Committee Members

About HHICommittee Members

Health Services Committee Members

Rosanne Lewis

Nursing Initiatives
Women’s Health
RN
Biography

Rosanne Lewis knew she wanted to be a nurse from a young age. She served as an Air Force med tech for several years after she graduated from high school. She has been a nurse since 1991 and has worked at Moab Regional Hospital for 26 years. Most of her experience has been in labor and delivery and lactation. She heard about HHI through a nurse friend who offered one of the labor and delivery nurses the opportunity to go to Haiti to help teach traditional birth attendants (TBAs) good birth practices. Rosanne was the lucky one who took the opportunity and she has been involved with HHI for over six years now. She has been involved with TBA education and now has responsibility for all women and children’s health issues. Her extensive research on TBA, women and children’s issues from a global perspective has been put to good use! She was initially drawn to HHI by the organization’s mission to make people accountable and eventually responsible for their own health and well being. She supports HHI’s education of native Timo residents and the gradual transfer of leadership and follow-through in healthcare solutions from Americans to Haitians. Rosanne is married and has six children and a grandson. Haiti has become a passion for her and she spends much of her time thinking of ways that she can teach TBAs and nurses how to improve their education and health.

Oral Health Services Committee Members

Benjamin Thomas

Dental Initiatives
DDS
MPH
Dip. Perio
Biography

Benjamin Thomas is a periodontist in private practice in Calgary, Alberta, and an adjunct faculty member at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Dentistry. He completed his undergraduate education at Brigham Young University, and all of his graduate work at UNC. Ben has been committed to global humanitarian outreach since before attending dental school, and has made it a part of his education and his career as much as possible. He has had the opportunity to volunteer with service organizations in multiple countries, and continues to be interested in how we can better improve oral health across the globe in cooperation with those we serve. He first became involved with HHI in 2013, and feels privileged to continue his participation in various ways, including providing dental care and supporting HHI’s scholarship program. He has been married since 2005, and has four children. He enjoys playing basketball and soccer, relaxing with his family, cooking and eating new foods, and caring for his family’s ever-growing collection of animals.

Brad Bills

Alexis Turner

Pharmacy Services Committee Members

MARK LINDHARDT

Procurement & Counseling

Outreach Committee Members

Sara Ditto

Private Giving

Biography

For as long as Sara can remember she has always had a desire to go on a humanitarian trip. In April 2016, her husband and she had the privilege of joining HHI on a medical mission trip to Timo. She had the privilege of serving on the health education team and also had many opportunities to be involved in organizing the details of the trip. Since that trip, Sara has been involved in the fundraising efforts for the primary school in Timo. She has loved using the skills and talents that she has developed for the benefit of others. Sara’s first love is her husband, who supports her dreams and crazy ideas of travel and serving others. Sara attended BYU-Hawaii and then earned a bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Sciences from Oregon State University. She is an active mom of six children, and recently became a mother-in-law!!! Sara loves volunteering in her children’s schools and often can be found doing graphic design projects for her church congregation or leading a group of young women in her local church. Sara is a sun-loving momma trying her hardest to be Christ’s hands here on earth.

Dan Ursenbach

Corporate Giving
MBA
Biography

Dan Ursenbach is an engineer and manager at United Technologies Aerospace Company in Rockford, Illinois. He has a graduate degree in materials science from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from Brigham Young University. Dan served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Haiti where he developed a love for the people and learned Haitian Creole. Dan was attracted to Haiti Health Initiative because of its balanced and transparent approach to health programs. He was excited to be a team leader on a medical trip in 2013. In his spare time, he likes to hike and sail with his family. 

Lisa Ursenbach

Corporate Giving
MBA
Biography

Lisa Ursenbach is an adjunct professor at Post University in Waterbury, Connecticut, where she teaches business management. She has a Masters of Organizational Behavior degree from Brigham Young University. She loves to see organizations reaching their full potential by aligning their strategy and values with action. This is what first drew her to want to be a part of Haiti Health Initiative and their passionate work in Haiti. Her specialties include microfinance and literacy. In her spare time, she likes to read and cook.

CEMPAKA MARTIAL

Events Coordination

Public Relations Committee Members

Glen Thomson

Website

Biography

Glen has been involved in web development and marketing since 1999 for various corporations. He is responsible for the Haiti Health Initiative online presence, search engine optimization and web analytics. Glen has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Cape Town, South Africa and a Bachelor of Commerce honors degree from the University of South Africa. He has shared his skills and talents and volunteered his time for non-profit organizations in Africa, and now with Haiti Health Initiative. He enjoys spending time with his family, travel, photography, technology and family history research.

Matthew Stoddard

Website

Biography

Matt Stoddard is finishing up his Bachelor’s in Technology and Engineering Studies with a Minor in Digital Humanities at Brigham Young University. His role with HHI is to support Glen Thompson with the organizations online presence, search engine optimization, and web analytics. He loves the mission of HHI and hopes to make its name more well-known across the internet. Some of his other works in web design involve interning with the Latter-Day Saint Print Publishing Association and running the online presence of a mindfulness mediation business called Serene and Green with Jean. He enjoys web development and hopes to pursue his career in freelance work. He also enjoys graphic design, film editing, going to the movies, and spending time with his family.

