Board of Directors Chair
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.
Dr. Grace pursued her dream of becoming a physician after working as a Paramedic in Salt Lake City for several years. She completed her bachelor’s degree in biology at Brigham Young University and then attended medical school at Rocky Vista University in Colorado. She completed her training with an emergency medicine residency in Saginaw, Michigan. She and her family are very happy to be home in Utah again. She is very interested in global healthcare and serves on the board of directors for HHI as the Medical Director. She was one of the founding members of HHI and loves serving the people in rural Haiti. One of her favorite things about the medical trips to Timo is working along side HHI’s Haitian partners. She feels “It’s heart-warming to see people from different backgrounds and cultures come together and serve with a unified purpose and goal.” She is proud to maintain her certification as a paramedic and loves teaching in the field of emergency medical services. She has instructed at the University of Utah paramedic program and other local EMS training institutions. She currently serves as the medical director for South Weber Fire Department.
Ronda Hills is an educator at Quest Academy Charter School in West Haven, Utah. She teaches early elementary students and manages the purchasing for the school. Prior to teaching at Quest Academy, Mrs. Hills was the SEM specialist at Woods Cross Elementary in the Davis Schools District. She holds a Master’s in Education degree from Western Governors University, a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, a Bachelor’s degree in Child and Family Studies, a Level 2 Educator License for the State of Utah, and a STEM endorsement.
Hannah Payne is a public health professional who completed her Master’s of Public Health at Brigham Young University. In her graduate fieldwork, she led an evaluation project for the Utah State Health Department’s TOPSTAR (Teaching Obesity Prevention in Childcare Settings) program and implemented a social media marketing plan for the Utah Family Meal project. She is also an experienced researcher with 15+ papers published in the scientific literature on a variety of public health topics, including health behavior and technology, international health, food insecurity, and public health theoretical models. After completing her graduate degree, she worked as a software implementation specialist for Epic Systems, leading teams in building electronic medical software in hospitals across the United States. She has worked at the University of Utah Health since 2019 as a Quality Improvement Specialist in primary care, leading patient care teams in carrying out projects to improve clinical outcomes. She first heard of HHI through her connections at BYU’s MPH program and is excited to combine her professional skillset and passion for public health service in her role with HHI. Hannah enjoys hiking, traveling, reading, and international cooking.
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.
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.
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.
Oral Health Services
RECENT BLOG & UPDATES
The following selection of articles provides an inside look at HHI’s updates on recent projects and history of accomplishments.
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...
WANT TO KNOW ABOUT US. To Recap, HHI contacted the company ARUP to develop the design of the IMPV school in Timo, Haiti.This project aims to bring a much-needed new school facility in the remote, mountainous community of Timo. The school will be attended by around 225...
WANT TO KNOW ABOUT US. The earthworks for the new Timo school are completed.This includes retaining walls, perimeter walls and fencing. We resumed talks with our engineer and architect partners at Arup (designer of Sydney Opera House) who are reviewing the...
HAITI HEALTH INITIATIVE PARTNERS
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.
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.