Ecuador Team
Staff
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Kelley Jordan-Taube
Program Director & Licensed Counselor
In her role as the Program Director, Kelley oversees the fall and spring semester programs in Ecuador. She provides leadership and guidance for staff and students in the program. She has a background in clinical services and acts as the licensed counselor on staff for student support and crisis response.
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Janelle Groeneweg
Director of Education, Professor
Janelle assures academic rigor, achievement of learning outcomes, and success for students and faculty in-country. She approves all course syllabi, faculty hiring, and comes alongside all of our students academically.
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Loren Groeneweg
Director of Spiritual Life, Professor
Loren provides spiritual development and guidance for both students and staff, specifically through coordinating and teaching in weekly chapels. Loren also teaches Christian Spiritual Formation & Transformation and the Worldview & Global Religions courses.
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Sara Arroyo
Experiential Tours & Community Engagement Coordinator
Sara coordinates and connects students to internship sites across the city, catering to multiple majors and student needs for the service-learning side of their academic experience abroad. She also supports short-term Study Tours.
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Charlie Cacuango
Experiential Tours Coordinator
Charlie loves seeing cultures come together with the same purpose of serving Jesus and other people. Charlie likes going on hikes, grabbing coffee, playing volleyball and soccer, pickleball, and hitting the gym in the morning. Charlie is a graduate from UDLA Music School and loves playing the drums. Charlie was a Resident Coordinator the past two years at our Ecuador location for our Summer Internship program.
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Abby Nelson
Resident Director
Abby is from Hawai’i and California. She graduated from Vanguard University. While at Vanguard, she became passionate about integrating psychology and discipleship. After graduating from her undergraduate experience, Abby moved with her husband Cole, to Wisconsin to continue their education. Abby serves as the Resident Director in Ecuador, providing leadership, guidance, and care for students and staff.
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Cole Nelson
Resident Director
Cole is from Minnesota but moved to California for his undergraduate degree at Vanguard University. While studying, he became passionate about integrating psychology and discipleship. After graduating, Cole and his wife Abby moved to Wisconsin to continue their education. Cole recently graduated from Wheaton College with a master’s in Outdoor and Adventure Leadership. Cole serves as the Resident Director in Ecuador, where he provides leadership, guidance, and care for students and staff.
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Elena Calderon
Resident Coordinator
Elena Calderon is an International Relations and Economics graduate who spent the past three years contributing to her community in San Diego, CA. Engaged in missions and outreach at her local church, Elena spearheaded communication efforts and participated in impactful mission trips centered on evangelism and outreach initiatives. Now, as she heads to Ecuador to serve as a Resident Coordinator, she eagerly anticipates witnessing the profound ways in which God will work through her to make a difference.
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Eli Freeman
Resident Coordinator
Eli is a business marketing graduate from Jessup university. He grew up in Sacramento CA, graduated in December 2023, and moved to San Luis Obispo. He worked as a head roaster at a local coffee roastery and started his own media/production company for the past year. He loves extreme sports like surfing, snowboarding, and rock climbing, as well as more common sports like soccer, volleyball, and pickleball! He loves traveling and backpacking as well as drawing, design, and videography. He hopes to use these skills to effectively demonstrate what living and learning in Ecuador is doing for all its students.
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Katrina Jackson
Resident Coordinator
Katrina is from Virginia and a graduate of Liberty University ('24), holding a BA in Spanish. She has loved being involved in student ministry on her college campus and is passionate about discipleship, teamwork, and community-building. Participating in Living and Learning's internship program in Ecuador during summer 2022 had a huge impact on her heart and life, and she's excited to see God work as she returns to Ecuador to serve as RC!
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Faculty
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Janelle Groeneweg
Director of Education, Professor
Biology 100: Introduction to Biological Principles and Lab
Master’s Science Education
Janelle is a TCK (Third Culture Kid) who has a passion for developing young adults and who has a love for nature and Science and what they can teach about God’s redemptive work.
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Loren Groeneweg
Director of Spiritual Life, Professor
Christian Spiritual Formation & Transformation 320
Biblical Worldview & Global Religions 340
Master’s in Theological Studies; Master’s of Divinity
A TCK (Third Culture Kid) from Ecuador, Loren is passionate about teaching the Bible within the context of Ancient Near East studies. He loves Chealsea FC, woodworking, naps, and hiking.
