Vital voices in the fields of global health, global child welfare reform and family separation, and those intent on conducting ethical missions in low resource communities and developing nations. Join our hosts as they engage in conversations with diverse guests from across the globe, sharing optimistic views, experiences, and suggestions for better and best practices as they discuss these difficult topics.
Dr. Laura Horvath is the Director of Programs and Global Engagement at Helping Children Worldwide. Laura holds a doctorate in education, and brings to her role an in-depth knowledge of education, and a deep passion for global child welfare, the care of orphans and vulnerable children, public health, ethical missions, and sustainable community-led development programs.
Emmanuel Mohamed Nabieu “Nabs” is a global child advocate for orphaned and vulnerable children and their families. He spent ten years of his childhood living in one of the most respected orphanages in Sierra Leone, West Africa. After completing university, he was employed as the Director of the same orphanage he grew up in. Under his leadership, he successfully transitioned the orphanage to family-based care. This ensured that the children had the opportunity to grow up in safe, loving families.
Nabs is passionate about keeping families together due to his experience of being separated from his loved ones. He works as the Director for Mission Advancement & Partnership at Helping Children Worldwide. He holds a master’s degree in Applied Organizational Psychology and Leadership. He finds immense pleasure in engaging, equipping, and empowering vulnerable populations to go beyond dependency to self-sufficiency.
Yasmine's godparents were missionaries who traveled the world and inspired a passion in her for medical missions. She has a Masters of Public Health from George Washington University, where she studied Global Health Program Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation.
Yasmine interned with HCW for 9 months before joining the staff to coordinate Monitoring and Evaluation, Missions Deployment, Global Public Health, and the Village Partnership. She has studied abroad in Ghana, the Dominican Republic, and Belize and is currently studying for her Certified Associate in Project Management. She loves playing with her cat, River, baking, photography, embroidery, and listening to podcasts.
Optimistic Voices welcomes our new Youth Co-host, Elana Childress, for the Child's View Episodes, beginning in July 2025. Elana is from Portsmouth, Virginia, and attends Churchland High School. She also attends Deep Creek United Methodist Church and is very active in the youth and children’s programs.
Elana enjoys dancing, playing the violin, and working with children through volunteer work and her church. After high school, Elana plans to go into the nursing field and earn her midwifery degree.
Youth Host for Child's View Series.
Ukrainian historian & religious scholar- Kyiv, researching mass deportations in the Soviet era, state-confessional relations, Catholic Church policy during World War II, & role of Christian clergy in the Holocaust. Institute of World History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine specialist on international religious relations in the 20th century & European genocide & war crimes. Media Initiative for Human Rights analyst - crimes committed against prisoners of war & civilian detainees on Russian Federation's territory. Charity Foundation "East-SOS," invited expert - Russian war crimes against Ukrainian children in the aftermath of full-scale Russian invasion. Osint for Ukraine child deportation investigative task force advisor. Collaborative on Global Children's Issues, Georgetown University 2024-2025 collaborative fellow, 2023-2024 research fellow; on forcible transfer, deportation, adoption & "reeducation" of Ukrainian children by Russia.