Meet the Founders
Ian & Janine Maxwell
The founders of Heart for Africa (Canada)
Ian and Janine Maxwell built their lives and careers in Canada, running a successful marketing agency and raising their family. But along the way, their hearts were drawn toward something bigger. Encounters with poverty, hunger, and children in need shifted their focus and gave them a vision: to use their experience and resources to bring hope where it was desperately needed.
That vision became Heart for Africa (Canada), a place where faith and compassion meet practical action. Today, Ian and Janine continue to lead with the same conviction that first moved them: that love, when put to work, can change countless lives.
Hope lives here
Authored by Janine Maxwell
“With our current initiatives based in Eswatini, I wanted to capture what it truly feels like to walk this journey. That’s why I wrote Hope Lives Here. It’s not a manual or a report—it’s our story. The story of heartbreak and hope, of mistakes and miracles, of what it means to say yes when God asks you to step out in faith.
The book takes you behind the scenes of Project Canaan: a place where abandoned babies are welcomed into our family, where food is grown to fight hunger, and where education is opening doors for a new generation. It also weaves together the threads of my first two books, It’s Not Okay With Me and Is It Okay With You?, because this story didn’t begin in Eswatini, it’s been unfolding for years.
HOPE LIVES HERE is our testimony that joy and sorrow often walk hand in hand, but when love leads, hope always has the final word.”
– Janine Maxwell
Meet the team
Senior Leadership
David Bryant
Executive Director
David has been building meaningful relationships and raising support for nonprofits since 1999, leading campaigns that have generated millions for people in need. With experience spanning disability services, homelessness, hunger relief, and housing repair, his passion lies in connecting donors’ generosity with life-changing impact.
John McCarthy
Chief Financial Officer
After a family trip in 2012, John was inspired to join Heart for Africa and bring his 20+ years of accounting and operational management experience to the mission. Based in Chattanooga, he combines business expertise with a deep passion for nonprofit service and faith-driven leadership.
Margaret Woodis
Director of Development
Based in Middle Tennessee, Margaret brings over 13 years of experience in development and marketing to Heart for Africa, having worked with organizations like the American Heart Association and TrustPoint Hospital. She is passionate about using her skills to amplify the voices of marginalized communities and create meaningful impact.
Pamela Schreiner
Director of Operations
Pamela has spent her career in administration, fundraising, and event planning for nonprofit organizations, driven by a heart to serve those who have been exploited or are at risk. She is passionate about using her gifts to make a meaningful impact and grow the Kingdom through her work with Heart for Africa. She is based in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Spencer Maxwell
Director of Marketing
Spencer’s journey with Heart for Africa began as a child, traveling on service trips across Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, and Swaziland, witnessing the organization’s impact firsthand. With a background in consulting and business innovation at Ernst & Young and advanced degrees in International Business and Marketing Management, he brings strategic expertise to amplify Heart for Africa’s mission. Spencer is based in Michigan with his wife, Jane, and their son, Beck.
Board of Directors
Carol Hickman
Board Chair
Carol Hickman obtained her law degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1987 and has practiced family law in the Greater Vancouver area for over 25 years. Carol has extensive experience in complex family law matters, including property division, maintenance, and custody and access disputes. She has experience at all levels of Court including the Supreme Court of Canada.
Carol was a Bencher of the Law Society of BC from 2004 – 2011, when she completed her final term, and sat on several Committees and Task Forces. Carol continues to sit on Law Society Discipline Hearing panels. Carol was recognized for her contribution to the legal profession when she was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2010.
For the past 15 years, Carol has been helping couples resolve their disputes outside of the courtroom, as a family law Mediator and a Collaborative family lawyer. Carol is also a family law Arbitrator. Carol has been an instructor for Continuing Legal Education for many years and has also been a guest instructor at UBC Law School and Thompson Rivers University Law School. Carol has been a guest speaker across North America in the area of family law. Carol recently completed her Masters of Law in Alternate Dispute Resolution at Osgoode Hall Law School.
Carol continues her litigation practice at Quay Law Centre, the largest group of family lawyers in BC. In addition, in 2012 Carol established West Coast ADR Law Group, which is focused on mediation, arbitration and collaborative law.
Carol has been involved in a number of charities and is actively involved with her Church. She is also very passionate about Heart for Africa (Canada) and the children at Project Canaan and has been instrumental in organizing several fundraisers in BC since 2016 to raise money for Project Canaan Academy. Carol and her husband Barry made their first trip to Eswatini in 2016, as well as many trips since then, spending the majority of their time with the children and participating in the HFA Outreach Program. Carol is passionate about raising awareness of the drought, famine and AIDS epidemic in Eswatini.
Janine Maxwell
Co-Founder, Vice-Chair
Janine Maxwell built one of Canada’s most successful marketing firms before a life-changing experience on 9/11 set her on a new path. Seeking greater purpose, she traveled to Africa, where the realities of AIDS, hunger, and poverty moved her to action. Together with her husband, Ian, she co-founded Heart for Africa, a faith-based nonprofit focused on bringing hope through Hunger relief, Orphan care, Poverty alleviation, and Education.
A graduate of Evangel University, Janine is also the author of three books, including Hope Lives Here, which shares the behind-the-scenes story of Heart for Africa’s journey. She continues to lead with vision and passion, using her voice and experience to advocate for those too often unheard.
Spencer Maxwell
Director
Spencer’s journey with Heart for Africa began at its inception. As a kid, he spent summers traveling with the organisation on service trips to Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, and Swaziland, witnessing the profound impact of its mission firsthand. Since 2008, he has closely followed the development of Project Canaan, gaining a deep understanding of its transformative initiatives and the communities it serves.
