Meet Our Nonprofit Missions Board

Decision Makers That Help Make Our Missions A Reality.

Serve Others

Why We Are Here

Our board is a dedicated group of individuals who have served on many mission trips in the past. These members share a passion for missions and have a strong desire to serve those in need around the world by utilizing their talents and capabilities.

Learn All About Our Team of Servants

Meet The Board

Michele Wyatt

Co-Founder and President

Michele Wyatt lives in Crossville, Tennessee with her husband, Daren, and their two children, Cooper and Payton. She has worked in the short-term missions and nonprofit field for over 16 years, leading over 30 mission trips during that time. Her first trip brought her to Romania in 2008. Since then, she has led teams in Moldova, Ukraine, Thailand, Jamaica, Liberia and Puerto Rico. She is a firsthand witness of the effects of poverty and the ravages of war on countries, leaving the people with no available medical and dental care. However, she has also experienced how a small, free medical clinic can not only improve but save the lives of others in the countries she has served. In effect, it has changed the lives of team members who have the heart to serve others.

Cooperative Aid Inc was born out of a desire from fellow team members through the years with the same passion she has for serving those most in need around the world. She was given the chance and could simply not say no.

Alisa Ledbetter

Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Board

As an attorney, Alisa has worked in Orange County, California since 2003. She holds degrees from the University of Washington, (B.A., International Studies, B.A., Southeast Asian Languages & Literature), and the University of San Diego School of Law (J.D.). Within her practice, she focuses on nonprofit and family law.

Alisa served her first mission trip to Romania where she met co-founder Michele Wyatt, followed by missions in Moldova/Ukraine and Thailand. It was during these missions that Alisa found her calling in service, making the decision to partner with Michele to form Cooperative Aid. Alisa is an active member of her church, St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church  When away from work and missions, she loves traveling and being home with her three children and menagerie of pets.

Kristen Cornell

Secretary

Kristen started doing overseas medical work in 2018 over her 40th birthday with a medical team in Jamaica.  She had worked as a nurse in her local hospital for 13 years that point but had wanted to do medical work in developing countries since she was in high school.  Once her family and career were in a place that allowed for it, she had the opportunity to do that work and has traveled every year since then.  She completed a Masters in Nursing Education in 2021 and plans to teach nursing in developing countries in the future and far into retirement, giving tools to those communities that will enable them to empower themselves.  

She and her husband have two kids, Andrew and Sophia, and added Katie, a daughter in law, to the family in 2022.  She enjoys traveling in any capacity, loves to read, bike, hike, run, walk paddleboard…basically anything outside.  She volunteers at multiple organizations (for both people and animals) in her church and community outside Allentown, PA.  She believes we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those around us.

Dr. Ken Pilgrim

Treasurer

Dr. Ken Pilgrim has been practicing general dentistry in Flintstone, Georgia for over 42 years. Admittedly, Ken did not want to go on his first mission trip to Zambia, Africa in January 1990. But because of the persistence of a dear friend, he went. Although he can’t say that this one trip changed his life, it left a clear impact, changing his way of thinking. 

Since that first trip, he has been on approximately 80 short-term mission trips all over the world. With each trip, he is humbled by the gracious reception of the individuals he serves and their willingness to make his stay in their country pleasant. 

Within the New Testament, two words are continuously repeated:“do good”. Ken joined Cooperative Aid because he believes in their mission to do good by helping those who cannot afford or do not have the resources to help themselves. He recognizes how much more blessed he is in his service due to the experiences that Cooperative Aid provides. It is also an opportunity to give others a priceless offering, a smile, and moment of your time, showing that someone cares.

In the end, Ken has found that he is the beneficiary of this work. The people he has treated, the new friends he has made, the kindness he has received, and the opportunities which have opened, have truly made a mark on his life.

Dr. Anthony Kim

Board Member

Born in Athens, Greece to a diplomatic family, Dr. Anthony Kim was well-traveled during his childhood, attending schools in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Nepal, Libya, and South Korea. He graduated from Yale University with a B.S. intensive in Biology and a B.A. in Music. Additionally, he completed one year of Masters in Musical Arts at Yale University. He earned his M.D. at the Keck-University of Southern California School of Medicine, graduating with the highest distinction, and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society in 2000. He is a board-certified diplomate of the American Board of Neurological Surgery (ABNS) and fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (FAANS).

First and foremost, Dr. Kim is dedicated to the care and well-being of his patients. His goal is to combine compassionate patient care with the most up-to-date, evidence-based medicine Furthermore, he seeks to provide patients with teaching, insight, and knowledge of the pros and cons of recent advances in the field.

In 2022, he served on his first mission trip to Romania, Moldova, and the Ukraine border for 10 days, which was during the first two months of the war. He hopes to continue to support the missions in the field directly and through fundraising.

Away from work and missions, Dr. Kim enjoys swimming, traveling, and being with his wife, two sons, and daughter.

Dr. Hadi Nouredine

Board Member

Dr. Hadi Nouredine is the founding doctor of Family Dental Care. He attended Portland State University for his undergraduate studies and went on to receive his dental training at OHSU. For more than 30 years, he has been serving the greater Portland area within a private practice since graduation. Although Dr. Nouredine has extensive training in the areas of implants, endodontics, Invisalign, and IV sedation, he continues to attend many educational lectures throughout the year to keep up with the most advanced technologies and best treatment options to offer his patients. 

His business philosophy is to treat patients as if they are your own family, and this approach applies to Nouredine’s volunteer work as well. He is a longtime supporter of Medical Teams International, which offers free dental care to low-income individuals without insurance, often refugees and new immigrants. For the past 30 years, he has volunteered anywhere possible to help the less fortunate, serving multiple countries in Africa and the Middle East. 

Dr. Nouredine enjoys traveling, playing soccer and enjoys spending time with his wife, Rania, and three sons, Charlie, Sam, and Marc.

Bruce Cannon

Board Member

Bruce Cannon was born into a military family in Milford, Delaware. Bruce spent the first 12 years of his life moving throughout the United States before settling in Vero Beach, Florida.

Bruce started his entrepreneurship by opening his first restaurant at the age of 22, opening  9 throughout his 31 years in Florida. During this time, he was also on the board of directors for the local credit union and the local Habitat for Humanity. He then brought his business expertise to Crossville in 2006, where he opened the Beef and Barrel. Since then, he has opened 13 restaurants in  Cumberland County,  in addition, he has also been a  real estate investor, developer and community supporter. He has always had a heart for people and community service. Today, Bruce and his wife, Jeanne make their home on Lake Holiday. Together, they are still active in the restaurant business, real estate and their community. 

Do Good

Cooperative Aid Is Here To Help Those in Need

Our goal is to have a servant’s heart with international missions and reach out to help those who need it most.

Words of Encouragement

Be The Light