OUR TEAM
Melody Mociulski, Founder & Director
A native of the Seattle area, Melody worked for the City of Seattle for twenty-four years prior to retiring in 2004. Her career with the City included a combination of procurement, finance, human resource and social service roles.
After extensive consultant work as a procurement subject matter expert and volunteer support to Clear Path International (CPI), Melody joined the CPI staff as South East Asia Program Director in 2008. Over the next four years, Melody provided strategic direction and management of CPI’s victim assistance programs in Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, and Lao PDR, representing $1+ million projects, 6 donors, 7 implementing partner organizations, and a staff of nationals in Vietnam.
Following her passion to provide educational opportunities for children in South East Asia, Melody founded Educational Empowerment in March 2012.
Isabelle de la Torre, Director
Isabel has worked on environmental justice, indigenous peoples, coastal management, women, and community rights, trade, finance, forestry, fishery, and toxics issues in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Aside from coordinating and raising funds for nonprofit and rights advocacy, Isabel has worked as a journalist and editor. She co-founded the nonprofit organizations and networks Earth Economics, Industrial Shrimp Action Network, The Weidenfeller Foundation, and Southeast Asia Fisheries Coalition for Justice.
She has a juris doctorate and a bachelor’s degree in communication (major in journalism) from the University of the Philippines. When not working or spending time with family and friends, she loves to write, read, train in martial arts, go hiking, stand-up paddle boarding, and compete in dragon boat and outrigger canoeing races. Isabel joined Educational Empowerment in September 2014