In The Beginning:

Developing Scholars is a registered Canadian Charity  (80964 7159 RR0001) that was founded by John and Shelley Eby in 2004 to help promising students from poor backgrounds in Guatemala to realize their potential. John has a house in the town of Antigua Guatemala and spends his winters there.

Guatemala is a very poor country with many needs.We knew of families who couldn’t afford to send their children to school so we decided to start a charity that focussed on helping some of these students realize their educational potential.

Our Agent, CasaSito :  

We quickly realized that to be effective in a new country we needed to partner with an established local NGO that shared our goals and values. Based on a personal recommendation, we were introduced to Alice Lee, a Guatemalan resident the Founder of a  small education based Guatemalan and US registered charity by the name of CasaSito. Our association with CasaSito continues to this day and Alice is the official Agent for Developing Scholars in Guatemala. By participating in joint programs with CasaSito, we can leverage our impact through their local staff and established programs.  

Our Board of Directors:

Developing Scholars is governed by a diverse Board of Directors who are interested in our education programs in Guatemala.  The Board consisting of the following members:  

John Eby, Chairperson and President. John enjoyed a career in Finance and is now an independent corporate director 

Martin Hefferon, Vice President is a retired insurance executive who has visited our programs in Guatemala on several occasions

Cameron Eby, Secretary is a full time teacher in Toronto and has visited Guatemala most recently in March of 2020

Gerard Buckley is a financial markets professional and venture capitalist

Gordon Eby is a management consultant who has visited Guatemala several times

Christine Hemens Is a retired teacher who has conducted workshops for the teachers at the elementary school that we support in Guatemala

Judith Johnson is an holistic psychotherapist in private practice in Toronto and visited our program in Guatemala very early in its development.

Joe McCabe is an insurance executive and corporate director. Joe and his wife, Nancy, visited our programs in Guatemala in February of 2020

Katie Smith, our youngest director, is a human resource professional who spent two weeks in Guatemala and visited our programs

Chris Waugh, is a Toronto based investor and director of the Waugh Family Foundation.