Janine Maxwell

Janine and her husband, Ian, are co-founders of a 501(c)3 organization called Heart for Africa, and they live on a 2,500 acre piece of land called Project Canaan in the tiny Kingdom of Eswatini, Africa (formerly known as Swaziland). The Maxwell’s are parents to 280+ orphaned or abandoned children, while employing 300+ Swazi workers who grow vegetables, run a dairy and egg laying barn, vocational training centers, medical clinic and schools. They also feed 3,500+ orphaned and vulnerable children every week through 30 churches and schools whom they partner with in the most remote parts of the country.

Janine’s personal and professional journey to present-day Eswatini reads like an adventure novel. It began on September 11, 2001 in New York City as Janine was evacuated from her hotel and told to run for her life as planes were being flown into the World Trade Center. Her husband, Ian, was on an American Airlines flight to Chicago and their young children were across the border in Canada. That world-changing event was the catalyst that sent Janine into a deep depression and into the darkest parts of Africa in her search for life’s meaning. Janine felt God wanted her to close ONYX and follow Him. What happened next was a roller coaster ride from the boardroom to the streets of Africa.