Meet FIRE's Co-founders

Enrique Palma

Enrique Palma is a FIRE co-founder. He is a native of the Philippines and moved to the United States in 1997. He began teaching ESL when he was 17 years old and, to this day, teaching continues to be one of his passions. He holds a B.A. in Development Studies from Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines), an M.A. in Economics from the University of the Philippines, and an M.B.A. from Cornell University (Ithaca, NY).

Heather Cox

Heather Cox has lived and traveled in over thirty different countries and considers herself to be a citizen of the world. She became a part of FIRE's founding team due to her strong belief in the need to provide a unique service model to immigrants and their families. While no longer an active member of the FIRE cofounding team, she continues to support FIRE's mission and work within the community.

Julie Felt

Julie Felt is a FIRE co-founder and board member. She has been involved with FIRE since it was just an idea and a dream that several colleagues had in the spring of 2004. Julie began her career in ESL teaching at the Hmong American Partnership (HAP) where she volunteered as an English tutor for beginners. At HAP, she discovered her joy and passion for teaching new Americans, something she had suspected for years but never had the chance to pursue. A relatively new arrival to the upper-Midwest herself, Julie had spent a couple of decades living in New England where she gained experience working with international people in her various administrative jobs at Harvard University. Before moving to the east coast, she graduated with a B.A. in Asian History/Psychology from Mills College in the San Francisco Bay Area in California where she was born and raised. In addition to teaching, Julie enjoys traveling outside of the United States, which she has been fortunate to do many times in all-different directions. She can read French and Spanish and tries not to be too shy to speak those languages.

Kenneth Tivey

Kenneth Tivey is a FIRE volunteer tutor and co-director emeritus. Tivey holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard University. He has been involved in adult basic education as a volunteer since 2003, beginning his experience at Hmong American Partnership (HAP) and joining FIRE at its inception. Tivey seeks to make FIRE an exemplary institution, a place where he and others can strengthen community and improve life in St. Paul.

Marya Abraham

Marya Abraham joined the Foundation for Immigrant Resources and Education (FIRE) in August of 2004. Marya’s experience in the ESL field includes working for the Minnesota Literacy Council, as a pre-literacy level instructor at Hiawatha Lake Learning Center and Arlington Hills Functional Work English program, teaching English at New Americans, and teaching Functional Work English at Hmong American Partnership in St. Paul. Before coming to the Twin Cities area, Marya was an assistant teacher in a pre-literacy class of 30 students from 19 different countries in the Palo Alto, California ABE program, worked with a group of Brazilian junior-high-age students in Santa Cruz, California, and taught a multi-level class of mostly Hispanic mothers with young children for the St. Vincent de Paul Society. She also worked for many years as a technical writer and research analyst for various engineering companies and was a family daycare provider.

Nathan Thompson

Nathan Thompson is an ESL teacher and co-founder of FIRE. He has worked and volunteered in the ABE field for over ten years. He currently works as an ESL teacher at MORE Multicultural School, and was a volunteer ESL teacher at Hmong-American Partnership from 1998-2004. As a co-founder of FIRE, his desire is to be a part of a program that empowers the people it serves. He is also the primary writer of FIRE's mission statement and concept paper, and has worked on the school's curriculum from its beginning days. Nathan has a B.S. in English from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and an M.A. in Liberal Studies from Hamline University. He was also born and raised in St. Paul, and considers FIRE's work to be an extension of giving back to the community he grew up in.

Rosanne Lynch

Rosanne Lynch is a FIRE co-founder and an ESL teacher. Roseanne has taught beginning through advanced ESL and citizenship preparation at Hmong American Partnership for many years. She has developed an ESL/Civics curriculum based on Paulo Freire's student-centered model of teaching, facilitated experiential-based learning, and has worked in collaboration with community organizations on various civic engagement initiatives. Her curriculum has been adopted by other ABE sites and is located on the Minnesota Literacy Council (MLC) website. She has also presented on her curriculum at local conferences. Rosanne is proficient in French, and she helped with intake for French-speaking African clients. Rosanne holds a B.A. in Urban Studies from Macalester College and is a former AmeriCorps VISTA.