Join Generous Life New York on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 at 6:30 pm for a thought-provoking and empowering panel with key leaders discussing recent global funding shifts.
Recent shifts in global funding—particularly the reduction of programs historically supported by the United States Agency for International Development—have created significant gaps in healthcare, education, and economic empowerment initiatives across parts of Africa. Many organizations that have faithfully served their communities for decades are now navigating a new landscape where needs remain high while traditional sources of support continue to contract.
Yet within this moment of disruption lies a meaningful opportunity. Faith-driven organizations, philanthropic leaders, and private generosity are uniquely positioned to support locally led initiatives that continue advancing human flourishing across the continent.
This gathering will offer an honest, human-centered look at the current moment in Africa, sharing stories from the field while highlighting resilient local leaders, trusted organizations, and proven models of care and development. Rather than focusing on crisis, the evening will illuminate the dignity, innovation, and impact already present in communities across the continent.
Through thoughtful conversation and storytelling, guests will gain deeper insight into the challenges facing frontline organizations, learn about effective solutions already underway, and explore how faith, partnership, and generosity can help sustain and expand this work for the long term.
The evening will include a moderated conversation led by Thomas Keown, CEO and Founder of Many Hopes, featuring firsthand perspectives from Mark Gerson and Scott Marcello of Africa Mission Healthcare, Cassandra Lee of Justice Rising, Eric Ha with Medical Teams International, and Dr. Anne Alaniz, a member of the Many Hopes network. Together, they will share perspectives on healthcare, education, and economic development across Africa, reflect on the role of faith-driven generosity in supporting locally led solutions, and create space for meaningful connection and conversation among guests following the program.
Please RSVP below and join us on Tuesday, April 28. Should you any questions, please email [email protected].
DETAILS//
Format | Live Event
Attire | Business casual dress is required, this includes: tailored pants, dresses, skirt ensembles, collared shirts, blouses, and dress shoes.
Please note, no jeans, sneakers, shorts or hats.
Yet within this moment of disruption lies a meaningful opportunity. Faith-driven organizations, philanthropic leaders, and private generosity are uniquely positioned to support locally led initiatives that continue advancing human flourishing across the continent.
This gathering will offer an honest, human-centered look at the current moment in Africa, sharing stories from the field while highlighting resilient local leaders, trusted organizations, and proven models of care and development. Rather than focusing on crisis, the evening will illuminate the dignity, innovation, and impact already present in communities across the continent.
Through thoughtful conversation and storytelling, guests will gain deeper insight into the challenges facing frontline organizations, learn about effective solutions already underway, and explore how faith, partnership, and generosity can help sustain and expand this work for the long term.
The evening will include a moderated conversation led by Thomas Keown, CEO and Founder of Many Hopes, featuring firsthand perspectives from Mark Gerson and Scott Marcello of Africa Mission Healthcare, Cassandra Lee of Justice Rising, Eric Ha with Medical Teams International, and Dr. Anne Alaniz, a member of the Many Hopes network. Together, they will share perspectives on healthcare, education, and economic development across Africa, reflect on the role of faith-driven generosity in supporting locally led solutions, and create space for meaningful connection and conversation among guests following the program.
Please RSVP below and join us on Tuesday, April 28. Should you any questions, please email [email protected].
DETAILS//
Format | Live Event
Attire | Business casual dress is required, this includes: tailored pants, dresses, skirt ensembles, collared shirts, blouses, and dress shoes.
Please note, no jeans, sneakers, shorts or hats.
venue
New York Athletic Club
180 Central Park South
New York, NY 10019
180 Central Park South
New York, NY 10019
Date & Time
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Speakers
Mark Gerson
co-founder
Africa Mission healthcare
Africa Mission healthcare
Mark Gerson, a New York–based entrepreneur and philanthropist, is the cofounder of Gerson Lehrman Group, 3I Members, United Hatzalah of Israel, and African Mission Healthcare—where he and his wife, Rabbi Erica Gerson, made the largest gift ever to Christian medical missionaries. A graduate of Williams College and Yale Law School, Mark is the author of two national bestsellers The Telling: How Judaism’s Essential Book Reveals the Meaning of Life and God Was Right: How Modern Social Science Proves the Torah Is True. Mark’s articles and essays on subjects ranging from Frank Sinatra to the biblical Jonah to the Torah and science of clothing have been published in The New Republic, USA Today, Commentary, and Christian Broadcast Network. Mark lives with his wife and their four children.