Sara Ditto

Social Media

Biography

For as long as Sara can remember she has always had a desire to go on a humanitarian trip. In April 2016, her husband and she had the privilege of joining HHI on a medical mission trip to Timo. She had the privilege of serving on the health education team and also had many opportunities to be involved in organizing the details of the trip. Since that trip, Sara has been involved in the fundraising efforts for the primary school in Timo. She has loved using the skills and talents that she has developed for the benefit of others. Sara’s first love is her husband, who supports her dreams and crazy ideas of travel and serving others. Sara attended BYU-Hawaii and then earned a bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Sciences from Oregon State University. She is an active mom of six children, and recently became a mother-in-law!!! Sara loves volunteering in her children’s schools and often can be found doing graphic design projects for her church congregation or leading a group of young women in her local church. Sara is a sun-loving momma trying her hardest to be Christ’s hands here on earth.

CARL BECHTHOLD

Newsletter

Infrastructure Committee Members

ELIZABETH MILLER

Agriculture/Nutrition
RN

Biography

Beth Miller is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. She received a master’s degree in nutrition science from the University of Utah in 2014. As a dietetic intern, she completed clinical rotations at LDS Hospital and the University of Utah Hospital working with the Cystic Fibrosis clinic, Cardiovascular Medical unit, and the Acute Internal Medical unit. She completed her thesis research on children with Spinal Muscular Atrophy at the Pediatric Motor Disorders Clinic at the University Of Utah School Of Medicine. For the past five years, she has worked as the clinical dietitian at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Salt Lake City. She first heard of HHI from Kathleen Nielsen, RD who presented a lecture on her experiences in Haiti at the Utah Academy of Nutrition’s annual meeting. She felt inspired to help and contacted Kathleen to go on the trip. Her first trip to Haiti was in October 2015 and then again in April 2017. As a member of the medical team, she provided nutrition consults to patients in the medical clinic, provided nutrition education to children at the local schools, and continues to help recruit and train dietitians to go on future trips to Haiti. Beth enjoys dancing ballet, watercolor painting, and hiking with her dog. 

HEATHER NIXDORFF

BHSc
MSc
WaSH
Biography

Heather Nixdorff has travelled to Timo with HHI since 2015. She completed her masters research on the sustainability of the water system in Timo in 2020 and now serves on the Infrastructure Committee for WASH projects. She works as a Health Promoter with Médecins sans frontières/Doctors without Borders. From Canada, Heather enjoys snowboarding and backcountry hiking.

Matt Pettit

Physical Facilities

Logistics Committee Members

SHEREE EVANS

Trip Organization
Shipping
Facility Inventory
Biography

Sheree is currently serving on the board as administrative support to the medical and dental teams. She had a deep love and respect for the people of Haiti. In 2010 she adopted two children from Haiti, they came home two weeks after the earthquake. She first became involved with HHI on a medical trip in October 2015 and has been on a trip every year since that time. She was impressed with the mission of HHI to help people by not giving handouts but by teaching and helping them to be self-reliant. She is excited to work with upcoming medical and dental teams as they prepare for their trips to Timo. She would love for her children to know their culture and have the desire to give back to Haiti. She has worked for many years in the administrative field. She currently works as a cost accountant for a large business based out of Ogden, Utah. In her spare time, Sheree loves spending time with her children, grandchildren, and pets. She loves to be outside gardening, hiking or just enjoying nature.

RECENT BLOG & UPDATES

The following selection of articles provides an inside look at HHI’s updates on recent projects and history of accomplishments.

AgwoAyiti Hog Farming Project

AgwoAyiti Hog Farming Project

WANT TO KNOW ABOUT US. Evens Robert, one of the founding members of AgwoAyiti, observed the precarious economic and environmental conditions in his home community of Fond d’OiesFrom his observations in Fond d’Oies, he realized that there was untapped potential in...

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HAITI HEALTH INITIATIVE PARTNERS

Contact Us

For general questions, concerns, or comments, use the form below to contact a member of HHI, who will assist you.

Haiti Health Initiative aims to improve the overall health and well being of rural Haitians, one community at a time. We seek to accomplish this through providing education and services in primary health care, dental care, public health, and nutrition within each community at risk.

CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have questions about Haiti Health Initiative, contact Marc-Aurel Martial at [email protected] or at 801-830-3043.

If you are interested to join us in Haiti, click here for more information.

ORGANIZATION

If you would like to know more about Haiti Health Initiative as a Non-Profit Organization and registered Non-Governmental Organization, you can review the organizing documents by clicking here.

LARGE DONATION

If you would like to make a donation to HHI exceeding $1000, you can either send a check to 1761 Gold River Drive, Orem, UT 84057, or pay by credit or debit card by clicking here.

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