OUR BOARD
COURTNEY KAPUYA
Co-Founder of Mama Imara
Courtney holds a Master's degree in Counselling Psychology from the University of Ottawa. She has worked as a psychotherapist in Canada and abroad. She has supported civilian staff and peacekeepers in the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) and worked in post-traumatic rehabilitation with refugees in camps in Uganda. She is currently living in Dakar, Senegal, working with UNICEF as a Staff Counsellor for West and Central Africa.
Courtney is also passionate about maternal health and has spent the last few years studying with the National College of Midwifery to obtain a midwifery degree. She contributed to the growth of the Amani Family Centre, a birthing centre in the Kanyogoga slum in Uganda, where women receive free, compassionate and dignified care throughout pregnancy, childbirth and the post-natal period.
Courtney is a loving mother to four children – Hope, Lilly, Violet and Zaire. She and her husband, Gerard, have chosen to raise their children abroad and are committed to raising global citizens who love and serve God and their fellow human beings.
CATHERINE GARDINER
Board Member
Catherine has a diverse background of corporate business experience and entrepreneurial enterprise. She has held senior management positions in the Canadian Banking industry and at the Conference Board of Canada. She developed her entrepreneurial skills by launching 2 small businesses, one in entertainment promotion and one in personal growth coaching.
Her leadership objective is to promote accountability and to empowerment and influence people to succeed and contribute to the best of their ability.
She has visited Uganda a number of times, and in 2017 had the opportunity to visit the Amani Family Clinic, operating in the Kanyagoa slum in Kampala. At the time the clinic was operating out of a very small one room space delivering babies and undertaking prenatal care. Catherine was moved to serve these women by helping to raise funds so that the clinic could continue and expand upon their impactful work in maternal care.
SUE KEMP
Board Member
Volunteering from an early age, Sue’s passion for helping others was ignited by her parents and their volunteer work with their church and several benevolent community organizations.
Sue has held senior management positions in both the private and public sectors.
Although her career has been in the information technology domain, Sue is passionate about inspiring others to be the best they can be and is actively involved with two non-profit, volunteer run organizations. She serves on the Advisory Council for a professional association that provides learning opportunities in IM/IT and is an active member of a charitable organization that teaches effective speaking skills. Sue has been honoured as a Life Member in both organizations in recognition of her leadership and service.
Sue joined the board of Mama Imara in 2018 after learning about Courtney and Diane’s selfless work at the Amani Family Clinic in Uganda and the significant and positive impact they were making. The love of her own children compelled her to get involved in helping vulnerable mamas through the support of midwifery-led clinics such as the Amani Family Clinic.
LISABETH OTT
Board Member
Lisabeth works as a corporate training and adult learning specialist with extensive experience in behavioural learning. She loves engaging leaders to connect with their inner resources and grow as authentic leaders, challenging them to drive business results and ultimately raise their organizational impact. Partnering with organizations to develop learning tools that align to their strategic goals and creating experiential learning scenarios that practice using those tools realistically is her strength. Lisabeth’s exposure to learning has taken her deeply into the ways that felt experiences can turn a concept into a useful, accessible resource for leaders in their day-to-day work.
Accessibility is the key to impactful learning, and it’s also the reason Lisabeth is so passionate about Mama Imara. Providing access to maternal health care for vulnerable women is a human right and one denied to so many – we want to help change that.
MENNA GLYN ANDREWS
Board Member
Menna has had an interesting, dynamic career in several senior positions within Corporate Canada, Universities, Crown Corporations and Government Departments. In the 90s she founded BestSelf Inc., a company that encourages people to become their best through coaching. She holds a professional designation both in facilitation and in coaching.
In 2018, after eleven years with Global Affairs Canada, she is now committed to being of service to others.
Menna is the proud recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal; as an ambassador for kindness, compassion, and joyful living, she aims to leave a legacy of connecting people to their possibilities and their best lives. Where better to start as when a woman gives birth and a new baby takes the first breathe. When she heard the plight of mothers with no access to safe care and that most gave birth on dirt floors she knew that there was a calling for her help. That’s why Menna is part of the Board of Directors, she is committed to fundraising.
Jolly Ann Maulit is an international development worker with over 12 years of experience in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. She has a background in public health and business, and is passionate about health systems strengthening and investing in local capacity for the delivery of basic services. She is honoured to be part of the Mama Imara board to its mission to provide safe and dignified healthcare to mothers and newborns in underserved communities. Jolly Ann currently advises on UNICEF’s water, sanitation and hygiene programs for UNICEF’s West and Central Africa region.
JOLLY ANN MAULIT
Board Member
PEACE KABATANGARE ZULU
Board Member
Based in Uganda, Peace is a certified finance and accounting professional and entrepreneur currently providing consulting and assurance services to clients around the world. She enjoys working with leaders to bring their visions to life by developing and delivering sustainable strategies that create and preserve value whilst serving the needs of multiple stake holders.
She is passionate about women and especially about empowering them to achieve their full potential in whatever environment. She has served various causes and organizations that share the same purpose and enjoys seeing women thrive.
Peace was drawn to the area of maternal health in 2016 after her own particularly traumatizing experience as a first-time mother in Uganda. Despite having access to what is deemed above average care by Ugandan standards, she had a terrible and unwarranted experience that opened her eyes to the state of maternal health care in Uganda.
She was convicted to learn more about the state of maternal health care in Uganda and what she discovered was heart wrenching. This journey led her to Mama Imara where she witnessed the significant impact that access to safe, timely and dedicated maternal care could have on mothers and their children. This birthed a deep conviction within her to contribute to this worthy cause.
As a mother of 2, Peace is determined so see positive change in the maternal health sector in Uganda. The pilot of the midwifery led Amani Family Clinic demonstrates that it is indeed possible to extend quality maternal health care to even the most vulnerable of mothers and in so doing, save countless lives.