Meet the Board

Ryan grew up in West Virginia where he completed his undergraduate from West Virginia University and medical school at Marshall University. He is Board Certified in Family Practice and completed a Sports Medicine fellowship. After graduating from medical school Ryan joined the Navy, traveling around the world, including a humanitarian deployment throughout Central and South America.

He is active in the men’s group at his church, volunteers with several ministries both locally and internationally, and is the YoungLife Chair for Mid-Tex YoungLife. He has been married to his wife Dayspring for 15 years and they have 3 young sons.

Tom and Judi have four kids, all adopted through Maranatha Children’s Home (the precursor to Heartline), the oldest in 1995.

Tom has overseen Heartline’s finances since our formation in 2000. He is a CPA within his family’s firm, White and Company, PC. The White family lives in Sunnyside, Washington.

My why: I love Heartline because the organization arranged the adoptions for my four children. Even though the organization no longer does adoptions, the organization has found effective meaningful avenues to help the people of Haiti. Being involved in Heartline has allowed me to give back to the people and country that help form my family.

Jen lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, four kids, and two cats. Jen is a systems engineer who operates interplanetary spacecraft for NASA, often called a stay-at-home astronaut by her friends.

Jen’s two youngest daughters were adopted from Haiti in 2017 and that journey is what led her to support and believe in the mission of Heartline and family preservation.

Joycelyne Bataille is a licensed Certified Nurse Midwife and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner working on the east coast of the United States. She received her doctorate in nursing from Georgetown University School of Nursing in 2024. Prior to this, she worked as a labor and delivery nurse in Washington, DC for seven years. Her passion includes teaching and precepting new nurses and nursing students. She also enjoys working with and educating her patients as they navigate pregnancy, labor, birth and the postpartum period. She currently lives in Maryland with her husband Joseph and toddler Abigaëlle.

My why: My roots are Haitian. Having left the island at the age of three, I returned to Haiti in 2010, just two weeks after getting married, to serve in a nation with so much beauty, potential, and need. I was always drawn to the work and efforts of Heartline when I lived in Haiti. I saw their holistic approach to building up individuals and families with an emphasis on sustainability. I was particularly drawn to the work they do in education and maternal/infant healthcare given my medical background. It is an honor to serve and support the meaningful work of Heartline.

Deb Steiner lives just outside Chicago with her three children who came to her through adoption (US, Uganda, Uganda). She is Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel at RR Donnelley & Sons Company in Chicago where she has worked for the last 11 years.

In her free time, Deb loves to spend time with her kids at their "farm," affectionately called Acres of Grace, where they enjoy nature and time away from the hustle and bustle of city living. Deb has long been an admirer of Heartline and is excited to serve on its Board.

My why: I love Heartline because it is an extraordinary model of how to operate nonprofit organizations in developing countries. The Livesay family poured into Heartline in country for many years and then left the operation to the capable hands of Haitians who are continuing its success. Maternal health, in particular, is a critical issue in so many places, but especially challenging given the many crises facing Haiti.