OUR MISSION at FAces:

FACES Foundation is a non-profit (501c3) with a mission to model comprehensive, high quality care for indigent, medically isolated patients with cleft lip and palate deformities beyond surgery alone in a locally sustainable manner.

FACES, founded in 2001, has performed hundreds of cleft lip and palate surgeries on medically isolated patients. But, we know that surgery alone is not enough to help our patients - they must also learn to speak after their surgery and post-op healing is complete. This is where our unique, technological connectivity comes into play. Using 3G, 4G and WiFi technology we connect with our patients abroad. Our highly trained speech therapists, based in Portland, Oregon, can connect with the patients in Peru through internet connections and video conferencing. Using the model we've created, we teach our patients how to make the sounds of speech with their tongue and mouth, a necessary step to help them function fully in their homes, families and communities. Being able to speak clearly and be understood, something many of us take for granted, gives our patients a new life and new opportunities. Wireless connectivity is overcoming medical isolation and international borders - using 3G/4G/WiFi connections, we are able to deliver complex services never before available to difficult to reach populations.

The FACES Foundation Non-Discrimination Policy can be found here.

ABOUT US

President and Founder

Dr. Tom Albert is a professor at Oregon Health Sciences University in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery as well as Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery in Portland, Oregon. He received both his medical (MD) and dental (DMD) training at Harvard, completing his residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital before joining the faculty at OHSU.

Dr. Albert was involved in an extensive medical education effort concerning cleft care with Project Hope in China from 1983-1993 and has continued to be involved independently since then. His interest has been to develop ways to extend truly comprehensive cleft care beyond surgery alone to difficult to reach populations.

Executive Director

Leah Olson, previously the Director of Develpoment and Communications, has worked with FACES Foundation since 2011. Her background is in journalism and communication and she has always focused on reporting about public and global health issues. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in journalism and Japanese and spent the year after college working as a journalist in Kathmandu, Nepal. After her year in Nepal she worked for Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity before returning to her native Portland to join the FACES team. She enjoys thinking about global health and technology, telemedicine, public policy and how to make the perfect pisco sour.

Board of Directors

Thomas W. Albert, MD, DMD. President.

Steve Griffith, JD. Steve is a graduate of Harvard College and Oxford University, where he concentrated in international relations. He was a teacher in the Peace Corps before beginning his 30 year practice as a trial lawyer with the firm of Stoel Rives in Portland, OR. He is a former president of the Portland School Board and currently is the Director of Constitutional Law Program at Lincoln High School.

Kelly T. Jensen. Management Consultant in healthcare operations and information systems. AB and MBA, Harvard University.

Jerome List, MD, DMD. ENT surgeon currently practicing in Anchorage, Alaska. Extensive international experience and training. Dr List is involved extensively in Health Systems Management, Electronic interfaces, development of Electronic Health Record Systems. In addition, he enjoys flying in Alaska, photography, construction, wood and metal working, as well as anything that gets him into the wild.

Lance Tsugawa. Lance earned degrees in Business from the University of Oregon and the Netherlands Institute for International Affairs, and a Masters in Speech and Language Pathology from Portland State University. He has worked as a speech clinician in public schools, Home Health Rehabilitation, and acute care in Kaiser hospitals. He currently works as a clinician with Clackamas Education Service District. Because of the large number of Spanish-speaking children in the ESD, this connection has allowed him to pursue his interest in the speech and language disorders of Spanish-speaking children. He has a special interest in cleft palate and associated speech disorders. Mr Tsugawa has made several trips to Latin America with cleft palate surgical and speech foundations to offer speech service to cleft palate children.

Dana Smith, MD. Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon who is currently Director of the Kaiser Cleft/Craniofacial Multidisciplinary Clinic in Portland. He has been actively involved in cleft surgery here and abroad for a number of years and currently directs the FACES Cleft Surgery Team for Peru.

Dr. Lisa Morris, MD., Surgeon & OHSU Craniofacial Resident, earned her undergraduate degree at Kansas State University with a major in International Business and Marketing and a minor in Spanish and went to medical school at the University of Kansas. She is currently finishing her fifth year of residency for Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Oregon Health Science University. Lisa will be heading to Syracuse, New York, this summer for a Fellowship in Craniofacial / Facial Plastic Reconstructive Surgery.

Advisory members

Robert Blakeley, PhD - Professor Emeritus of Speech Pathology at OHSU. Previously director of the Cleft Team at OHSU/Doernbecher Children's Hospital - deceased November 2010.

Walter Guralnick, DMD - Professor Emeritus of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery at Harvard Medical and Dental Schools.

Sharon Higgins, MD - President & Executive Medical Director of Northwest Permanente, PC.

Alfredo Muro and Rosemarie Schild - Alfredo is a world renowned classical guitarist originally from Peru. His wife Rosemarie is a health care professional interested in alternative and preventative care.

Rob Nicholson, MD - Emergency Room Physician in Bellingham, Washington. Rob has been on several of the FACES trips to Peru. He is passionate about white water kayaking, climbing and windsurfing.

Rodney Norton, JD - Attorney with Hoffman, Hart & Wagner in Portland, Oregon. Previously Head of Risk Management for OHSU.

Jacob Reiss, MD - Pediatric Geneticist at Kaiser NW.

Harry Schwartz MD, DMD - Maxillofacial Surgeon at Kaiser in Southern California.

Mei Ling Schwartz, MPH - Director Health & Physician Education for Kaiser Permanente, Southern California.

Gay & Garth Smith - founders and directors of the Café Femenino Foundation dedicated to improving the lives of women coffee producers.