USA FORAFRIKA - Key Persons
Abeba Amene moved into her current role after serving as Country Director for South Sudan, ForAfrika's largest programme to date.
With over 17 years of humanitarian and development programming experience in fragile contexts, Abeba has led teams in various country offices, managing medium and large-scale programmes including at Oxfam in the United Kingdom where she served as the Regional Policy and Advocacy Advisor.
With an in-depth contextual understanding of humanitarian and development trends in East Africa as well as in the Horn of Africa and extensive experience in programme design and implementation, Abeba is dedicated to seeing the positive transformation of communities.
Her unshakable commitment to realising a better future for children is drawn from many years of working alongside some of Africa's most marginalised communities.
Alex Burrough joined ForAfrika in 2022 and heads up the affiliate office in the United Kingdom where she is responsible for creating awareness, ensuring that donors are cared for, and growing the income for the UK office which supports our vital community projects.
She is an internationally experienced manager who has worked in the social enterprises, international non-governmental and UK charity sectors for many years both on and off the field.
Before returning to England, Alex had spent 10 years in Zambia, running successful social enterprises and sustainable development programmes.
Her key skills are in fundraising, business development and programmes' management with a knack for devising new campaign ideas to suit unique challenges.
Ann Pretorius and her late husband, Peter, founded Joint Aid Management (JAM), now known as ForAfrika, in 1984.
Charles Wentzel has been leading ForAfrika's Disaster Response Unit since April 2021. During this period, we have steadily increased capacity and responded to emergencies in Mozambique, Angola, South Sudan, South Africa, Uganda and the Central African Republic.
Charles grew up in an Airborne Regiment of South Africa, holds an MBA from Heriot Watt University, and obtained certification from the Project Management Institute in 2012.
He threw his weight into the humanitarian sector with JAM in 2000, leading the organisation's Emergency Response Unit, the launch of the water drilling and purification division and the opening of the country programme in South Sudan. He then went on to set up humanitarian operations funded by the US and UK governments and private entities in a host of countries.
Trademarks of his work are rapid development of local capacity, creation of management information systems and efficiency. He loves agriculture, empowering local communities and linking emergency relief to economic development.
Job Titles:
- Chartered Accountant
- Audit
Cisca Pretorius is a Chartered Accountant with more than 15 years' experience in her field.
She has an Honours Bachelor of Accounting Science, is a registered auditor with the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors in South Africa and is assigned to the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Cisca has a clear understanding of audit and accounting processes and considerable experience in finance and implementing procedures to manage business effectively.
Keeping on top of projects and making sure all parts get to the finish line at the same time is what she does best. Cisca travels extensively to ensure that all ForAfrika's country offices are on the same page and compliant with our high financial standards and procedures.
Dr Mary Okumu is an accomplished development expert in health policy and health service delivery and has about 38 years of experience at various humanitarian organisations around the world, including the African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF), Oxfam and the United Nations, where she has served at senior levels, including being a Representative of UN Women in Sierra Leone.
She has been responsible for generating groundbreaking programmes in maternal and child health as well as community upliftment and organisational development projects in more than 15 African countries.
She strongly believes in the participation of the community, especially the youth, in all development initiatives since this ensures local ownership and sustainable transformation. She also believes that gender mainstreaming is an important strategy in achieving equitable and sustainable human development.
Dr Okumu holds a Master's Degree in Public Health (Maternal and Child Health) and a PhD in Human Rights Law.
Fiona Hannig moved into the humanitarian sector after spending most of her career in a corporate environment at Liberty Holdings where she gained 11 years of experience in integrated external and internal communication, stakeholder and media management, change communication and leadership communication.
Backed by a master's degree in English, Fiona has travelled the world and is accustomed to operating in countries with diverse languages and cultures. She has an entrepreneurial spirit and ran a successful children's book enterprise - creating numerous bestsellers in her wake - before joining ForAfrika.
To the NGO world she brings her hallmark of delivering measurable value and return on investment and her passion for driving special marketing projects that go beyond business-as-usual.
Fred Mutenyo is a humanitarian professional with over 20 years' experience at various international development agencies, specialising in agricultural, development and peace projects.
Backed by an undergraduate degree in agriculture and Master's degrees in agricultural economics, monitoring and evaluation, Fred has run a variety of successful food security, livelihoods and economic empowerment projects in Uganda.
