Board of Directors

OUR TEAM

Sharing a Passion for Adventure and Community Involvement

Joanna Steinel

President

Joanna Steinel was born and raised in Poland, but Las Vegas has been her home for almost 30 years. She holds a Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Psychology and has been an educator all her life. She taught English as a second language, kindergarten, worked as a personal trainer and since 2006 has been a Developmental Specialist for Nevada Early Intervention Services where she provides service coordination and direct therapeutic services to children with special needs. Being an avid yoga practitioner, she is also a children’s yoga instructor. For almost 10 years she has been a volunteer at Nathan Adelson Hospice and is an outspoken advocate for the most vulnerable in the Las Vegas community and globally.

Joanna is a lover of life, a former marathon runner, a traveler and adventurer, a passionate hiker and mountain climber.

Ram Magar

Director

Ram Magar was born in the village of Solukhumbu in 1976. As educational opportunities in rural areas of Nepal are limited, Ram started working as a porter at the age of 15 to help support his family. At the age of 20 he moved to Kathmandu where he was able to continue his education and during a trekking season was given an opportunity to be a cook, porter and support guide on some of the mountain expeditions. Ram quickly learned English, proved himself to be a capable and efficient worker and soon was assigned his own clients and eventually became a licensed trekking and mountaineering guide.

In 2008 when leading a trek through the village of Lapubesi to the base camp of Manaslu he met his future wife, Laxmi. After they married, they were able to secure a loan and in 2014 built a trekking house, called Laxmi Hotel. Unfortunately, the earthquake of 2015 and now the Pandemic brought the tourism business down. Ram is a respected leader in his community. He was on the boards of school directors in Lapubesi and is an outspoken advocate for the rights of tourism workers. Ram and Laxmi live with their son, James in Kathmandu.

Ray Jones

Treasurer

Ray Jones is a lawyer, traveler, philanthropist, mountain climber, and passionate supporter of impoverished communities around the world. Ray has served in leadership positions on several community organization boards in Las Vegas over the past 20 years. In 2017, with his 16-year-old daughter, on a humanitarian trip and trek to the base camp of Mount Everest, Ray fell in love with the Nepali people and culture. It is a passion that is shared by all the members of the NWL board.

Ray would like to express special thanks to Kingsbarn Realty Capital for its financial and logistical support of Nepal Without Limits.

Mike Dickinson

Director

Mike has a love for the mountains, high-elevation places, and remote backcountry locations. He is a family man and loves spending time with his wife and children. He has long held an interest in helping others and been involved with various types of volunteer work over the years including high-adventure youth camps, youth Paralympic sports groups, community food assistance programs, as well as serving as the Treasurer for the UNLV business school alumni board. Mike has worked as a tax accountant for various companies and individuals in Las Vegas for over 18 years.

Robert Burns

Secretary

Robert Burns, a native of Chicago, has been calling Las Vegas home for almost 20 years. He is a dedicated professional with three decades of work experience in rehabilitation therapy, business management, customer relations and marketing. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Occupational Therapy from Louisiana State University Medical Center and Masters of Education from University of Nevada Las Vegas. As a CEO of Burns Therapeutic Services and a Partner and a Managing Director at Therapy Management Group, Robert has an extensive experience in working with Nevada Legislature, multidisciplinary teams of healthcare professionals and state agencies in developing policy and effective practices in the field of early intervention services. As a licensed Occupational Therapist in the state of Illinois and Nevada, he has experience in assessing, developing treatment plans and providing occupational therapy services to pediatric, adult and geriatric patients.

Outside of his professional field his passions are volunteer work, community activism, music, travel, the arts and golf. Since his youth Robert has been involved in various charitable causes in the United States and abroad. Some of his volunteer work was done through his church in Kingston, Jamaica and prior to the Pandemic he organized “culture exchange” trips to Cuba. His biggest pride and joy are his two teenage children: Alahna and Robert who have been his favorite travel companions on many overseas trips.