Board

A health economist with over three decades of experience working for the UN with a focus on costing and financial and economic analysis of family planning, maternal and child health programs in developing countries. Since 2011 Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. For more than a decade, she has been deeply involved in supporting Village Health Works, a U.S.-based NGO operating a hospital in Burundi, and Operieren in Afrika, the clinic in Burkina Faso founded by her brother‑in‑law and sister, contributing her time, insight, and dedication to their missions.
She holds a Masters degree in Economics and Chinese from Tübingen University, Germany and a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University.

Founder of Departure Films, a television production company with over $250 million in total sales. Working with HBO, Warner Bros., Discovery, A&E. Experience managing 100+ employees and multimillion-dollar projects.

economist by training, Jozelyn served under President Clinton at the Office of Management and Budget, worked at Lehman Brothers and since 2002 runs her own company, BankLab LLC, advising organizations on credit risk. In parallel, she has held leadership positions on the boards of several non-profit organizations focused on poverty alleviation and civil rights. For over 15 years, she has served on the Board of Village Health Works, several years of which she served as CFO and Treasurer.
She holds a PhD in International Economics from Columbia University.

New York-based Television Production Executive with 30+ years of experience with a focus on budgets, finance and logistics . 20+ years of renovation and construction supervision.

Technical Advisory Board

Prof. Rumstadt brings extensive clinical leadership and long‑standing hands‑on experience in building sustainable healthcare infrastructure in Africa to his role on the Advisory Board. He is the Medical Director and Chief of Surgery at the Evangelisches Diakoniekrankenhaus in Freiburg, Germany, where he leads a highly regarded surgical department.
In 2002, Professor Rumstadt founded the nonprofit initiative Operieren in Afrika and has since served as its Chair. What began as annual surgical outreach missions evolved into the development of the Clinique Sedogo, including full project design, clinical concept development, and long‑term planning. He has led fundraising efforts to finance the clinic’s construction and operations and remains the primary point of contact for all medical, technical, and financial aspects of the project.
Professor Rumstadt personally conducts multiple medical missions each year and has participated in more than 70 field deployments to Africa. His advisory role is informed by decades of surgical expertise, deep operational knowledge of clinic development, and a sustained commitment to strengthening access to high‑quality surgical care in resource‑limited settings.

A pediatric surgeon with extensive clinical and global health experience and a long-standing commitment to strengthening access to quality care in resource-limited settings, she co-founded the clinic in Burkina Faso.

Obstetrician and Gynaecologist with extensive experience working in resource-limited settings across Africa and the Middle East, including senior clinical and leadership roles in Namibia, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, and Gaza.

Amede is the Founder and Country Director of Ineza Burundi and will be leading the Ineza Clinic. A Burundian development and health systems professional, he has a strong background in project leadership, monitoring and evaluation, and organizational development. He earned his master’s degrees in Uganda and Germany, but chose to return to Burundi to apply his skills and knowledge in service of the communities that shaped him. He grew up in Bubanza, where we chose to build our clinic.

Jean Baptiste Mbonyingingo, MD is the Medical Director of the clinic, bringing extensive experience in clinical leadership, global health, and health systems strengthening. Trained as a physician at the University of Burundi with a strong background in HIV/AIDS care, infectious diseases, maternal and child health, and emergency medicine, he is currently completing his 3-year residency program in Pediatrics at Kampala International University in Uganda. He previously served as Medical Director at the hospital of the American NGO Village Health Works in Burundi.