Staff



Executive Director
Dwyatt Gantt

Founder and Executive Director Dwyatt Gantt established Children’s Hope International as an adoption agency in 1992. At that time, the focus was solely on the adoption of orphans from China. Over the years, as the number of adoptions through CHI grew, Dwyatt's understanding of the needs of children in all corners of the world increased.

Before 1992, Dwyatt lived in China where he taught English and shared the love and word of God with others. While there, he became aware of the growing number of Chinese orphans, brought about by the government's limitations on the size of families. Because of his caring and compassionate soul, people began to approach Dwyatt for help. Thus, Children's Hope International began.

Over the course of 12+ years, it became apparent that CHI's assistance in adoptions was needed in many other countries, as well. Currently, CHI helps find forever families for children in China, Colombia, Guatemala, India, Russia and Vietnam. Dwyatt believes our work does not end there, however. He is moved by God’s calling to help at-risk children …wherever they may be.  

Through his work in adoption, Dwyatt was given an opportunity to help those children who still wait in orphanages and foster homes. Many of these children suffer due to poor nutrition and inadequate health care - or simply from lack of love and hope. CHI Foundation was established to provide humanitarian aid to these waiting little ones through our child sponsorship / orphan sponsorship program.

As CHI grew, the organization became involved in many projects beyond adoption - projects that served those children left behind. Melody was a key force in gathering a team of medical experts to send to China in 1999 to perform surgeries on several orphans. This trip marked the beginning of CHI's medical mission project, which later became known as "Give Me New Life" and now provides medical care and treatment for about 500 children every year.  

Melody firmly believes in teaching the people of each country how to help their own children, through the development of family preservation programs, domestic adoptions and efficient foster care systems. Her goal is to see CHI Foundation work closely with local people to identify the basic needs of their children and then provide assistance as they establish and begin to run their own child sponsorship programs. 

Melody has a personal passion for the older and special needs children who wait for their forever families. She and her husband Kevin adopted their daughter, Ting Ting, at age 14 from China. They also have a new daughter born to them in August, 2003.

Yuriy brings to this position a wealth of fund-raising and non-profit knowledge and experience. A native Russian, he founded the Tomsk Hobbitt Center in Siberia, which was the first officially registered volunteer organization for children in the USSR. Since its conception in 1989, the center has grown to serve over 3600 children. During Yuriy's 8 year stint as the Hobbitt Center’s Director, the organization was featured in, among others, the “New York Times Magazine”, “Evening Star” and BBC (Great Britain), and “Atterblaget” (Sweden). Just before moving to the U.S., Yuriy served as the Executive Director of the International Federation of Children’s Organizations in Moscow.

Over the course of his career, Yuriy has coordinated and directed five major projects with Eurasia Foundation, USAID, and the British Council, and has authored more than 40 publications. Yuriy holds an MA in history from Tomsk State University and has had formal training from USAID on Development and Marketing for not-for-profit organizations.  

              Coordinator of Humanitarian Aid Projects
              Valerie Trim

Valerie discovered her passion for helping people at a very young age. Throughout the years she has contributed much time and effort to charitable organizations around the world. However, she wanted to do more. After working in the airline industry for almost six years, Valerie decided to follow her heart and was very excited to learn of this opportunity at CHI. She can now focus on helping children around the world full time. 

 <<< Back to top

Board
The Children’s Hope International Foundation Board of Directors is comprised of three members.
These same people also make up the fundraising committee of the CHI Board of Directors. The
members are:

Mike Wild, Chairman
Dwyatt Gantt, President
Barry Petrowsky, Vice President
Melody Zhang, Secretary
Bill Winter /Treasurer
Margaret Ormonde
Rick Shelton

 <<< Back to top
 

<<< Back to top

International Advisory Council
The Foundation's International Council is an advisory board composed of leaders in their respective fields from all over the world. Our purpose in creating this Council is to build respect for and trust in CHI Foundation among members of the international community. 

Duties of Council members include the following:
1) Reviewing CHIF's annual report and providing advice based on the contents therein
2) Conferring with the Director at will and assisting with information, ideas, and advice
3) Participating in email discussions about any CHIF projects over $50,000
4) Monitoring the three CHIF websites (U.S., Russia, and China)

Membership on the International Council is voluntary and participants serve for the length of two calendar years. All members have prior leadership experience in the fields of humanitarian aid, children's rights, and/or social work. The current members are:

Jian Ying Wu, China                                                                                  
Jian Ying has led CHI Foundation in China since 2001. Prior to that time, she worked for the Ministry of Civil Affairs, where she helped establish the China Adoption Center and was instrumental in creating the current system for overseas adoption. As a result of her work, many Chinese orphans found permanent homes. At CHI Foundation, Jian Ying has been a key figure in our "Give Me New Life" medical project since its inception in 2002. In a short time, the program has grown by leaps and bounds, in large part because of the cooperation Jian Ying has reached with other agencies, organizations, and invidual donors - including actor Jackie Chan, Project HOPE Hong Kong Limited, and the American CBN. Jian Ying has written several articles for Chinese Woman and Legal Daily newspapers and has also collaborated on several books. 

Boris Chernov, Russia  
Boris is the Executive Director of CHI Foundation in Russia. A graduate of Tomsk State University with degrees in both history and psychology, he was recently chosen as a member of the Municipal Academy, the highest academic honor attainable in Russia. Before joining CHI Foundation in 2002, Boris worked as the Director of the Hobby Center in Tomsk, which serves over 3,600 children each year. A published author of both books and newspaper articles, Boris also serves as co-chairman of the City Chamber of Non-Profit Organizations. His experience with international projects has been extensive and includes work with UNICEF, IREX, Woodcraft Folks, and the City Conservatory of Omaha (Nebraska). 

Patricia Brander, Denmark
Patricia is the International Council representative from Denmark. Her humanitarian aid and social work experiences began 35 years ago as a youth counselor with Woodcraft Folk, an educational club for children in England. Since then, she has worked both voluntarily and professionally training adults to teach young people, with a particular focus in the areas of environmental and intercultural education. Patricia brings a wealth of experience in international service to our Council; over the years, she has worked in France, Hungary, Russia, Great Britain, and Ghana, among others. Her most recent projects include writing a manual on human rights education for children for the Council of Europe and working with asylum seekers through the Danish Red Cross.

Pete Thomas, England
Pete has over 20 years of experience working as a voluntary youth leader for Woodcraft Folk, an educational movement for children, designed to develop self-confidence and social awareness. Woodcraft Folk currently has 500 different groups meeting all over England, Scotland, and Wales. Throughout his time with the organization, Pete has participated in several international youth camps and has led young people on visits to other countries. Pete is the author of a children's song book and a book on cooperative games. In addition to working with Woodcraft Folk, he has spent time volunteering for Amnesty Internatinoal, Green Peace, and the United Nations.  

Bayan Ussipbaeva, Kazakhstan
Bayan was born in the southern part of Kazakhstan and now resides in Almaty (the former national capital). She is the director of the CHI Foundation branch in Kazakhstan, named "Bala umiti" (which means the same as in English - Children's Hope). After graduating from State University, Bayan began working with trade unions, while also participating in various humanitarian projects of nonprofit organizations. She went on to receive a master's degree in International Economic Affairs. Before joining Children's Hope, Bayan worked as Chief of the Department of International Affairs in Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transportation. However, she considers her greatest accomplishment to be the raising of her two wonderful children: a son, who recently graduated from Law School, and a daughter, who is currently studying Economics at the University.  

 <<< Back to top