About us Meet the team UK UK Christopher Queree Chairman of the Board Christopher is an Investment Director and Head of Charities at Ruffer LLP. He has been a partner in the firm since 2004 and has over thirty years investment experience. Christopher’s knowledge and interest of Africa stems from having travelled extensively across the continent to countries such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Kenya and Sudan. Subsequently, Christopher has been a keen supporter of practical and tangible development projects that make a real and long-lasting difference to African communities-and as a result has led him to join the Bread and Water for Africa UK board of trustees. He has subsequently visited our projects in Zimbabwe and as a keen cyclist organised our first cycle in Tanzania. Siobhan Franklin Trustee Siobhan has over 16 years’ experience in economic development, financial inclusion and impact investing in Sub Saharan Africa. Having lived and worked extensively in the region, she is passionate about development and improving livelihoods. After learning about the work of BWAUK through meetings with CEO Sylvia Costantini and later Volunteer Spokesperson Phyllis Keino, Siobhan joined the Board of Trustees in 2018. She was inspired to do so following conversations with Phyllis Keino about the work she does at Lewa Children’s Home; taking care of orphans, providing them with a loving caring family environment, food and education, and giving the children a chance to flourish. Emily Robinson Trustee Emily has over 13 years of experience in investment banking and financial services. Originally from Buffalo, NY, she has lived and worked in the US, Germany, Portugal, and has resided in the UK since 2011. Having previously worked in the not-for-profit sector, she has always been passionate about charitable causes and started fundraising for Bread and Water for Africa UK in 2014. Inspired by her travels around Africa, Emily was keen to be able to do more and is excited to join the board of trustees this year. Darren Talbot Trustee Darren is a Chartered Surveyor with over 25 years experience of global management and delivery, who runs D2i Management, an independent Management Consultancy. He has been a Senior Director in FTSE100 and NYSE listed companies and has a particular focus on Programme Management and Renewables. His interest in development comes from his time as an Army Officer, where he deployed to a number of post conflict areas, working with NGOs and the UN on Nation Building programmes. His love of Africa comes from his time living in Liberia, where he led the World Bank and Liberian Government on a pilot project to re-construct the war-torn education system, training local resources to take over from the international team. When he is not busy with his work portfolio, he can be found either on his Dutch Barge, or training for his next endurance cycling event with his Spaniel in tow. Lauren Kocher Trustee Lauren has over 15 years of non-profit programme management experience both in the UK and internationally. She is currently Senior Programme Delivery Manager for the Sports Team at The Greater London Authority. On behalf of the Mayor of London she manages the delivery, impact measurement and funding of all community sport projects supported by the GLA. Alongside this role she works as a Project Management and Training Consultant for both national and international NGOs managing a wide variety of projects alongside training the non-profit workforce in subjects such as Project Management, Gender Intelligence, and Leadership. Her career to-date has been focused primarily on supporting children and young people, leading to the management of both the National Citizen Service and International Citizen Service programmes. She has spent the bulk of her career in international development managing various Sport for Development, Street Child, HIV/AIDs, Education, and Ebola-response projects for young people across Sub-Saharan Africa, South America, and Asia. She is also a keen fundraiser having taken part in sporting events such as the London Marathon, London Triathlon, and Durban Swim Series events to raise money for international development organisations. Belvin M. Tawuya Trustee Originally from Zimbabwe, Belvin is a digital and strategic communications expert with a wealth of knowledge and experience in digital media and communication, He has worked in both public and private sectors and currently works in strategy and communications at a non-profit organisation. Belvin is interested in promoting positive conversations about Africa and believes in empowering people at grassroots level. His professional background includes military service in HM Forces, UK financial services, and digital consultancy. Belvin is consummately passionate about Africa and is particularly interested in harnessing the potential of its young people. Lisa Delaney Trustee Lisa is a senior executive with extensive marketing and digital experience spanning the travel and tourism, luxury and consumer goods industries across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas. During the course of her career, she has been fortunate to work for global brands as well as smaller organizations, and understands the challenges facing small businesses. Lisa has a special affinity with Africa, as she was been born in South Africa and over the years has spent a lot of time in Egypt as well as visiting Tanzania more recently. During an international elective, as part of her Executive MBA programme, Lisa saw first-hand the effectiveness of social enterprises managed at the grass roots level with local partners. She was inspired by the entrepreneurial flair, the drive to make change for good and the resilience to continue in very complex and challenging environments. In fact, it was the grass roots approach taken by Bread and Water for Africa UK that appealed to Lisa and one of the reasons for joining the Board as a Trustee. Ruby Glasspool Chief Executive Officer Ruby has ten years' experience within the not-for-profit sector in charity management and communications and joined BWAUK in 2020. She is passionate about using meaningful communications and thoughtful project leadership to achieve the best possible outcomes for people in need and believes in the power of teamwork. Ruby has travelled extensively throughout the world but feels strongly connected to Africa from her trips to Tanzania, South Africa and Zanzibar. She believes everyone should have the same opportunities for a fulfilling life and is committed to supporting this through humanitarian work. Ruby is the go to person for all programme questions and day to day operations. Ramona Engler Charity Coordinator Ramona is originally from Germany and joined BWAUK in 2020. She is in charge of our charity coordination including social media, communications and day to day operations. Ramona has a degree in Nutrition and a Masters in Nutrition for Global Health and brings with her a deep understanding of the humanitarian sector, with special interest in emergency response, maternal and child nutrition and programme planning. Her belief that every child should be able to thrive and lead a life where they can dream of their future. Daphne Davies Volunteer Journalist Daphne has done media and project management work for a number of national and international organisations and NGOs, including Amnesty International, WWF, International Trade Union Confederation, the UN, the European Commission, the European Policy Centre, the Club of Rome and Devex. She is particularly concerned about the position of the world’s 47 poorest countries, designated the Least Developed Countries, 32 of which are in Africa, and supports two NGOs in this area: LDC Watch and the LDC News Service. She is committed to volunteering with BWAUK, because of its focus on working directly with NGOs on the ground in African LDCs. Kiran Sansi Volunteer Kiran joined BWAUK as a volunteer at the beginning of 2020 as she is passionate about educating the younger generations on global injustices and inspiring them to contribute towards positive change. Kiran's current role is to produce youth focused engagement resources as well as identify new partnership opportunities. With a background in both healthcare and education, as well as being a keen traveller and having a strong Punjabi heritage, Kiran is excited to utilise her experiences in helping BWAUK expand it's reach within the UK. Ilze Schoeman Volunteer Ilze works as a volunteer with Bread and Water for Africa UK, focusing on securing partnerships. With several years of experience in IT – particularly in project management and support – she is also helping with other IT related processes and tasks. Ilze is originally from South Africa and has always had a passion for helping people and would like to do anything she can to help grow Bread and Water for Africa UK, supporting our project partners in Africa. Tim Fry Volunteer Tim joined BWAUK in 2020 to support the evaluation of its programmes, having previously managed social protection, education and natural resource management projects in sub-Saharan Africa for a variety of INGOs and U.N institutions including UNICEF, WFP as well as KfW and the EU. He is keenly interested in developing value-addition capacities and climate responsive supply chains within developing economies, and is hoping to increase BWA’s partner’s scoping, planning and monitoring capabilities.