per child?”
Richard feels his filmmaking skills, passion to change injustice in the world, and love of India, will help SevaChild communicate its vital message of hope; that by transforming the lives of undernourished children in India, we enrich ourselves and literally change the world.
Dawn Papaila
Service may be in Dawn’s DNA. Her father was the Executive Director of the Sacramento Chapter of the American Red Cross after serving 26 years in the Air Force. And her mother worked to expand access to affordable housing in California.
In her early 20’s, Dawn worked for CIGNA supporting vocational rehabilitation counseling for injured workers. She was later promoted to the position of Operations Manager to redesign how services were delivered across seven offices in four states. Her ability to facilitate and implement process redesign resulted in an invitation to join an elite team of Corporate Systems Planners within Community Care Network led by Deloitte Touche.
After graduate school, Dawn focused on helping employees and organizations succeed by designing systemic workplace learning and performance solutions. From 2004 to 2007, Dawn worked for Tata Interactive Systems, a custom eLearning company based in Mumbai, India. That experience underscored her appreciation for what the US and India offer to one another and the world.
Years later, Dawn formed a woman-owned business to provide workplace learning and performance support for global organizations including TIAA, ACCO Brands, CIGNA, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Microsoft, Raytheon, Northwest Airlines, Nationwide, SAIC, and Lilly. She also developed training for the US Department of Defense where she held secret and interim top secret clearance.
Dawn has a B.S. in Business Management and an M.A. in Educational Technology. She earned her CPT certification from International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) and served on ISPI’s Board of Directors from 2010 to 2012.
When she’s not working, you will find Dawn hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in the San Jacinto Mountains and the Anza Borrego Desert.