Cassandra Lee
co-founder & executive Director
justice rising
justice rising
Cassandra Lee is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Justice Rising. She has over 15 years of international development experience, living and working in conflict areas around the world, including South Sudan during the Darfur crisis, Northern Uganda, the Middle East, where she worked with Syrian refugees, and in North Korea. For the past 10 years, she has worked primarily in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country defined by war and conflict for over 20 years. Cassandra is deeply committed to rethinking education systems in war-affected regions and confronting challenges in areas that others tend to avoid.
Cassandra studied Human Rights and Education at Columbia University, and currently resides in New York, NY with her husband, Edison Lee, and their two toddlers, Margot and Hugo.
Eric Ha
PRESIDENT & CEO
MEDICAL TEAMS INTERNATIONAL
MEDICAL TEAMS INTERNATIONAL
Eric Ha serves as President & CEO of Medical Teams International, a global humanitarian organization delivering life-saving health care to crisis-affected people for nearly 50 years. He brings over two decades of experience in human rights, international development, and organizational leadership, having previously served as Chief Operating Officer at International Justice Mission and practiced law at Sidley Austin LLP.
Eric holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School and a Bachelor of Arts with Special Honors in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin. He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife, Liz, and their three children.
Scott Marcello
President
Africa Mission healthcare
Africa Mission healthcare
Scott Marcello serves as President of African Mission Healthcare. He first met Dr. Jon Fielder, AMH Chief Executive and Co-founder, and Jonathan Mwiindi, AMH Executive Vice President, in 2007 during a visit to Kijabe Hospital in Kenya. That experience began a long-term partnership, leading to Scott joining the AMH Board in 2011 and, ultimately, the organization’s leadership team. He is deeply motivated by AMH’s commitment to building strong hospital institutions that deliver lasting impact for both health systems and the patients they serve. Prior to joining AMH, Scott was a partner at KPMG, where he held several senior leadership roles, including serving on the firm’s Management Committee and Board of Directors.
Scott earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from Stetson University in 1984 and a Master of Accountancy from Stetson in 1985. His early experiences volunteering at hospitals in Kenya, along with his continued engagement with AMH, shaped his understanding of the vital role mission hospitals play across Sub-Saharan Africa. He saw firsthand how these institutions deliver high-quality, compassionate care while also serving as enduring sources of hope within their communities. Scott and his wife, Dené, have four grown children.
Anne Alaniz
founder
Pothawire International
Pothawire International
Dr. Anne Alaniz is a board-certified gynecologic oncologist at Texas Oncology and the founder of Pothawira International, a global health nonprofit whose name means “Safe Haven” in Chichewa, her first language. Born in Malawi and raised in an impoverished village near the Salima District, Dr. Alaniz was the oldest of eight siblings before receiving a scholarship to the U.S. at age sixteen—an opportunity that led her to complete high school, college, medical school, OB-GYN residency, and a gynecologic oncology fellowship in Texas.
While in medical school, she raised funds through a garage sale to purchase the land that became Pothawira. Today, the organization serves thousands through a school for 400 children, 12 children’s homes, a church, an outpatient clinic serving 35,000 patients annually, and a birthing center delivering 500 babies each year. A new surgical center is also under construction to expand critical care access in Malawi. Dr. Alaniz has helped grow Pothawira through philanthropy, public speaking, grant writing, leading medical teams to Malawi, and even climbing Mount Kilimanjaro nine times to raise support—all while maintaining one of Houston’s highest-volume gynecologic oncology practices.
Thomas Keown
Founder & CEO
Many Hopes
Event Moderator
Many Hopes
Event Moderator
Thomas Keown founded Many Hopes after visiting East Africa for the first time in 2007 and thinking “If my friends back home could see what I’ve just seen they would want to help. So I’m going to show them.” Born in Northern Ireland during “The Troubles,” he was educated at Queens University, Belfast, worked for one of the two Nobel prize-winning signatories of the Belfast Peace Agreement, and is a former columnist. His career has spanned the media, politics and for-purpose missions in the UK, USA, Africa and Latin America. His belief that seemingly intractable problems can be solved by bringing the right influences to bear on them stems from his Christian faith. He travels extensively speaking on issues of justice, serves as an elder at Church of the City New York and has a very patient wife.
Join us on Tuesday, April 28!