The Neutral Development Project

We are excited to announce that NDP’s involvement in the 2008 New York City Triathlon was a complete success! The NYC Tri is the largest and most in-demand triathlon in the country, and the race directors were generous enough to involve NDP in this fast-growing annual event. The numbers have yet to be finalized, but we can confidently say that this has been the most successful even to date. Proceeds will go to our next irrigation project in the Horn of Africa. (In 2007 NDP sponsored a well-digging project in Tigray, Ethiopia).

Racers each pledged to raise a minimum of $1,000 for the cause. To show our pride in Team NDP, we posted brief profiles of each racer:

Ron Bowman

Charlotte Dequeker: Charlotte is a born-again endurance athlete, having run her first marathon in 2005 (New York). Last year, she raced in both the Timberman half ironman and the Westchester tri. This year Charlotte already has one marathon under her belt (Boston Marathon in 3h33 – a new PR!). She is a working mom with 3 boys, ages 10, 9 and 7. She looks forward to racing for a good cause, and is proud to be setting a good example for her children.

Jen Downing: From Stow, Massachusetts, Jen will graduate from Phillips Academy Andover in June, where she was captain of the Cross Country and Lacrosse teams. The NYC triathlon will be her ninth triathlon, but the first of Olympic distance. Jen’s interest in The Neutral Development Project is enhanced by her internationally-focused extracurricular activities, and she is currently learning both French and Arabic. Jen plans to attend Yale in the Fall, where she will run year-round and hopes to major in Ethics, Politics & Economics.

Ben Johnson

David Kim: From Greenwich, CT.  First time triathlon participant; ran 2007 NYC Marathon with his wife.  Partner at Apax Partners, a global private equity firm.  West Point undergrad.  Married with 4 kids.  Main hobby is managing the Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation (www.fallenpatriots.org) which provides college scholarships to military children who have lost a parent to combat or training.

Gene Lee:  From New York City, Gene recently raced in his first triathlon at Harriman State Park.  Gene has run in several marathons (included the NYC Marathon) and plans to run the Marine Corps Marathon later this year.  He works for Goldman Sachs in the Principal Investment Area.  Gene is also a director at STRIVE (www.strivenational.org), a national non-profit organization focused on workforce development for the chronically unemployed.  Gene and his wife Erica have two young children.

Dimitry Lerner

Alan McGee: Living in New York City, Alan is a an independent consultant and works part-time for Kiva (www.kiva.org), a micro-lending website that enables individuals to lend directly to entrepreneurs in the developing world.  This will be his first triathlon, but he has been cycling long-distance since 2006, which will be his strongest event in the race.

Dan Selcow: Dan lives with his wife and son in New York City and has raced the NYC Triathlon the last two years. Dan competes in several Olympic distance triathlons each year and has done a half Iron Man. The opportunity to do a triathlon in his own backyard and help raise money for an African cause like NDP is a win-win for Dan.

Jake Shoemaker: From Sudbury, Massachusetts, Jake competed in his first triathlon in September of 2005 and has competed nationally ever since. Jake’s strongest component of the race is the run; Jake plans to run for Dartmouth in the Fall. Outside of triathlons, he enjoys spending time with family, surfing and water skiing.

Jason Soules

Alex Szulman:

For questions or comments, please contact Rich Downing on his mobile phone at 978.793.0905 or email (rjdowning@gmail.com) to discuss details.

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