Joanne Jorissen Chiwaula obtained an A.B. from Brown University in International Development and then studied at the University of California at San Francisco to become a Certified-Nurse Midwife and Women’s Nurse Practitioner. Awed by birth, inspired by women’s strength, and deeply disturbed by both the prolific grief and resounding silence regarding maternal and infant mortality, Joanne is driven by a desire to serve women who often find quality care in scarce supply. She is committed to efforts making birth and childhood safe and joyous experiences for poor women and their families.
Dr. Philip Anglewicz has been intrigued by health issues in developing countries since he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi from 1998 to 2000. After Peace Corps and a two-year stint at an international health NGO Philip moved to Philadelphia to start a PhD in Demography at the University of Pennsylvania. At UPenn, he became engaged in a longitudinal data collection study on fertility, AIDS and social interactions in rural Malawi, and he used these data to write his dissertation (completed in 2007). Currently, Philip continues his work in health research in sub-Saharan Africa as an Assistant Professor at Tulane University. His particular areas of research interest are migration, inter-generational transfers, biomarker measures of health, and survey methodology.
Genevieve Grabman is a public health lawyer with expertise in maternal and child health policy and programming. She has a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University. From 1996 to 1998, she served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Kyrgyzstan where she worked at the United Nations Children’s Fund on health and human rights programs. Following her Peace Corps service, Ms. Grabman was the Kyrgyzstan country manager for a health sector reform project supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank. She later was a human rights consultant with the POLICY Project, a USAID reproductive health and HIV/AIDS initiative, and a legislative and policy associate at the Center for Health and Gender Equity and the Global Health Council.
Julia Betts is a corporate communications manager at National Instruments (NI), which sells tools to scientists and engineers in more than 90 countries around the world. Julia holds a Bachelor of Science in communications from the University of Texas at Austin. She has more than a decade of expertise in public relations, including messaging development and reputation management. She manages NI’s internal and external communications to key stakeholders, including: press, employees, and financial investors. Julia is a mother to one amazing little boy and her personal experience in pregnancy, childbirth, and beyond sparked a strong interest in working with organizations to improve health and wellness for mothers and babies, particularly in resource poor places around the globe.
Kimberley Chastain is a Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner. In 1999, Kimberley spent a year living in a remote Guatemalan village as a Human Rights witness. It was there that she realized her passion for immersing herself in other cultures as well as the dire need for health care services among under-served populations. She returned to the U.S. to pursue a Master’s in Nursing at the University of California at San Francisco. For the past 10 years, her clinical practice has focused on Women’s Health, Family Planning, and Reproductive Care. During that time, she has traveled extensively and volunteered her services in Northern India, Guatemala and alongside our own nursing staff in Malawi. As a health care provider, Kimberley is able to understand the medical needs of the women, children and families we serve as well as the obstacles and challenges faced by our Malawian nurses as they strive to provide quality, sustainable health care in an under-resourced system.
