INTERIM ADVISORY BOARD

Our Interim Advisory Board is a USA-based team focused primarily on fundraising, grants and partnerships.

A formal Advisory Board will be in place later this year.

BOARD CHAIR

Brent Bowen

Brent Bowen is the owner/founder of a creative illustration & design firm, Bowen Studios - founded Salt Lake City in 2002. His firm has worked with local and international architects, developers, and brands including Perkins+Will, LMN, NBBJ, Callison, Toyota, Stadler, Hilton, and Formula 1.

In 2019 Brent started the construction of a Black Boulder Observatory on a dark-sky, high-mountain, desert Mesa near Boulder, Utah. He images the night sky, with two large telescopes, remotely from his home 250 miles away. One of his images was on the cover of Astronomy Magazine. 

Brent has served on multiple boards and worked closely with several youth education organizations and non-profits including CHOICE Humanitarian where he led groups to Kenya, Nepal, Boliva & Ecuador. Combining his love of travel and interest in cultures, he recently visited his 62nd country. 

VICE CHAIR

Jerilyn Hesse

Jerilyn Hesse brings more than 30 years of experience in healthcare, organizational leadership, community programs, and advocacy. She spent 22 years as a hospice and in-home registered nurse, with particular expertise in AIDS home care. She then spent 15 years at Esalen Institute, first as Executive Assistant to the CEO and Board and later as Programs Manager, supporting the development and execution of public, staff, and student programs focused on personal growth and transformation.

Jerilyn currently serves on the boards of the Big Sur Park School, a community-based early childhood education program, and the Big Sur Health Center. Her work has centered on community well-being, healthcare, education, and programs that support growth and transformation.

Jerilyn has visited Uganda twice and has developed a strong commitment to Motherly Heart and its founder, Mary Ajambo, through her personal experience of Mary’s dedication and work in the community. She is particularly inspired by Motherly Heart’s commitment to empowering girls through education and opportunity.

BOARD MEMBER

Fran Heller

Fran Heller is the Founder, CEO, and Board Chair of Good2Go, Inc., which she founded in 2015. Good2Go provides secure, automated mobile access and virtual queuing technology, using real-time digital credentials to give businesses keyless control over access to their facilities and services. Under her leadership, the company has partnered with major retailers to improve safety, reduce security incidents, and streamline operations.

Prior to founding Good2Go, Fran spent more than 25 years as an executive in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, with deep expertise in business development, licensing, and legal affairs. Most recently, she served as SVP of Business Development at Bristol-Myers Squibb and as a Trustee of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. She has also served as a Trustee of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and as a member of the Board of Directors at Affinivax, a private vaccine company acquired by GSK. In addition to chairing the Good2Go, Inc. board of directors, her current board roles include serving as a director at the Big Sur Health Center, a nonprofit rural healthcare facility.  Fran is a member of the California State Bar and is licensed to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She holds Bachelor of Science and Master's degrees in Biology and a Juris Doctor.

BOARD MEMBER

Joan Uhler

Joan Uhler lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and retired in 2021 after a long career in banking and finance. Joan worked with many large banking institutions and spent the last decades of her career focused on Risk Management. She brings a strong financial and risk analysis background to the advisory board, in addition to well-developed problem-solving and decision-making skills. 



Joan completed a Bachelor of Arts in Landscape Architecture from West Virginia University and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University.  More information may be found at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joan-uhler-b272192/

BOARD MEMBER

Emory Bouffard

Emory brings legal, policy, and fundraising expertise to Motherly Heart's work advancing girls' education and gender equity. A law student at the University of California, Berkeley, she holds editorial roles publishing international law scholarship and works on international humanitarian law through student-led initiatives. She has worked with a legal aid organization in Nairobi, Kenya on refugee, citizenship, and data-rights matters, conducting field research with vulnerable populations including women and girls, and has led fundraising and development work for NGOs in Kenya and Greece, where she worked directly with refugees. Before completing a master's degree at the University of Oxford, she worked in public policy.

With research and advocacy experience across East Africa and the Middle East, and a lasting commitment to East Africa in particular, she supports Motherly Heart's mission of equitable access to education and the protection of adolescent girls.