About
Background
After graduating from high school in Ohio, Anna spent four months in Panecillo, Ecuador, where she taught at an elementary school and built the connections that inspired her to start The Tandana Foundation. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Whitman College with honors in Politics and a minor in environmental studies. After graduation, she worked for The Traveling School, teaching Spanish, history and literature to high-school students in the Andes and New Zealand. She holds a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Skidmore College, with a focus on Morality in a Pluralistic World and speaks English, Spanish, French, conversational Kichwa, and some Tommoso. She is the 2020 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from The Wellington School and a 2025 recipient of The International Alliance for Women’s World of Difference Award.
"I've always been interested in trying to understand the human condition, asking big human questions. And getting to know different perspectives on those questions is an important part of my search for wisdom."
Founder
Anna founded The Tandana Foundation, in partnership with friends from Ecuador and Mali and supporters in the United States, to increase opportunities for intercultural sharing and promote achievement of community goals. The Foundation offers support for community initiatives in Ecuador’s Otavalo Canton and Mali’s Bandiagara District as well as intercultural volunteer experiences. Its community initiatives support community members in Mali and Ecuador as they work toward their dreams of education, health, food security, water resources, environmental conservation, cultural inclusion, and income generation. Its volunteer programs provide visitors to Ecuador or Mali the unique opportunity to be guests rather than tourists, to form intercultural friendships, to participate in a rich indigenous culture, and to make a difference in the lives of new friends. Anna’s book, Climbing Together: Relational Morality and Meaningful Action in Intercultural Community Engagement (Brill 2024) articulates the philosophy behind The Tandana Foundation’s work.
