President (Juneau, Alaska)

Benjamin Brown is a lifelong Alaskan born in Anchorage, educated at Palmer High School, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and Northeastern University School of Law. He’s an attorney and has been member of the Alaska Bar Association since 2002. He’s worked for all three branches of Alaska State Government and as an attorney in private practice and municipal government. Brown is President of the Women & Children’s Health Associates Board of Directors. He first visited Kenya with his father the late Dr George Brown in the summer of 2015 to meet the members of the Kenya Health Scholarship Committee, and has returned twice since, in 2017 with his mother Dr carolyn Brown, and in 2019 with Board member Lucy Smith. Brown is committed to ensuring the success of the Doctor George Brown Health Scholarship Program in providing scholarships and other financial assistance to young Kenyans pursuing education in medical fields to help make Migori County a better place.

Founder & Secretary (Douglas, Alaska)

Dr. carolyn Brown was born in Texas. As a Medical Doctor with Board Certified Specialties in Obstetrics-Gynecology as well as Preventive Medicine and Public Health, she has lived in Alaska since 1964. She and Dr. George Brown (Pediatrician) came to Migori County in 2004 to work. In 2007, they established the George Brown Health Scholarship for high school students to become health care professionals. Her dedication and commitment is to develop and sustain the Scholarship Program so that Kenyan students become qualified and certified health care professionals for the people of Kenya. We are succeeding with this goal!

Board Member Emerita - Retired (Wasilla, Alaska)

Marjorie was born in 1930 in Canada and trained as a Registered Nurse in Ottawa. She received a B.A. from the University of British Columbia, Canada and then worked in hospitals in Canada, New York, Montana, and England. She married in 1964 and moved to Alaska in 1972. There she began her career in Public Health at Alaska Methodist University. Following this, she continued her career in Public Health Nursing. After twenty years of Public Health Nursing throughout Alaska, she travelled to Africa to volunteer as a nurse in a rural clinic in Giribe, Kenya, in East Africa. Her friendships in Kenya have lasted for many years since her time there.

Board Member (Palmer, Alaska)

Timothy Carrick and his wife Leisa are pastors at United Protestant Presbyterian Church in Palmer, Alaska. They have pastored there since 1991. Dr. George would sing with Tim in the tenor section of the church choir whenever he was in town.

Board Member (Palmer, Alaska)

Jan Jenski moved to Alaska in March 1977 and married BJ Jenski in 1978. They were at Independence Mine Lodge in Hatcher Pass prior to moving to Palmer. BJ and Jan have two children, Adam and Dana. In 1980 she began working for WCHA and in 1983 started volunteering for Friends of Families; after many years of this work, co-authored an article with Dr. George Brown that would later be printed in the journal Psychohistory. Jan spent approximately 15 years working and volunteering as a parent aide to hundreds of Valley families and found this work most rewarding. These endeavors were followed by her lengthy stint in law-enforcement, from which she retired in 2019 after 23 years. Jan remains active with the WCHA George Brown Health Scholarship Program supporting African students pursuing medical careers. She sews, enjoys her dogs and cats, and spoils her grandchildren as often as possible.

Treasurer (Juneau, Alaska)

Tracey started her real estate career in 1978 and is the broker/owner of Ricker Real Estate Consulting, LLC. She came to Juneau in 1982 and continued working in the industry for several brokerages before starting her own company, Ricker and Associates Real Estate, in 1994. The business sold in 2005 as the largest property management company in Southeast Alaska. At the time of sale, the company transferred 27 full service real estate management contracts involving over six hundred thousand square feet of residential, commercial, and retail investment properties.

Subsequently, Tracey worked as a licensed broker in the commercial office market in Portland, Bend, and Redmond, Oregon. From 2008 through 2014, her experience brought her to the Anchorage office market where her portfolio was valued at 97 million, composed of 11 assets, 99 tenants and over 560,000 square feet of mixed high and low rise Class A and B office buildings.

At the time of award, Tracey is was one of only two women holding the Certified Property Management designation through the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) in the State of Alaska. The designation requires a working knowledge of financial and risk analysis as demonstrated through written management plans of existing real estate investments. She served on the Juneau Planning Commission from 1999 through 2004 and received the Southeast Realtor of the Year award in 2000. She was also past president of the Southeast Board of Realtors and currently is a National Association of Realtor's Affiliate and involved with Juneau Chamber of Commerce.

Tracey has been located in Alaska for over 40 years and thrives in the outdoors. An avid hiker, she climbed Kilimanjaro three times on behalf of her non-profit, Jabali to raise funds for outreach programs for children in Africa. Subsequently, she is still involved in the African community holding a board position with Women and Children’s Health Associates, providing scholarships for children interested in furthering their education in all aspects of medicine. She enjoys her relationships with her nieces and nephews and their growing number of children.

Board Member (Kalispell, Montana)

Lucy Smith moved to Montana in 1989, where she worked in nonprofit management for 30 years. She spent her first 12 years as Executive Director of Literacy Volunteers, after which she accepted a project leadership position with an international relief organization in East Africa and spent nearly 4 years in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Kenya.

Later in her career, Lucy served as Executive Director of the Hockaday Museum of Art and as the first Executive Director of the Flathead Community Foundation. In 2013, she helped establish and secure nonprofit status for Women Who Wine – a women’s philanthropic giving circle whose growing membership meets monthly to learn about and support area nonprofits through volunteerism and charitable grants (more than $350,000 to date).

Smith retired in 2017 to care for her aging parents, but remained wholly invested in the community, enjoying her new role as mentor and volunteer for local nonprofit organizations. Her extensive board service has afforded her the opportunity to participate in major community projects with scores of inspiring people.

Lucy is active with Rotary International and her home Club of Kalispell, currently serving a second 3-year term as Area Governor and preparing to be Montana District 5390 Governor in 2025-2026. As a Rotarian, Lucy travels regularly to Guatemala to assist with clean water, sanitation, hygiene, and public health education (Global Grant) projects; as well as to rural Mexico and her Rotary Club’s decades long youth leadership training, scholarship programs, and community learning centers.

It is a privilege for Smith to serve with the WCHA Board in its mission to provide scholarships in the health professions for promising young Kenyan men and women. She is thrilled to collaborate with former colleagues from Alaska and rural Kenya in work that saves lives and advances the brilliant legacy of beloved Doctor George Brown.

Board Member (Arvada, Colorado)

Terry is not actually a cheetah …

Board Member Emeritus - Deceased

Howard Bess of Palmer, Alaska, born Jan. 30, 1928, in Fairbury, Ill., son of Ernest and Helen (Snyder) Bess, beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, uncle, pastor, friend, athlete, singer, follower of Jesus and champion of the disenfranchised, passed away on Saturday, April 1, 2023, at Pioneer Home in Palmer, at the age of 95. Howard was a very dedicated and commited member of the WCHA Board of Directors for 15 years.

Board Member (Juneau, Alaska)

Amy Dressel was born and raised in Colorado but told her mom she was destined to live in Alaska and take care of children. After attending school/ residency in Colorado and the Midwest she settled in Juneau, Alaska in 1999. Since finding her passion for pediatric medicine she has also immersed herself into the community of Juneau/ southeast Alaska in many ways. Her favorite was working alongside the amazing Dr George Brown. She enjoys dogs, movies, plays, gardening, her family, and travel. She plays the violin as well as makes wearable art.

She looks forward to supporting students in Matoso, Kenya and hopes to see their beautiful part of the world soon!