Prior to joining Heart for Africa as the Director of Marketing, Spencer worked as a Manager at Ernst and Young, LLP, where he specialised in food service innovation and operations consulting. He successfully led complex, large-scale projects, opening new
revenue channels that generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for Quick-Service Restaurants and Consumer Packaged Goods clients. His work included leading operational transformations and designing innovation frameworks that delivered measurable and lasting impact.
Spencer’s academic journey has also shaped his approach to strategic thinking and problem-solving. He holds a Master of International Business from Queen’s University in Canada and a MSc in Marketing Management from ESADE Business School in Spain. Now, as the Director of Marketing, Spencer is eager to apply his expertise to further amplify Heart for Africa’s mission, connecting more people to its life-changing work and ensuring the sustainability of its programs.
He lives in Michigan with his wife, Jane, whom he met on a Heart for Africa trip when they were just 15 years old, and their son, Beck.
Chris Winkle
Director
Chris Winkle served as the chief executive officer for Sunrise Senior Living from April 2014 to Jan 2021. With extensive knowledge of acute, post-acute, and senior living sectors, Mr. Winkle is a seasoned executive with more than 35 years of experience in leadership management, healthcare operations, finance, and strategic planning.
Before joining Sunrise, Mr. Winkle served eight years as chief executive officer of MedQuest, Inc., a leading operator of independent, fixed-site, outpatient diagnostic imaging centers in the United States. Previously, he served as president and chief executive officer for Mariner Health Care, Inc., which operated skilled nursing facilities, assisted living and long-term acute care hospitals. Prior to that role, Mr. Winkle was the chief operating officer at Integrated Health Services, where he helped pioneer the sub-acute care sector and was responsible for all the facility and ancillary service operations. Mr. Winkle started his career by holding management positions within specialty and ehabilitation hospitals.
Mr. Winkle currently resides in Middleburg, VA with his wife. They have four children and two grandchildren. Mr. Winkle is a longtime supporter of Heart for Africa. He and his family visited in 2009 and were present at the ground blessing for Project Canaan. He returned for the 10 th Anniversary in 2019. He is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University and is a member of several for profit and nonprofit boards.
Cheri Peters
Director
Cheri was blessed to be born into a Christian family and was brought up in the Church. She accepted Jesus as her Savior very early in life and His hand has been upon her all her life. Cheri and her husband Dave have four children and 11 grandchildren. She had the privilege of being a stay-at-home Mom until the last child went off to college. After the kids were gone, she and her husband started a retail flooring business that they owned for 12 years. They sold that business and retired for a bit. Currently, Cheri works
at a senior’s residence in Penticton.
Cheri’s introduction to Heart for Africa (Canada) came from Dave’s connection to Mercy Tech Mission. MTM’s Mission statement is “Changing Lives – One Skill at a Time”. They have been working at Project Canaan for a few years, training employees in auto mechanics, welding, electrical, and millwrights. Dave was interested (as a Mercy Tech board member) in going to Eswatini to get a sense of the opportunity, and to help plan for future training missions. Cheri agreed to go along and was astounded by the whole Operation.
Cheri spent an epic “day in the life” with Janine – they picked up baby Cheri and baby Jewel in the morning and in the afternoon took Elvis II’s Mom up country to the Hospital to await his birth. On the way home Janine stopped at a roadside vegetable stand and bought all of their sweet potatoes. Were the venders ever happy. Cheri was hooked! The kids, the farm, the hydroponics, aquaponics, the fruit, the fields, the dairy, the egg production, the school, the Medical clinic, the Artisans, the housing, the mechanic shop, an amazing operation.
Cheri is deeply honored and humbled to be asked to join this incredible group of people and do what she can to move this project forward.
Jeni Hudson
Director
Jeni lives in Listowel, Ontario with her husband of 25 years and her two boys ages 24 and 22. When her youngest son went off to kindergarten, she followed her passion for loving children and went back to school to earn her Early Childhood Education diploma through an apprenticeship program at the North Perth Early Years Centre. She went on to become the supervisor of a local Preschool and from there began as a supply ECE teacher with Avon Maitland District School Board.
Her passion for helping people led her to her current position as a “full time professional volunteer”. She serves her community by working as a volunteer delivering Meals on Wheels as well as various other opportunities. Through the church, Jeni has volunteered on two consecutive mission trips to Saugeen First Nations Reserve helping put on a Christian camp for their youth.
Jeni remembers her love for Africa beginning at a young age after hearing about how impoverished the continent was. In 2020, she learned about Heart for Africa through friends who had attended a previous trip. She immediately read all of Janine’s books and knew this was something she was meant to see. As soon as trips resumed after the pandemic, she booked. She travelled to Eswatini in July of 2022 with her husband, Sean, where she fell in love with everything Africa and her new friends at Project Canaan. She is honoured to be asked to serve on this board and is excited to see where God will lead her.
Roger Pelissero
Director
Roger Pelissero is a third-generation egg farmer and Chair of Egg Farmers of Canada. Prior to his appointment as Chair in 2017, Roger represented the province of Ontario on the Egg Farmers of Canada Board of Directors. He has also served on numerous Board appointed committees including Executive, Cost of Production, Marketing and Nutrition, Service Fee and Production Management.
As a representative of Egg Farmers of Canada, Roger has appeared before the House of Commons Standing on Agriculture and Agri-Food and the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry to brief Members of Parliament and Senators on the egg industry’s activities and objectives.
He is passionate about sustainability and an advocate for evidence-based research that supports progress and innovation. He is a founding member of the Global Initiative for Sustainable Eggs and recently co-chaired the Canadian Poultry Sustainability Value Chain Roundtable. He is also a member of the Egg Industry Center Board of Advisors of Iowa State University.
Roger has been farming with his family and wife Lorrie since 1984.