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Robert Watson
Professor
Intercultural Communication 300
CD 100: Community Development
Master’s of Education in Adult Ed, Community Development and Youth Work (University of Glasgow)
Master’s of Theology (currently) (Edinburgh Theological Seminary)
With years of experience including with refugees in Rwanda, asylum seekers in Scotland, and youth in the US, Robbie has been working in Community Development in Quito since 2020. He plays guitar and other stringed instruments, enjoys the outdoors, and such activities as hiking and biking, and is a life-long learner who reads voraciously. He is a husband and father of three.
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Iván Viteri Arias
Professor
Ecuador 250/350: History, Art and Culture of Ecuador (1.0 or 3.0 credits)
Master’s of Arts in Education Management
Iván is an Ecuadorian whose wife is from the US, and has many diverse intercultural experiences both personally and professionally. Having been inspired by the notion that history is, in essence, "His Story," Iván is deeply committed to exploring the intersection of Christian philosophy, education, and world history. Recognizing the divine presence in historical events, his aim is to portray God's redemptive work with reverence and awe.
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Cole Nelson
Professor
Social Entrepreneurship
Master’s in Outdoor and Adventure Leadership.
Cole serves as the Resident Director and Professor in Ecuador, where he provides leadership, guidance, and care for students and staff.
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María Fernanda Andrade Beltrán
Professor
SPA 102: Elementary Spanish 2
SPA 201: Intermediate Spanish 1
Master’s in advanced studies in Literature from the University of Barcelona
Focused degrees in Human Rights and Memory (CLACSO & FLACSO Brazil)
From Quito, Ecuador, María Fernanda is a clinical psychologist with a focus in women’s issues, a poet, an author especially in children’s literature, a workshop presenter with collaborative research and presentations in humanities, psychology, pedagogy, and human rights, a social/human rights activist, and an avid reader and writer of literature. She was one of the first to teach in Living and Learning’s Ecuador semester Spanish department, faithfully working with L&LI since 2016.
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María José Portalanza Mancheno
Professor
SPA 201: Intermediate Spanish 1
SPA 250: Readings and Advanced Grammar
Master’s of Pedagogy in Spanish Literature and Language
María José has been teaching Spanish to foreigners since 2014, and has been teaching with Living and Learning since 2017. She is a mathematician, a photographer and a social/human rights activist. She is a life learner who is currently seeking a degree in law. She lives with her husband and enjoys life with her little dogs.
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Susana Estévez Troya de Sánchez
Professor
Spanish 400: Vision General de Literatura Latinoamérica y Cultura
Postgraduate studies and Licensure in Higher Education Science
A seasoned teacher, missionary, wife of a pastor, mother, and grandmother, Susana is passionate about reading, teaching, and discipling, especially in the church. She has been teaching for Living and Learning since 2014, with a holistic approach in intercultural experience in her teaching of upper-division Spanish in literature and culture.
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Aura Luna Narvaez
Professor
SPA 310: Advanced Grammar and Conversation
SPA 320: Advanced Grammar and Conversation
Master’s of Education Management
Teaching since 1980, Aura brings invaluable experience to Living and Learning upper-division Spanish students. She enjoys being a mother and grandmother. Her love of literature, archeology, museums and cultural heritage comes through her passion for teaching young people, even as she enjoys her retirement.
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María Alejandra Valverde Lopez
Professor
SPA 250: Readings and Advanced Grammar
SPA 310: Advanced Grammar and Conversation
Licensed in Education Science
María Alejandra brings many years of experience working with NGO’s, training management teams, working with individuals with disabilities and teaching Spanish to North American adults. She loves to read, play games and sports, cook and laugh. She enjoys her time with family which includes grandchildren! She is passionate about walking with and caring for students as they learn a new language and culture, and as they deepen their relationship with the Lord, helping them to be assured of His care as they are far from home.
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Ruth Ramirez Proaño
Professor
SPA 101: Elementary Spanish 1
SPA 102: Elementary Spanish 2
SPA 320: Advanced Grammar and Conversation
Master’s of Education Science
Ruth has been teaching with Living and Learning International since Fall 2018. She is an avid reader on varied topics, including literature, history, psychology and spirituality. She loves to walk and hike in nature, to travel and to get acquianted with different cultures.
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Viviana Jimenez Garcés de Suárez
Professor
SPA 330: Voces de Ecuador: Select topics in Ecuadorian Perspectives
Masters in New Applied Technologies in Education
Teaching in many capacities since 1995, Viviana has invaluable experience with students from different backgrounds and levels. She is the wife of a pastor/counselor and a mother of two young adult children. Other than teaching with Living and Learning (since 2022), she works with young adults who grew up in an orphangage training them in life skills, and she helped to establish a hybrid online homeschool program. She loves to read and teach.