The Board
Because change needs people
Meet the team behind Hawa’s Hope
Behind every training, every partnership, and every safe birth are people who care deeply.
The Hawa’s Hope board brings together medical expertise, compassion, and the commitment to build a safer future for mothers and babies in Sierra Leone.
And we couldn’t do it alone.
Our impact is only possible thanks to a larger network of volunteers, trainers, and supporters who contribute their knowledge and energy to every mission. Their dedication helps turn vision into action.
Joanie Seacrist
Chairwoman/Founder
Joanie was the first of our team to dream of being a part of the work in Sierra Leone to reduce maternal mortality and support skilled attendance for women during childbirth. She spent several years living in Sierra Leone as a child of missionary parents. After having received her Registered Nurse degree, she returned to the country on several short medical mission trips and developed a heart for the women there. She later moved to Sierra Leone and spent almost two years working as the Supervisor of a hospital treating women who had birth related injuries. That experience inspired her to return to the U.S. and receive her Master’s Degree in Nursing, became a Certified Nurse Midwife and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner.
As a founder of Hawa’s Hope she developed relationships with the Midwifery Schools in Sierra Leone and now leads a yearly team of volunteers to work directly with those schools to provide emergency obstetric training to midwife students, experienced midwives and medical students interested in OB care. Joanie strongly believes that capacity building is the best way to contribute to the work being done in Sierra Leone to improve the outcomes for childbearing women.
Janel Crawford
Managing Director
Janel Crawford MD is an obstetrician-gynecologist, with over 25 years of clinical experience. Throughout her career she has contributed to the development of future healthcare professionals as a teacher and mentor to residents and students. With a strong background in maternal care, Janel served as the inpatient Maternity director at a high volume/acuity hospital for several years.
In this role, she led critical events trainings, care experience teams, risk reduction teams, and performance improvement projects, ensuring the delivery of exceptional care to mothers and infants. Beyond her local contributions, Janel has volunteered on surgical mission teams in Guatemala, offering her surgical expertise.
Additionally, her South African heritage has fostered a profound connection to Africa. She went on her first Hawa’s Hope trip in March 2023 and fell in love with the people and the work. Janel believes in the power of knowledge and is excited to work towards promoting positive change in the healthcare system.
Johannes Meerjanssen
Treasurer / Secretary
Johannes is a seasoned business executive, bringing extensive experience in finance, marketing, strategic planning and brand building to his role at Hawa’s Hope.
His engagement for Hawa’s Hope is driven by his conviction that local capacity building through training and skill development is the most effective route to sustainable improvement of birth conditions and women’s health care in Sierra Leone.
Marla Seacrist
Board Member/Founder
Marla is a Registered Nurse and nursing professor. She has been an RN for more than 41 years with the majority of her bedside experience in labor and delivery. She spent two years working with rural women in Guatemala improving birth practices there in the early 1990’s.
Marla met Joanie when she was preparing to move to SL. The two shared a vision for the women there and she soon joined her in SL on two occasions to provide support to other nurses.
Marla and Joanie used the 3 R framework (Readiness, Recognition, and Response) developed from her involvement with CMQCC to structure their workshops in SL.
In addition to providing direct support to the healthcare professionals in country, Marla hopes to work with the professors at all four of the Schools of Midwifery in SL, developing curriculum and faculty preparedness to educate the next generation of midwives.
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