Hannah Brook – Founder & CEO

I was raised in a small rural community in Cornwall, the daughter of a vicar and a teacher. I studied music at university in London, lived in the south for a bit over a decade, and have now lived in the north of England for over a decade.

In 2014 I began sponsoring a little boy in Nairobi, Kenya, after hearing about the work of Compassion UK, and a couple of months later we sponsored another little boy – the same age as my eldest son. (A year later a sponsored girl also became part of the family.) I had ‘met’ a wonderful man called Evanson Njeru who ran a charity in Nairobi, Compassion CBO (unrelated to Compassion International and Compassion UK). He had set up a school in one of its slums (he was the headmaster) and also ran numerous other projects as part of the charity. I soon realised that he was the most selfless man I had ever met, which remains the case to this day.

I remained in touch with Evanson over the years and during Lockdown 2020 my boys and I wanted to help him help the children in his school, during what was a most difficult period. Little did I know the path that I was now on. Within five weeks The Janna Foundation was born – named in honour of the little girl who was my inspiration: God’s gracious gift. I met all three of The Janna Foundation’s original trustees in church, soon after arriving up north in 2013. They are all very loving, compassionate and wise individuals and I am so grateful to them for coming on board this incredible journey that God has set us on. We have been lucky enough to have been joined by another trustee recently: a friend who has been a supporter of the foundation since the very beginning.

I am committed to ‘seeing the one’ – as Mother Teresa said – and feel incredibly blessed that I have been welcomed into the lives and hearts of some very special children and families in Kenya.