Personnel

Co-Founders

 

Ibrahim Agor

Ibrahim is president-Emeritus of NWP and a valued consultant.  He grew up in the Nuba Mountains but left for Egypt during difficult times, eventually coming to the U.S in 2001.  His memories of seeing people fetch water for basic daily needs compelled him to start a non-profit to help people back home. He is a co-founder of Nuba Water Project with Steve Riley and George Tutu. He is married to Buthiana and is the father of three daughters, Sounya, Sara and Laila. Ibrahim holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Helwan-Cairo and an MS from the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado-Denver.  After working for a power utility company in Denver, he moved to Washington state to work for the U.S Army Corps of Engineers as Electrical Design Engineer and then with the U.S. Department of Energy (Bonneville Power Administration) as a Field Engineer until 2021 before taking a role with Jacobs Engineering Group in Corvallis, OR.  Ibrahim is a valued consultant for Nuba Water Project.

 

George Tuto

George grew up in the Moro Hills of the Nuba Mountains. He and his family moved to Khartoum, Sudan where he worked in the hospitality industry. During the years of civil war, George and his family left Sudan for Egypt joining the hundreds of thousands of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons who have fled the Nuba Mountains. He emigrated to the US in 2000 and became a citizen in 2006. He now lives and works in Denver, Colorado where he has been active as a leader in the Nuba community in the diaspora. George founded Nuba Christian Family Mission and served as its Chairman. He co-founded Nuba Water Project in 2006 shortly after arriving in Denver from Louisiana where his family had been living until Hurricane Katrina swept through the state in 2005. George is married to Salwa and has five children. In 2007, his son Awino graduated from Fresno State University and accompanied the Nuba Water Project Team as a translator for the May 2007 assessment trip to Khartoum and the Nuba Mountains.

Board Members

Steve Riley, Co-Founder and Board Member

Steve has years of experience working with non-profit organizations both as a volunteer and as paid staff. Steve has worked on construction projects in Sudan and elsewhere in the developing world. He has a passion for work in underdeveloped countries, especially when they are plagued with the problem of inadequate and unsafe water supplies.  Steve’s friendship with Sudanese families in Denver spurred him to join Ibrahim and George in founding Nuba Water Project. In November 2007, he retired from a 30-year career in the insurance business to devote his time to his work in developing countries. Steve currently owns and operates a handyman service. He is married to Martha Riley, a retired high school teacher who also volunteers with Nuba Water Project.  They have two grown children, a son-in-law and granddaughter.

 

Martha Riley, Executive Director

Martha’s interest in Sudan began several years ago when she and her high school students raised money to help build schools through Project Education Sudan.  Martha has since traveled twice to Sudan to assess educational needs and conduct teacher workshops.  She retired in 2010 from a 33-year career in teaching and now volunteers her time with Nuba Water Project. In addition, she is the event director for the annual Walk for Sudan, which raises thousands of dollars each year for water projects in the Nuba Mountains and for university scholarships for Nuba students. Martha has a BA from the College of William and Mary and an MA from University of Colorado.  She is married to Steve and has a grown son and daughter, as well as a son-in-law and granddaughter.

 

Joyce Culwell, Vice President

Joyce has been a public school teacher for 22 years and through her music instruction, she has incorporated music from around the world. She has also been active in Episcopal Church music and is an African Drummer. Having obtained a Masters of Music in Education degree from CU-Boulder, College of Music with an emphasis in Multi-Cultural Music, it enabled her to better understand the culture of many people. Joyce began working with the Lost Boys in Denver in 2005; and, in 2008 she journeyed to Sudan with a team of teachers. The purpose was to teach teachers how to teach. The teachers went to rural areas where a stick was the pencil, the ground was the paper and tree stumps were “desks” for the students. Joyce wants to help these very bright, multi-lingual people more. The Walk for Sudan held every October made Joyce aware of the work Nuba Water Project does for the people in the Nuba Mountains. She has volunteered for Nuba Water Project since 2009 and desires to continue as a board member in an effort to help bring clean water and education to the people of Sudan.

 

Sherilee Selby, Secretary-Treasurer

Sherilee Selby joined the Board of Directors in 2009 after volunteering for the 2008 Walk for Sudan and becoming involved in Nuba Water Project.  Her interest in Sudan was engaged when she began studying the Arabic language.  She traveled in Sudan for a month during 2009 in order to plan for future Nuba Water Project work in the Nuba Mountains.  She elevated her involvement in Nuba Water Project as a result of that experience.

Sherilee graduated with a Masters in Social Work from Indiana University, then worked both in non-profit and private settings for 10 years.  She focused her treatment on children with a history of abuse and trauma, and she also worked with the families of high-risk children.

She retired from Gap Inc. in 2007, after 18 years of retail management.  Following her retirement, she became involved with OLLI at DU, lifelong learning for those over 50.  In 2017, Sherilee joined the staff at OLLI South on a part-time basis and continues in that capacity.

Sherilee and her husband Bill have lived in the Denver area since 1987.  Their family includes a son and two grandchildren who bring them much joy.

 

Sara Richey

Sara has volunteered with the Walk for Sudan since 2012, and joined the Nuba Water Project board in 2017. Sara’s educational background is in Political Science, International Relations and Public Administration. With this background, Sara has worked with the board members to create and develop a Logic Model for the Nuba Water Project. She currently works at Kaiser Permanente as a Senior Grants Manager for research grants.

 

Martha Boon
Martha has been a long time supporter of the Nuba Water Project. She and her husband Rich began volunteering at the Walk for Sudan in 2009. Martha has her doctorate in Physical Therapy and worked in outpatient settings for 10 years. She and Rich have three children and four grandchildren. She has been active in Mission work over the years including chairing the Mission Committee at St. Lukes UMC, leading youth Mission trips both domestic and abroad and participating in adult mission trips to Guatemala and a medical mission trip to Haiti. Her passion for Missions led her to a position on the Nuba Water Board in 2018 in order to have a more active role in supporting clean water and educational opportunities for individuals in the Nuba Mountains.
NUBA WATER PROJECT ADVISORY BOARD
  • Ibrahim Agor, past Board member and co-founder
  • Lucila Williams, past Board member
  • Buthiana Hassan
  • Bishop Adam Elnail Andudu
  • Abdalaziz Adam el-Hilu

MANY THANKS TO OUR PAST BOARD MEMBERS, ADVISORS, WEB DESIGNER, AND SUPPORTERS:

  • Spencer Flournoy
  • Tom Davidson
  • Rev. Andy Kline
  • Slater Armstrong
  • George Nez
  • Bryan Kane
  • Kate Reinhardt