Our Team! ACTUAR has a very large team along the whole country: The Assembly:  It is formed by 29 community leaders in the different communities who are ACTUAR's representatives in each association and are the owners of the organization. The Board of Directors:  .it is formed by 7 members of different communities  who are elected by the Assembly every two years.  They meet at least once per month and are the main decision makers. Our Staff: Kyra Cruz, Executive Director:   Kyra has more than 14 years experience in the tour operation industry. In 2001 she learned about community-based rural tourism and since then dedicated all her previous experience to strengthen community-based rural tourism in Costa Rica. She first helped the Small Grants Programme edit the first and second Community-based rural tourism guidebook provided various workshops on marketing techniques to community-based rural tourism initiatives. Since the opening of ACTUAR, Kyra has been the Director of the association. Some of her hobbies are hiking in off-the-beaten path places, travelling, the movies and reading. Jackeline Chacón, Sales Coordinator:  Jackeline studied tourism and administration.  She has a strong intererest in rural & sustainable tourism.  She enjoys planning tailor made itineraries for visitors willing to experience the real Costa Rica.  In her free time she enjoys exploring Costa Rica & practicing modern dance and ballet. Eva Arauz, Product & Quality Control:  Eva is originally from a rural community in Buffalo, Costa Rica, and she studied tourism with the idea of helping communities develop their own enterprises and being in contact with nature.  She is very detailed oriented and enjoys working in quality. She enjoys reading & exploring new places. Beatrice Blake, Sales Representative in the USA:   Beatrice is the author of the New Key to Costa Rica. When the book became a best seller in 1989, she was afraid that it might be aiding and abetting the destruction of the natural wonders it was extolling.  ACTUAR's destinations represent what she had always wanted to see in Costa Rican tourism: locally-owned lodges that preserve natural resources, provide great adventures, and give visitors a chance to meet real Costa Rican campesino conservationists. Since then, Beatrice has formed an alliance with ACTUAR in which she uses the knowledge and reader trust that she has developed over the 26 years that she has written The New Key to Costa Rica, to familiarize tourists with the benefits of community-based tourism.   Rosella Valladares, Accounting Manager:  Rosella studied agro-economics, reason why she enjoys being involved with ACTUAR's finances, since community-based rural tourism is an important area of Costa Rica's agro-economics.  Rosella has friends from all over the world and enjoys reading and travelling a lot.