Who We Are
Board of Directors
Dr. Frank O. Klein II
ACN President and CEO
Frank recently returned to the US after an absence of over 20 years, and now resides in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. At the age of 22 and within a year of his arrival in India, he established a boys' school/home for 75 boys with leprosy. Supervising a staff of 15, he designed and implemented the curriculum while managing the day-to-day running of the school. The school, now accredited by the Indian state government, still thrives today with 475 boys. It was while working at this school that he was discovered by the German Leprosy Relief Association, who provided him with training at a Medical College Hospital in south India. He was then transferred to Sikonge Leprosy Hospital in Tanzania, where he served as Chief Therapist for the hospital, directing the physical rehabilitation department and teaching a staff of seven primary school graduates to assume total responsibility for the department. With a string of rehabilitation successes behind him he was again sent to India, where he took on perhaps his most daunting assignment to date: Director of Rehabilitation for an area containing a potential trainee pool of thousands of leprosy patients. He organized and coordinated two job training and development centers, conducted classes for supervisory staff in personnel management and marketing, developed, with the help of his wife, small industry co-operatives, gave entrepreneurial assistance through small business loans, conducted vocational and personal counseling, and developed an adult education scheme for all workers interested in learning to read and write.
Frank left this work to focus on another priority: that of raising a family. Realizing the dream of giving his children the best education possible, he acquired various positions in international schools so that his daughters could enroll. He became the Associate Director of School Advancement for a private school in Japan, Director of External Relations for a British boarding school in Switzerland, and then Assistant Headmaster for Development for yet another boarding school in Switzerland. It was here that he founded a student organization, Assisting Children with AIDS (ACA) where ACN, the "umbrella organization" over ACA and other student initiatives, was founded. In September of 2008 he decided to leave the international boarding school system to return to the USA (after a 20 year absence) to give full attention to directing Assisting Children in Need.
Mr. Curtis McGraw Webster
Executive Vice President, and Financial Director
Curtis is a music producer and philanthropist in New York City. The Vertical Corporation, his music production facility, is a state-of-the-art recording studio which has played host to a wide range of musical artists, including one with which he had a number 11 U.K. and European hit. His work in the arts also extends to theater where Curtis has written original music and worked on sound design for productions in New York City and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland. As the executive vice-president of the Curtis W. McGraw Foundation, Curtis oversees the non-profit's support of the arts, education, medical research and social services. Of particular interest to him is HIV/AIDS outreach and research. A native of Princeton, New Jersey, he attended Princeton Day School, The Lawrenceville School and The American School in Switzerland (TASIS) in Lugano, Switzerland. As a TASIS alumnus, Curtis serves on the school's board. He also participates in their community service program and escorts TASIS students on trips to Romania to visit AIDS foster homes and residences. Curtis also serves on the boards of the Patriots Theater in Trenton, NJ and The Blue Curtain Foundation, a group for the support of young performers and new music.
Mrs. Tessa Klein Berman
Vice President, Director
Tessa edits the various publications ACN requires for both public relations and fundraising. She recently left the U.S.-China Policy Foundation for work with a translation company in Northern Virginia. She has completed post-graduate coursework at both Beijing University and Middlebury College. While earning a B.A. in Political Science at Middlebury College, she co-founded and ran a campus food delivery service (2003-2005) with the profit going to our ACN-sponsored foster home for abandoned, physically abused HIV-positive girls in Bucharest, Romania.
Ms. Melissa A. Klein
Vice President, Director
Melissa became involved with ACN early on when the organization first began its immersion visits to Romania in 2001. She participated in numerous fundraisers throughout high school in Switzerland, and co-founded Middlebury College's campus food delivery service, which benefited ACN, in 2003. During university, a year in Paris saw her performing in a weekly prime time television series, and writing a recently published book in French, La place de la jeunesse dans le modèle français; Un état des lieux. She now resides in New York City and works in photo shoot production at J.Crew. In June 2010 she launched ACN's facebook page, and will serve as the Board's Facebook administrator.
ACN Consultants
Mr. Adrian Snodgrass
Adrian's background includes working as a freelance journalist for BBC Worldwide, as a Content Editor for one of the largest ISPs in the United Kingdom, and as a Senior Lecturer in Multimedia at Nottingham Trent University. Adrian assists ACN with its website and publications.
Regional Development Directors
Mei-Ling Klein
After raising a total of over $35,000 over the years for ACN, Mei-ling Klein , who works full time at Georgetown University, volunteers her considerable fundraising expertise to ACN as its Regional Development Director for Washington DC/Virginia. Mei-ling's background includes establishing a handicraft center for leprosy patients in Dhanbad, India and development work for international boarding schools in Switzerland.
Regional Representatives
Filbert Macha
ACN is pleased to announce that Mr. Filbert Macha has become our Regional Representative in Moshi, Tanzania.
After completing a carpentry and joinery program at a Technical College, Filbert commenced work as a carpenter in Moshi. In addition to his full time job as carpenter, he is enrolled in an IT course, studying English, and serving as Moshi's elected Chairman of the Tanzania Albino Society.
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Assisting Children in Need (ACN)
600 Cameron Street
Alexandria, VA 22314, USA
Tel: +1 703 340 1677
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