JEFFREY LANDI, FOUNDER
Jeffrey Landi was born in Queens, NY, which means that bold optimism and an incisive view of the world are built into his being. An intensely curious person, he harnessed that energy to adventure to 37 countries while building a 25+ year career in software.
One of those countries was Nicaragua. It was there in 2018 that Jeffrey was struck by the beauty and difficulty of the Nicaraguan story. He decided to build a home in the coastal town of San Juan del Sur and felt a profound pull to contribute to his new community. In Feb of 2020 he founded Sonrisas Felices, a project that has brought dental services to 20,000+ people in remote villages, university scholarships to girls of low income families, and a small business that employs differently-abled people (primarily deaf staff).
This has become Jeffrey's life work. Sonrisas Felices holds a vision for the communities we serve where all people are healthy, educated, and employed.
Jeffrey lives in Campbell, CA, has two college-aged children, and is obsessed with the ocean, live music, and bedtime reading.
KELLY FERNANDA GUTIÉRREZ MARTÍNEZ,
PRINCIPAL DENTIST
PRINCIPAL DENTIST
Kelly Fernanda Gutiérrez Martínez serves as the organization's principal dentist. She completed her primary and secondary studies at the Colegio Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Fátima, where she learned the importance of dedicating herself to a brighter future and bringing that back to her community. Later, she decided to study dentistry at the UNICA Catholic University, motivated by her interest in health and caring for people.
Since February 2020, Dr. Gutiérrez has been working at Sonrisas Felices as a general dentist. She is in charge of performing different dental treatments in all manner of mobile settings and educating adult patients and thousands of school children on the importance of proper oral hygiene. Dr. Gutiérrez feels immense satisfaction helping her patients improve their quality of life, since most people she encounters have never had access to dental services.
Dr. Gutiérrez is, quite simply, the beating heart of our dentistry program.
Board Members
Archana Shetty, Board Chair
Nathaniel Landi, Board Vice Chair
Kevin Dyels, Board Treasurer
Kaiya White-Fawn, Board Secretary