Board of Directors
The HUGS Board of Directors is made up entirely of volunteers. While we are not paid in money, we are blessed by the progress being made because of our efforts in Uganda. Every member of the Board is dedicated to improving the lives of the women and children who struggle to survive in areas where childhood is often perilous. Keep reading to get to know each of us a bit better.
Meet the Board...
Victoria Gibson, BSN
President & Chairman of the Board
Africa captured my attention as a very young child while learning of Lake Victoria, the world’s largest lake. I remember sitting in class praying that one day I would have an opportunity to stand on the shores of "my" lake. The lake did, after all, have my name. Later in life, I was able to use my nursing knowledge to enter the mission field and travel to Uganda, landing in Entebbe on the shores of Lake Victoria. While in Uganda, I fell in love with the country, the people, and the culture. It has been a life-changing road, but the journey has been awesome. I have met and worked with many wonderful people along the way. Now my prayer is to be used by God to assist, in whatever way I can, the women and children of Uganda.
Lawrence Gibson
Chief Financial Officer & Director
larry@hugsforchildren.org
After being raised in San Diego County, I received my engineering degree from Northrop University in Inglewood, California. During my 25-year career in engineering, product marketing and executive management, I learned how to make the best use of available resources to achieve positive goals for various high-tech companies. However, somewhere along the way I realized that God had given me certain abilities, and I longed to apply those talents toward His purposes. Following her first trip to Uganda, my wife Vicky told me of the tremendous need of the children in the remote villages. When I visited these villages personally, I was amazed to see how the people there could accomplish so much with so little. A small contribution could educate a child, build a house, or feed a family. Using local resources, a school building or a dormitory could be constructed for a fraction of what it cost in the USA. Seeing the opportunity, it became my heart's desire to help the people in these villages by participating in the operation of HUGS.
Jessica Jachim
Director, Service/Mission Trips
With a heart for third worlds, I fell in love with Africa sight unseen when I was a young girl. In 1997, I met ten wonderful people from Uganda and worked alongside them in my hometown for 6 years. The men and women labored at 2 & 3 jobs working day in and day out. After becoming friends, we spoke over long dinners of their gratitude for being able to work in the United States and send money back home to their families. Each one expressed the vast differences in our lifestyles, yet it wasn’t until I met H.U.G.S. founder, Victoria Gibson and joined the H.U.G.S. 2011 team that I was able to travel and lay eyes on those differences first-hand. I was witness to not only the beauty of Africa itself but more importantly the hearts of the men, women and children who live there. Their desperation was offset by humble hearts and incredible laughter. The 2011 H.U.G.S. trip was a life experience that altered my heart more than any other place I had ever been. I am honored to be a part of H.U.G.S. and look forward to helping Ugandan men, women and children build bright hope-filled futures one project at a time.