(PHOTO: The completed Team Dayā school in the Guatemalan community of Caserío Sector Los Castro.)

Meet the Team Dayā 2024 Guatemala Team

(PHOTO: The completed Team Dayā school in the Guatemalan community of Caserío Sector Los Castro.)
(PHOTO: The completed Team Dayā school in the Guatemalan community of Caserío Sector Los Castro.)

Our Guatemala ‘24 team is composed of five individuals whose work will make a difference to girls and boys, their families and their community in a rural community in Guatemala. This will be Team Dayā’s second project in Guatemala. The group funded its first school in the country in 2023 in the community of Caserío Sector Los Castro.

In 2023, it was estimated that 55% of the population in Guatemala lived in poverty, according the the World Bank. Approximately 17% of the population is illiterate, according to the World Factbook published by the CIA. Rates of poverty and illiteracy are substantially higher in rural areas and among indigenous people.

Please consider supporting  Team Dayā. We cannot build these schools without your support. Example investment opportunities:

  • $250 All the nails, nuts, and bolts to build a roof for the school
  • $500 In-country mason during the entire construction of the school
  • $1,000 Paint for a school
  • $40,000 Fund an entire school

Meet our Guatemala ‘24 team and please consider supporting them. All contributions go directly to the school building. Team members pay all their own travel costs.

(PHOTO: Team Dayā member Dr. Maureen Cunningham.)
(PHOTO: Team Dayā member Dr. Maureen Cunningham.)

Cunningham. Maureen Cunningham, MD, MPH is Associate Professor of Pediatrics at University of Colorado and a practicing pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Colorado. She is board certified in general pediatrics and pediatric hospital medicine. Her clinical interests include global health and care for children with cleft lip and palate. Dr. Cunningham helped co-create a community child health and malnutrition program in the Trifinio region of Southwest Guatemala as a senior investigator at the Colorado School of Public Health’s Center for Global Health. Donate.

(PHOTO: Team Dayā member Scott Cunningham.)
(PHOTO: Team Dayā member Scott Cunningham.)

Cunningham. Scott Cunningham currently serves as the Initiative Lead for NewspassID advertising network for journalism in the United States and is Chair of the Publisher Council at the Brand Safety Institute. As owner of Cunningham.Tech Consulting, he is a strategic advisor and educator of advertising for technology companies, brands, publishers, and industry bodies such as TAG. Founder of the IAB Tech Lab, Scott has held executive positions in ad tech, publishing, and marketing. Donate.

(PHOTO: Team Dayā Founder Jay Sears working on the site of the new school in Nguiddine Keur Sara, Senegal. June 2024.)
(PHOTO: Team Dayā Founder Jay Sears working on the site of the new school in Nguiddine Keur Sara, Senegal. June 2024.)

SEARS. Team Dayā Founder Jay Sears will be headed to Guatemala, his second project in the country. In addition to running Team Dayā and the local community news site MyRye.com in his hometown, Jay has worked at Mastercard, Rubicon Project, Pulsepoint, ContextWeb, EDGAR Online and Wolff New Media. Donate.

(PHOTO: Team Dayā member Nate Yi.)
(PHOTO: Team Dayā member Nate Yi.)

Yi. Nate Yi is a high school sophomore at Haddonfield Memorial High School. He studies, works in student government (class secretary), robotics and model UN, and is very active in sports – lacrosse, football, wrestling and crew. In his spare time, he volunteers in Philadelphia at Cradles to Crayons where he is in the teen leadership program. Donate.

(PHOTO: Team Dayā member Tony Yi.)
(PHOTO: Team Dayā member Tony Yi.)

Yi. Tony Yi is EVP Business Development and Platforms at Cadent. He is a longtime ad tech executive, having spent time at MyBuys, AddThis, Videology and OpenSlate. Donate.

(PHOTOS BELOW: The 2023 Team Dayā school in the community of Caserío Sector Los Castro. The top three images show the new, completed school. The bottom image shows the previous school building built with boards and a dirt floor.)

Three Ways You Can Help

  1. Make a Donation Online
  2. Example investment opportunities:
    • $250 All the nails, nuts, and bolts to build a roof for the school
    • $500 In-country mason during the entire construction of the school
    • $1,000 Paint for a school
    • $40,000 Fund an entire school
  3. Spread the Word
    • Share our mission with your friends, your company and your industry
    • Invite us to speak about our mission to your network
    • Follow us LinkedInX / TwitterFacebook and Instagram
  4. Join the Team & Travel on a School Build

Team Dayā 2025 Plans

Our last school project for 2024 will be in Guatemala (December 1, 2024 start). We are now actively recruiting members for our 2025 groundbreakings. These builds represent our second schools in Nicaragua and Malawi and our third school in Nepal. 

Our Team Dayā 2025 school building dates:

Nicaragua, Central America
Sunday, February 9, 2025 – Saturday, February 15, 2025

Malawi, East Africa
Sunday, June 22, 2025 – Saturday, June 28, 2025

Nepal, South Asia
Sunday October 26th, 2025 – Sunday, November 2nd, 2025

If you are curious to learn more about joining a build, please reach out to our Head of Recruiting Jaryd Knutsen. Not sure? Watch the documentary Building Change, the Team Dayā Story (8 minute run time), by Kathmandu based filmmaker Shyam Karki of Samson Film Productions.

Thanks again for your continued support,

All of us at Team Dayā

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