Meet Our Founder
Julie Seath
The heart behind Love a Village
~ from vision to action
Julie Seath is the founder and Executive Director of Love a Village Mission, a Canadian grassroots charity dedicated to breaking the cycle of extreme poverty in Northern Malawi. Since 2011, she has spent part of each year in Malawi, walking alongside communities, listening deeply, and supporting locally led development solutions rooted in dignity, sustainability, and respect.
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Love a Village partners with local leaders and a trusted Malawian implementing partner to co-create holistic responses to challenges in water, sanitation, food security, women's empowerment, youth engagement, and environmental restoration. Julie’s leadership is grounded in fierce love, community presence, and a commitment to amplifying the voices of those too often left unheard.
“I see myself as the voice of the villager — a woman who carries the stories, needs, and dreams of people whose voices have been silenced by the deep chasm of poverty. They live without platforms from which to speak, but their voices are strong, and they deserve to be heard.
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My heart’s calling is to love them the best I can, where they are, with what I have, for as long as I am able. Born into opportunity, I feel a deep responsibility to use that privilege to amplify their voices — to stand with them and fight until their stories are no longer silenced.
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Because they are already fighting — not just for a better future, but to survive each day.
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When I visit our projects, I go with a listening ear and an open heart — to understand, to tell their stories, and to walk with them in dignity, toward lasting change.”
— Julie Seath
Since 2011, I’ve spent part of each year in Northern Malawi, walking alongside villagers and advocating for their dignity, health, and well-being. The people I visit live in some of the most remote areas on our planet - communities without electricity or running water. And yet their lives are full of strength, resilience, and joy. I’m not there to lead or fix. I’m there to love fiercely, to listen deeply, and to help amplify voices that deserve to be heard.
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This work began in my heart when I was a young girl. I remember helping my dad thread movie reels through the projector as he presented for World Vision. I was captivated - and deeply impacted - by the images of children just like me, yet living in severe poverty. My heart broke as I looked into their eyes. That experience sparked a lifelong ache to respond.
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My childhood faith taught me that compassion, justice and action belong together. I knew from early on that I wanted my life to be spent helping someone who might otherwise be overlooked. That sense of purpose stayed with me - through all of my life's personal ups and downs. Times I felt overlooked, and unsupported.
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In 2011, I finally stepped onto African soil for the first time. I felt as high as the plane that carried me there. The connections I made in Malawi changed my life. From 2012 onward, I began leading volunteer teams and building partnerships. In 2015, I founded Love a Village, a Canadian charity grounded in local relationships and the belief that lasting change comes from within communities, not from outside intervention.
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The work we do now is about presence and partnership, not handouts. Together with our trusted Malawian partner, we support locally driven solutions to challenges like water access, food insecurity, women’s health, and environmental sustainability. The villagers know their needs. I’m just there to walk beside them, support their goals, and help their voices travel farther.
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Through Love a Village, I’ve found one of the most meaningful ways I know to serve: by showing up, staying, and walking with others toward hope, health, and dignity. From the start, I’ve known this is what I was made for.
“Every life matters. Every voice deserves to be heard. That’s what guides everything I do.”
— Julie Seath