Leadership Team
Our Team in Canada
Janet Sampson
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Janet comes to Save the Mothers with almost a decade of service in the not-for-profit sector. She loves to challenge herself by stretching her boundaries and stepping outside her comfort zone. She is inspired by the generosity of Canadians for those less fortunate than us here at home and more importantly, by the stories from the field, of hope given to those who felt hopeless.
Janet resides in Markham with her husband Bob, and their son Carter. In her spare time, Janet loves to garden, read and go for long walks.
Jacob Buurma
WEBSITE AND CREATIVE
From graduate studies on Mother Teresa to documenting the impact of microfinance in South America, Jacob has a life-long passion for global issues and social justice. He believes both non-profit and for-profit organizations have a role to play in improving life for those in the margins of our world. He holds an undergraduate degree at William and Mary in Virginia, a Master’s degree in theology from Regent College and studied web and graphic design at George Brown College. Jacob is the founder of Vibrant Content, based in Victoria, BC.
“Mothers are dying. Needlessly. It’s a story in need of more international attention. It’s led me to places I would have never dreamed, and it’s led me to try to make a difference. I’ve found God has given strength I didn’t know I had, and opened roads I didn’t know existed.”
— Dr. Jean Chamberlain Froese
Dr. Jean Chamberlain Froese
CO-FOUNDER OF SAVE THE MOTHERS
Dr. Jean Chamberlain Froese, M.D., is an internationally respected leader in the field of maternal health, and has been appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada in recognition of her commitment to saving the lives of women and babies in the developing world. An obstetrician and director of the International Women’s Health Program at McMaster University, she has dedicated her life to making pregnancy and childbirth safer in the developing world.
Prior to establishing Save the Mothers, Dr. Chamberlain Froese worked as an obstetrician in Yemen, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Pakistan where she was confronted with the tragic scourge of mothers dying from preventable causes. While working in Uganda she decided to tackle the problem of maternal mortality head on, but recognized that the complexities surrounding the issue demanded social and cultural change. Together with her Ugandan colleagues she founded Save the Mothers, an international non-profit organization that educates local leaders to become influencers for change for safe motherhood. In 2009, she was awarded the Teasdale-Corti Humanitarian Award, a prestigious national award by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada for her work in improving maternal health around the world. In 2012 the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada awarded her the Prix d’Excellence for going “beyond the call of duty.”
Dr. Chamberlain Froese is married to journalist Thomas Froese, author of Ninety-Nine Windows: Reflections of a Reporter from Arabia to Africa and other Roads Less Travelled. They have three children: Elizabeth, Jonathan and Hannah (a Ugandan girl they adopted in 2009). From 2005 - 2017, the family lived in Uganda for eight months a year and in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, annually from May to August. In the spring of 2017, they returned to Canada to establish a permanent home.
Our Governance
Save the Mothers is overseen by a Canadian board of directors.
Save the Mothers USA is overseen by an American board of directors.
Current board members are:
Shaun Gillis, MD (Chair)
Jean Chamberlain Froese MD (Ex officio)
Jayne Gurley
Jane Gillette, DDM, MPH, (Treasurer)
Obed Kabanda, PhD
Kelly Damberger, RN
Emily Daniels
Kyndall Hinkle
Tammy Gottshalk, CNP
Kelley Howe
Save the Mothers East Africa is overseen by an African board of directors.
Sylvia Ssinabulya (Interim Chair) - Uganda Member of Parliament (Mityana district)
Catherine Kizza – Journalist, Former MPHL student
Eve Nakabembe – Obstetrician
Margaret Kiwanuka – Uganda Christian University
More information and annual reports are available upon request via info@savethemothers.org