Leadership

NEW YORK, HEADQUARTERS

  • Hannah Laufer-Rottman

    FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

    Ms. Laufer-Rottman is the founder of Palms for Life Fund. She is a former employee of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) where she worked for almost 30 years in several senior positions. She has traveled extensively in developing countries and has had first-hand experience dealing with impoverished communities. She has managed anti-poverty projects, large feeding programs, and humanitarian operations in Burkina Faso, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador and Nicaragua. Her experience includes school feeding programs, vulnerable groups’ projects, advancement of women, rural development and assets creation. She launched one of the first WFP school feeding programs in the Latin American region in Ecuador, in 1986. On the humanitarian side, she secured and managed help for victims of earthquakes, floods, and social and political conflicts. In 1997, she held the position of Director for Ecuador for five years and successfully negotiated a $24 million donation from the US government. In her final post with the United Nations in New York, she and her team established numerous new partnerships with large US corporations and foundations and secured over $6 million in grants.

  • Maayan Laufer

    DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

    Maayan is the founding partner of Palms for Life. Thanks to her mother's work with the UN, she was able to travel to many developing countries throughout her life. She witnessed first-hand the impact of international aid in improving the livelihood of individuals and communities. She most enjoys producing the Ceres Food Film Festival.   She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Biology and Sociology. She is also an actress and filmmaker having graduated from the William Esper Studio.

  • Camila Yanzaguano-Bravo

    COMMUNICATIONS

    Camila Yanzaguano-Bravo is a recent graduate from the M.A. in International Affairs with a concentration in Cities and Social Justice at The New School, New York. Her passion for urban development and rights lead her to travel to Barcelona, Spain and Cape Town, South Africa, where she contributed within the nonprofit sector in areas such as employment and housing policy, respectively. Today, she expects to continue developing her knowledge within the nonprofit sector and help fundamental human rights as part of everyone's lives. 

REGIONAL

  • Stephanie Login-McGinn

    REGIONAL ADViSOR

    With 20 years of experience in international development and nature conservation, I am based full-time in Eswatini. I have a BSc in Environmental Studies (University of Vermont), and an MA in Human Geography (University of South Carolina) and am firmly committed to environmental protection, social development and human rights. I am particularly interested in inter-disciplinary relationships between fields.

    My core skills include: specialized writing and editing; research and analysis; grant writing and reporting; strategic project support; liaison with donors/governments/INGOs; and monitoring and evaluation.

    I have supported Palms for Life projects for over 10 years and work remotely on the Botswana, Namibia and South Africa portfolios, from my home in Dombeya Game Reserve, central Eswatini.

  • Ben Begbie

    REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE

    Ben has 19 years of experience working with San and other indigenous and marginalised communities in southern Africa - principally in Namibia, also in Angola, Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Between 2006 and 2010 Ben worked for and later led WIMSA (the Working group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa), at the time the southern African NGO of the San. Since then he has worked for various NGOs, the Global Environment Facility, UNDESA, UNDP and the World Bank on the rights of indigenous peoples, legal land issues, education and livelihoods programmes, social safeguards, and programme evaluations. He has also supported the Namibian Office of the Vice President and Division Marginalised Communities in developing a draft national policy for groups such as the San. Beyond his work duties, Ben assists with networking, funding and advice for San youth, community organisations and NGOs, and has published articles and research on the San.

  • Kerry Jones

    DIRECTOR, AFRICAN TONGUE

    Dr Kerry Jones is the Director of a linguistics consultancy called African Tongue where she and her team specialise in Ju, Tuu and Khoe (formerly Khoisan) languages in southern Africa. She is an award-winning author and has co-written two dictionaries; the Ju|'hoan Children's Picture Dictionary as well as the multilingual N|uuki-Namagowab-Afrikaans-English dictionary. Kerry has been collaborating with Palms for Life since 2023 in language related matters. She is a strong advocate for mother tongue education and literacy in minority languages in southern Africa and has represented her country at UNESCO for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.

  • Adeshola Mayowa Balogun

    EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

    Adeshola has a Law degree and a Master's degree in Public Management. She is an experienced Administrative professional with over seven years of experience working in the financial services, nonprofit and real estate industry. This experience has equipped her with the relevant skills and knowledge to effectively manage the administrative aspect of various organizations. She is very passionate about her work and takes great pride in delivering exceptional results. Adeshola is focused on achieving her goal of becoming an effective leader in Corporate Administration. With her strong educational background, diverse skill set, and unwavering dedication, she is well-positioned to make a significant impact in her field and drive positive change within organizations.

NAMIBIA

  • Kingston Makoni

    NATIONAL COORDINATOR

    Kingston Makoni has the demonstrated history of working in project coordination and management for over 20 years. He has direct experience of working with marginalized and vulnerable communities (including street and working children, children separated from their families, children who face abuse and exploitation, families affected by armed conflict and/or natural disasters, communities from indigenous minority communities (particularly the San children) in Zimbabwe and Namibia. His experiences have strengthened his belief to seek the good in others. His qualifications include a B.A. (Economic History) and Grad. CE from University of Zimbabwe, Advanced Diploma in Child Rights Law from Lund University (Sweden) and a Bachelor of Business Administration.

