
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Lukong Isidore
Founder
Isidore received a Master's in Business and International Law at the University of Yaoundé in 2005. He then began work as an activist for Human Rights at the Justice & Peace Commission in his village of Kumbo. Isidore has witnessed the incredible value of education in his own life, and this realization prompted him to found an organization that can help children build a bright future filled with possibilities.
Heart of Mary Ministries was founded in 2017 as a sister organization to the Cameroonian NGO Ave Maria Help for the Needy Association.
Helen Snyder
President of the Board
Helen has worked in the field of Health and Human Services, including several Nonprofits for many years. She became good friends with Isidore (founder of Ave Maria Help for the Needy) through the Justice & Peace Human Rights office while living in Cameroon in 2017. She was inspired by his devotion to serve the most vulnerable in his community and joined him in this mission by founding Heart of Mary Ministries, which has the sole purpose of supporting his organization in the United States. As sister organizations, both work together with the dream of supporting those in need through a shared, passionate belief in the power of education to change lives.
Mary Fowler
Vice Chair
Mary graduated from Christendom College with a double major in History and English & Literature. She always felt her calling was in the field of education and had planned to be a teacher since childhood. In college, she taught in a nearby middle school and tutored younger children learning to read, and although she now works in Federal HR as a contractor, she has found a way to continue to support her dedication to education through the Heart of Mary Ministries. When her former classmate, Helen Snyder, returned from her time in Cameroon in 2017, Mary was eager to begin working with an organization which would help children obtain an education, and since then, she has helped fundraise and raise awareness for the cause through local churches and organizations.
Nick Hewitt
Social Media Coordinator
Nick has worked alongside several Nonprofits since 2013 including Global Teen Challenge, an organization dedicated to fighting the drug epidemic. His work has included assisting in web and social media design and management. With a major in International Sustainable Development he is passionate about organizations like Ave Maria Help for the Needy and Heart of Mary Ministries where real lives are being changed through education.
Michael Bugin
Volunteer Coordinator
Michael was born and raised in the Metro Detroit area of Southeastern Michigan before attending university in Northern Virginia. He currently works as a Database Administrator for a federal IT contractor based in the area. Michael has spent much of his time in recent years working to better his community through volunteering at the local pregnancy center and assisting in their largest fundraising event of the year, the local March for Life, as well as working with the Knights of Columbus, serving as Project Lead and planning fundraising events to support seminarians and sisters in formation for the parish. His extensive fundraising experience, combined with a desire to continue in the field of service through Nonprofit work in international communities, led him Heart of Mary Ministries.