He was recently awarded a place on the Master of Science in Management course at the National College of Ireland.
His superpower, however, is an irrepressible passion and can-do attitude which he applies to any project or problem.
Job Titles:
- Group CEO
- Afrika Group CEO, in the Field
Isak Pretorius is the son of social entrepreneurs Peter and Ann Pretorius, who founded JAM International, out of which ForAfrika has risen.
With a BComm degree and 20 years of humanitarian services and business experience on the continent, he is well positioned to drive the organisation into the future while staying true to its vision of an Africa that thrives.
He is passionate about impactful development in Africa and bridging the gap between non-profit and for-profit entities.
Isak has also played a role in advising many governments, donor entities and large NGOs on sustainable programmes and has been a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) since 2009.
Jane King'ara comes to the organisation with a wealth of experience in the HR field, including time spent working in five of our programme countries - South Africa, Mozambique, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan - with various organisations.
She holds a Global Executive MBA, a Bachelor of Arts degree and has a number of additional qualifications to her name. Before joining ForAfrika, Jane was working as an HR and change management consultant.
She feels strongly that making an impact in Africa can only happen sustainably through partnering with communities and understanding their needs.
Job Titles:
- Chief Development Officer
Jim Lutzweiler brings a rare and comprehensive portfolio of 25 years of senior and executive management experience across the spectrum of global program development to improve the lives of people. His skillset includes strategic planning and tactical execution within challenging, dynamic environments, management turnarounds, shared value partnerships, and philanthropic funding and grants. He developed and applied these skills with a global perspective working and living in 100+ countries throughout his career.
In January 2024, he assumed his current duty as Chief Development Officer at ForAfrika responsible for core revenue business functions, multi-stakeholder public-private partnerships and strategic development.
Leader Kwami Makumator is a humanitarian professional with over 17 years' working experience. He holds an MSc in Project Management from the University of Wales and has worked in various countries, including Afghanistan and South Sudan.
Job Titles:
- Group Chairman
- Member of the Advisory Board of the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business
Paul Edwards is a serial entrepreneur who has successfully built several businesses into leading companies.
His CV lists an impressive array of positions held at major companies around the world and he is also a regular speaker at international conferences on topics such as satellite communications, telecommunications, payments, and doing business successfully in Africa.
Paul is currently Executive Chairman of Equilibre Bio-energy Production Ltd and Chairman of ZappGroup, Africa Ltd.
Additionally, Paul is also a member of the Advisory Board of the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business and a member of EDS's Europe's Advisory Board.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director of the German
Sabine Wenz is the Managing Director of the German affiliate office.
Simon McGregor moved into his current role at ForAfrika in 2023, having previously been Chief Development Officer from 2021-2022 and managing director of the organisation's UK office from 2019 to 2021.
Simon's background and impressive career is in financial research, corporate finance and stock transfer. He founded various companies that have gone on to enjoy major success.
He was a managing director at LSE-listed Equiniti Group plc with responsibility for proxy advisory, cross border listings and stock analysis before becoming a partner responsible for corporate finance at Africa-focused consultancy, Afriscope.
Job Titles:
- Chief of Staff
- ForAfrika in 2021 As Chief of Staff
Susannah Hastings joined ForAfrika in 2021 as Chief of Staff, having previously served in the Global Management team for Deal Network, Young President's Organisation (YPO).
Susannah's background and experience lies in supporting leadership to a achieve strategic vision, enabling learning and knowledge-sharing. She has contributed to the creation of high-value educational and networking programs offering unique shared learning experiences, and opportunities to access exclusive business content and resources.
In Susannah's current role, she is responsible for fostering organisational harmony and optimising reporting structures for enhanced efficiency for informed leadership decision making. She is focused on creating an environment where all members feel valued and empowered, and that ensures transparency and accountability.
Susannah is passionate about people, about finding the heart in all we do, and in creating an Africa that thrives.
Job Titles:
- Group Marketing and Comms Officer
Terri Pretorius was born and raised in South Africa and grew up with an acute awareness of the injustices that exist on the continent.
After a 10-year career in the media industry she changed course to pursue her life's desire to serve Africa and its people.
Terri has filled various positions at ForAfrika over the past decade and in her current role is responsible for the strategic oversight of the organisation's marketing and communication department.