Board of Directors Update - March 2022
The 2022 work of the GCBC Board of Directors (BOD) will revolve around the building of the birth center. The project planning process has required revisiting our communications and fundraising plans.
In February, we raised about $5,000 of the $80,000 needed to complete the building project. It is all hands on deck for fundraising. Each BOD member is working on a piece of the fundraising plan what includes donors, Giving Circles, and foundations. We have set fundraising goals that we will be introducing, starting with increasing the number of sustaining monthly donors.
We are excited to introduce you to Laura Drayton, our volunteer Communications Specialist. Laura brings over a decade of communications and public health experience and has a deep passion for maternal and infant health and equity. Laura will help ensure that we keep supporters informed about the building progress and the ongoing practice and teaching of GCBC Midwife, Ninotte Lubin. We will be publishing a quarterly newsletter and briefer monthly updates and you will be seeing some improvements to the website.
We’d like to introduce you briefly to our BOD officers and encourage you to revisit the website next month for complete bios, pictures, and personal statements of all board members.
Kathi Mulder, President
Kathi is a newly retired Licensed Midwife and former owner of Dance of Life Midwifery. As the GCBC President Kathi provides the overall leadership for project planning, fundraising, meeting agenda setting, communications, and BOD operations.
Kathi saw the need for more equitable maternity care firsthand when she traveled to Haiti in 2011 to offer relief services following the 2010 earthquake. She had the opportunity to serve as one of Ninotte’s mentors. Kathi feels strongly that the best way to make a difference in the lives of women and families in Haiti is to invest in one midwife who can then help many. She brings her years of experience of leading other midwifery boards and committees to Grace.
Craig Mulder, Treasurer
Craig retired from Northwestern Michigan College as the head of technology and information services and now devotes some of his many skills and energies toward managing GCBC’s financial operations, donors, website, and all things IT. Craig has worked in many ways throughout his life to make the world a more just and equitable place for families and the GCBC fits well in his wheelhouse of projects to achieve those goals. He values the fact that GCBC is Haitian-directed.
Melinda Parenteau, Secretary
Melinda lives in British Columbia, Canada. She is currently a non-practicing registered midwife and the mother of two young children. Melinda keeps the GCBC on task, organizing meeting minutes and correspondence. Melinda is currently focusing on fundraising for the building project within her community. Melinda met Ninotte in 2010 when she moved to Haiti to practice midwifery soon after the 2010 earthquake that killed over 200,000 Haitians. Melinda and Ninotte continued to work together over the course of the next four years at two birth centers. Melinda was one of several of Ninotte's midwifery preceptors. She was witness to Ninotte's passion to see change and new possibilities for Haitians. Midwifery met Ninotte's heart and enabled her an outlet, a voice and platform to help women, babies and families succeed in the most trying of times. Melinda is committed to Ninotte's vision for midwifery in Haiti. They share a passion to provide holistic, compassionate and family centered care.