F.I.R.E. Board of Directors

Dr. Kelly Reber is an Arizona native. His early years were spent on a ranch in the Arizona strip country. He received his Doctorate of Podiatric Medicine in Chicago, Ill and did his residency in Albuquerque, NM. Dr. Reber has spent the past 26 years practicing Podiatry in Flagstaff, AZ. Last year his eldest son joined him in his practice.
For the past 13 years Dr. Reber has headed the Northern Arizona Medical and Surgical Team making trips to Brazil, Cambodia, and Mexico providing free surgical and dental care. Last year he and Dr. John Durham, an orthopedic surgeon, traveled to Mongolia to meet with the Mongolian Health Ministry to assess the needs of the orthopedic surgeons. This year will be the first trip to Mongolia specifically to provide equipment and education to the Mongolian doctors.

Janice Reber as lived in Arizona for 27 years. She grew up in Missouri and went to nursing school in Springfield, MO. She has been an oncology nurse for most of her career working in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. She has been a successful grant writer and obtained funds for the treatment of the uninsured in Arizona. She has traveled with her husband Kelly and served on the Northern Arizona Medical and Surgical Team for the past 10 years. She will be working with the nurses in Mongolia’s one cancer clinic when they make the first trip this fall. Together she and Kelly have 8 children and 6 grandchildren.

David Edwards is a freelance documentary photographer and guide. He has led river trips around the world and horse trips in Mongolia. His story about the Kazakh eagle hunters of western Mongolia appeared in the September 1999 issue of National Geographic. He has lived in Flagstaff, AZ since 1982. Dave took his first trip to Mongolia in 1992 for a self-asignment covering the horse culture. Moved by the poverty he saw, specifically in orphanages and among the street children, Dave carried duffles of warm clothes over to personally distribute on his following trips. In 1997 he founded the Mongolian Orphans Association, which is now called F.I.R.E.

F.I.R.E. Executive Director

Meredith Potts has been executive director of F.I.R.E. since 2004. She moved to Flagstaff in 1998. As well as being a freelance photographer, she was David Edwards' studio manager from 2000 through 2007. In collaboration with Anne Walton, Meredith directed and produced One Steppe at a Time: F.I.R.E. in Mongolia, a documentary about the 2005 trip. She has led F.I.R.E.'s 2004 through 2007 distribution trips. Her passion for volunteering and assisting others began at age seven after her first encounter with the homeless.

F.I.R.E. is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All contributions are tax deductible.