Karen Rispin
At LeTourneau University, Karen led the Wheels research project that developed and validated a set of research tools to determine how well wheelchairs work in low-resource settings. Because of this research, Karen was invited to international committees and became familiar with resources and training for appropriate assistive technology provision. Karen grew up in Kenya and is familiar with networks of mission hospitals. Karen and Phil started the Assistive Technology Catalyst Project. Phil’s skill as a videographer and photographer has been a key part of this endeavor.
Jonathan & Kristi Biggers
Jonathan is an Assistive Technology Professional (ATP) and works with AT Catalyst in Africa and Guatemala to facilitate access to appropriate provision of wheelchairs and other assistive technologies. Kristi is a nurse (RN, BSN) with over 10 years of experience who has also been a clinical instructor and preceptor for new nursing graduates. They will be living and working in Guatemala to help train teams to care for and bring hope to individuals with disabilities.
Christine Broby
Christine has extensive experience with community-based health and is excited to come on board to lead an initiative to set up Ubuntu programs at each of our partnering locations. Christine was recently in Kenya to take training to that end. She’s excited about opening doors for children and their families to be less isolated and experience true hope and help in facing life’s struggles.
Lauren and Sheldon Nest
Sheldon Nest has his MPH in Public Health and is IDEAS Health and Wellness Sector Director. Lauren Nest is BSN,RN serving with IDEAS programs. With their love of people and diverse cultures, they have a passion to invest their skills with under-served individuals and communities globally. Sheldon and Lauren have lived in Southeast Asia since 2015 and are in the process of moving to Guatemala to join the team faithfully working with individuals and families affected by disability.
They look forward to growing in their health care skills and knowledge specific to the area of disability care including pursuing training with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine through the Ubuntu Hub Program in order to help facilitate groups in a participatory approach to learning for caregivers.
Joshua C Smith
Josh operates at the intersection of business, technology, and ministry. Josh has operated a manufacturing business, developed popular fundraising software, and served since 2012 with Tying Vines, a Christian nonprofit bringing hope to disadvantaged or impoverished communities. Josh joined the Catalyst team and started Invigorate Inc., to serve as the business layer and operating entity for the group. Invigorate will build and operate manufacturing facilities to build wheelchairs and other assistive technology devices.
Jessica Tsotsoros, PhD OTR/L
Jessica Tsotsoros, PhD OTR/L, is an occupational therapist, educator, and researcher. She has a passion for helping those with disabilities fully participate in meaningful lives through assistive technologies. She is the founder and President of Wings Aloft, Inc a non-profit with a focus on appropriate wheelchair provision and connecting therapists to serve internationally. She currently leads service and research trips to Kenya at Bethany Kids annually as well as looking forward to returning to Guatemala for follow up research and wheelchair clinics.
Luke McAuley
Luke is an Occupational Therapist working with SIM and seconded to BethanyKids in Kenya. Luke and his family of 5 live in Kijabe where he is the Rehab Training Program Director for BethanyKids Kenya. He has spent over a decade working with children in under served areas both in the US as well as in Kenya. Luke has a passion for working with children with disabilities and their families, especially from the perspective of treatment using Occupational Therapy and Assistive Technology. Luke also has a passion for training others and is working on developing several training programs.
If you would like to see more about the McAuley’s or are able to support them either thru financial or prayer support we would love to hear from you. You can visit their blog McAuleys to Kenya, or contact them at luke.mcauley@sim.org or amanda.mcauley@sim.org
Larry Raymond
Larry Raymond, DPT, MBA, CWS, directs Rehabilitation, Wound Care, Diabetes Management, and Breast Cancer Care in the Johns Hopkins Health System, but his heart is in the underserved communities of the world. Unity in the body of Christ and caring people into the body of Christ is his focus. Larry uses the clinical and administrative gifts God has given him to provide wound care, educate on rehabilitation and wound topics, encourage, empower and struggle towards a model of healthcare based on the fact that every person bears the image of God. “When Jesus stepped ashore and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” Mark 6:34.
To this end, Larry has volunteered with Joni and Friends Wheels for the World, for over 10 years including the distribution of the 100,000th wheelchair, with Samaritan’s Purse since 2017 in the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), and with Christian Appalachian Project since 2018. As a wound specialist, Larry provides care and education about chronic disease and the associated complications from the use of assistive technologies like pressure injuries. After completing an excellent Christ-centered MBA at Asbury University with a focus on non-profit management, Larry is excited to build bridges with mission hospitals, witnessing how caring for the disabled crosses all language and cultural boundaries and prepares hearts to join the body of Christ.
Ryan Propst
Ryan is a Certified Prosthetist Orthotist working out of Texas. Having grown up in Kenya, Ryan has an ingrained passion to serve in different cultures. Ryan is involved in prosthetic work in Zambia, and has also worked at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare as a custom seating practitioner serving adults with complex wheelchair seating needs. “I’m excited to work with the Catalyst Project to consult and collaborate for sustainable solutions. I believe that providing people with a prosthesis, orthosis, or functional seating is a practical way to empower people by restoring mobility, opportunity, and dignity.”
