From surviving a painful kidnapping in her native country of Venezuela, to rebuilding her life in the US, Gloria Onderdonk miraculously went from surviving to thriving.
Gloria comes to the RHR with skills in organizational psychology, leadership development, and trauma. She has a B.S. in Business Administration, a major in Human Resources Development from the Simon Rodriguez University, a M.A. from Central University in behavioral –organizational psychology, a M.S in Human Resources Development from RIT, certification in sustainable entrepreneurship, and certification as a coach.
Before serving as Board Member at RHR, Gloria led the program of volunteers for kids with disabilities for six years in Toronto, Canada. She served as a volunteer in different programs for the Hispanic Community in Rochester, and is also the founder of Kaia Earth, a clean beauty start up company. When she isn’t working in the community, in Kaia Earth or educating herself about sustainability and clean beauty, she can be found hiking, traveling, and enjoying the outdoors with her son Stefano and the family dog, Tito.
Motivated by a love of nature and dedication to service, she is not only a passionate advocate for wildlife and conservation, but she is also an advocate for diversity, sustainability and mental health reform.
Many refugees experience unbelievable hardship and traumas when they are forced to flee their homes, often leaving family members behind, in search of a better life. When she decided to join RHR, Gloria wanted to support an organization that cares and responds with compassion and love to this tragedy unfolding for so many. Her goal is to help those away from home, with the hopes and dreams that bind us all as human beings.
We need refugees to be part of the board, because in our resilience and what we’ve been through, we can actually be a supporting arm for other people in our community. She believes “solidarity is a human responsibility”.
Gloria joined RHR in 2019 because she believes it is an ideal way to use her personal experience and her background to contribute to the community that she is so passionate about. It is her hope that there is an immediate and effective response to the humanitarian needs of this group of people called ‘migrant‘ and ‘refugees’, especially here in upstate New York.
