Guesno Mardy and Annie Blackstone

Guesno Mardy and Annie Blackstone co-founded Sionfonds for Haiti in the spring of 2004. They share a common vision, to educate and empower Haitian families, so fewer children become orphans.

They created Sionfonds for Haiti, to work at the roots of the problems that cause children to become orphans; poverty, malnutrition, lack of education, healthcare and opportunity.

Guesno Mardy

Mr. Mardy is the Director of Sionfonds in Haiti and the Director of Foyer de Sion Orphanage. He is also the past   president  of the Champs de Mars Rotary International club (Chapter 82745). Mr Mardy and his wife Majore have 7 children of their own and are the guardians of hundreds more who find a safe haven at Foyer De Sion orphanage. Mr Mardy works tirelessly to help Haiti on the individual and national levels and he is a well respected businessman and church member. His reputation in Haiti as a businessman and someone who can be trusted to help when help is needed, has made Sionfonds the effective humanitarian aid organization it is today.

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Annie Blackstone

Annie Blackstone is the U.S. Director of Sionfonds for Haiti, and the mother of five children, two adopted from Haiti. Annie became involved in Haiti after visiting there in 2003. Meeting Guesno Mardy and staying at Foyer De Sion Orphanage, changed her life. With the support of her husband Gerhard Grotke and her family, Annie has been working full time for the last 8 years “growing” Sionfonds for Haiti. She considers this work, helping Haitian families, to be her calling and feels incredibly blessed to have found it and to have such loving and supportive family and friends in the U.S. and Haiti, helping to make Sionfonds’ mission a reality.

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Lindsay Crapo

Lindsay Crapo is the Sponsorship Coordinator for Sionfonds. Lindsay is mother of nine children, five adopted from Haiti. She  is an advocate for parents parenting early childhood trauma, as well as actively pursuing her Doula, then Midwife Certificate.
Lindsay fell in love with Haiti after visiting there in 2007 during the adoption of her children, months later taking on the job of child advocate and referral specialist for Foyer de Sion Orphanage. 
During the Earthquake of 2010, Lindsay was a key member of a team that brought over 70 adopted  children home after the Earthquake. Lindsay  has tremendous love and respect for both Guesno Mardy and the vision he has for his countrymen. She is passionate about education and food for children and families, enableing children to stay with their families forever. Thanks to the patience, love and cheering on of her amazing husband Trevor, and 9 children at home, Lindsay can go and do.For  they too have faith in Sionfonds and what many blessings the promise of education and food can bring to the children of Haiti.

Mandy Bratt

Mandy Bratt works part-time as an Administrative Assistant at Local 21, IFPTE in San Francisco. She is on the Board of Directors of Oakland Unity High School. She is a leader in Oakland Community Organizations and works with the Economic Justice Committee of Kehilla Community Synagogue.

Mandy joined the Sionfonds Board of Directors to support its mission of helping Haitian families. She feels that the needs in Haiti are daunting, but that a little bit can make a difference.

Montana Rane

In 2008, concerned with the growing world food crisis brought about by increasing fuel prices, Montana co-chaired a fundraiser to launch Sionfonds Goat project for rural Haitians. He accompanied Sionfonds volunteers on the November 2008 Medical Mission and joined the Sionfonds Board the same year. Montana is focused on helping Sionfonds schools and communities access clean drinking water. He has been very successful soliciting large donations of solar energy equipment, as well as food and other goods for Haiti. Montana works for Policy Link as their Senior Network Engineer.

Dr. Sakti Das

Sakti Das is an Emeritus Professor of Urology, University of California, Davis. Since retirement he serves part time at Highland Hospital, Oakland, California. His long term interest and involvements are in global medical missions and educational endeavors in the developing world. He is inspired by the desire to help the underserved. Dr. Das is also a member of the Foundation for Freedom, a non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting literacy in impoverished communities. He is impressed with Sionfonds’ personal approach and has come to understand that it is not just about providing a school and teachers, it is also about food for the children, clean drinking water, and sanitation.

Jessie Ewing

A 21 year old native of Haiti, Jessie Ewing is a student of Peace and Conflict studies at UC Berkeley. Adopted as a baby Jessie was raised in Canyon California. Her heart is always with children of Haiti and she is happy to be the sponsorship coordinator for Sionfonds. From her own experience and as someone who has been  back to Haiti many times she firmly believes in the mision of Sionfonds to support families and help prevent more children from becoming orphans due to lack of resources.

Antonya Blackstone

Ms. Blackstone is a senior executive with RR Donnelly an international corporation specializing in communications and reporting for the global financial sector. She has been actively engaged in arts and philanthropy for nearly 20 years serving on the Board of Directors for a range of organizations. For Antonya education and opportunity are synonymous. She has become a passionate fundraiser for Sionfonds. After meeting Guesno Mardy she became convinced that the way to help the Haitian people is to provide educational opportunities to help ensure that children can stay with their families in Haiti.