  • Esmè Roshanè //Hoëses

    SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME OFFICER

    A young and talented, youthful individual. She has collaborated with several donor-funded NGOs on community-based resource management and conservation activities. With her experience in project management and from the Khoisan-speaking community, PFLF Namibia has gained professional advice in working with San and Nama youths to contribute to the heritage and conservation of our unique communities and language preservation. Palms for Life Fund is an excellent site to continue aiding our indigenous and marginalized communities to break the cycle of poverty through youth empowerment by offering education through scholarship opportunities and support. Previously, she has worked with the Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia, GIZ CBNRM Namibia, and NaDEET Environmental Education Namibia, which all involved great work within rural communities of Namibia to improve environmental and sustainability activities in energy, water, climate change, bio diversity and community protection which is tremendously a worthy value within the current settings.

  • Belinda Karuaihe

    FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

    Belinda has a bachelor’s Degree in Accountant and with extensive work experience of over 10+years in donor-funded organizations. For my financial organizational growth, practical skills in financial accounting and grant management with supervisory responsibilities. Belinda is very articulate, analytical, focused, and capable in the accounting profession with a history of providing consistent leadership and teamwork in the financial areas of the organization. She has considerable working experience in audit preparation including Annual Financial Statements preparations and supporting the audit teams to provide clarity and justification on queries. She has strong management skills; program budget preparations and monitoring are my expertise. Very passionate about exploring and understanding mental health awareness and emotional intelligence.

  • Ester Kaino Nakale

    ECD OFFICER

    Ester Kaino Nakale has a Bachelor Degree in Social Sciences (Psychology and Sociology) with her final thesis on the ‘Effects of Prejudice and Discrimination on the San in Ekoka’. She has a strong passion for community work, with a strong focus on intercultural learning and community empowerment. Ester has over16 years of work experience, three years have been field work, living amongst Ju/’hoansi San communities in remote areas of Omaheke region, eight years have been in management and coordination positions in the areas of community development, training, health and livelihood support, and the last five years as a teacher at the Waldorf School Windhoek.

BOTSWANA

  • Dorothy Okatch

    NATIONAL COORDINATOR

    Dorothy Okatch is a Social Worker by profession with a Masters Degree in Social Work in the stream of Social Policy and Administration from the University of Botswana. She has professional experience of over 14 years working in NGOs, Government Institutions, and as a Independent Consultant. Her experience has seen her design, implement and scale programs in health, education and leadership for young people in the countries she has worked in being Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Dorothy has conducted consultancies for local and international organisations in the field of HIV, advocacy, human rights, and development of policies and organisational strategies.

  • Gabatshwane Motlogelwa

    PROGRAM AND ADMINISTRATION OFFICER

    Gabatshwane holds a Bachelor of Social Work from University of Botswana. She comes with 17 years of experience of working at a level of senior management in various Civil Society Organizations and private sector.

    Ms. Motlogelwa possesses a strong aptitude in coordinating, and implementing effective interventions through working with clients to achieve desired goals. Her career path has grown overtime through managing projects on vulnerable populations from people living with HIV, Orphans and Vulnerable children, Community TB Care, HIV Testing, Adolescents Sexual Reproductive Health, In and Out of School youth and Community based natural resources management (CBNRM) on livelihoods.

  • Lillian Chilambampane

    FOOD SECURITY MONITOR

    Lillian Chilambampani has extensive experience in social and community development work in areas of women and youth empowerment in a broader spectrum and also health and wellness particularly with programmes geared towards HIV prevention among adolescents and young girls. Lillian is a graduate of the University of Botswana, possessing a Masters Degree in Social Work with specialisation in Youth and Community Practice; Post Graduate Diploma in English and a double major Degree in Sociology and English. Possesses a passion for the upliftment of vulnerable and marginalised groups and strongly advocates for participatory approaches in addressing issues of social and community development. “Community is about doing something together that makes belonging matter”- Brian Solis.

  • Obert Simon

    FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION OFFICER

    A Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) registered Accounting Technician with over 6 years of extensive experience in all aspects of accounting and financial management. Adept at financial reporting, budgeting, account reconciliations, and cash flow management. Also skilled in asset management, auditing, and project management. A dedicated, competent, highly flexible, and strategic thinker seeking to leverage exceptional accounting skills and academic knowledge to achieve organizational success. Obert has 5 years' work experience in NGOs, first employed under the Human rights organization and currently in Palms for Life.

SOUTH AFRICA

  • Nathalie Irna Cloete

    LOCAL COORDINATOR - RICHTERSVELD

    Nathalie has worked in the travel industry for over 20 years. Her extensive logistics and project management experience come in handy with her work in the Richtersveld Nama communities. She always dreamt of helping to make the world a better place. At Palms for Life, she most enjoys working with and making the daily lives of the Nama communities better. She firmly believes that our colourful cultures, languages and heritages are what makes the world the bright and beautiful kaleidoscope that we all live in. A mom of two, with a passion for travel, reading, astrology and movies.

  • Pieter Johannes Naude

    LOCAL COORDINATOR UPINGTON/ASKHAM/ANDRIESVALE

    Pieter comes from an Advertising and Marketing background and has worked in various creative departments at agencies in Johannesburg before moving to the Kalahari in 2021. Some of his interests is Nature Conservation, Photography and working with wild animals. He also believes that you have to make a positive impact to change people’s lives around you and bring hope where you can – and this is exactly what the San people of the Kalahari need. Working for Palms for Life enables him to be part of a team that is doing all they possibly can to break the cycle of poverty – a job to be proud of.

  • Itunu Bodunrin

    LOCAL COORDINATOR - PLATFONTEIN

    Iunu Bodunrin hold post-graduate degrees in Media and Cultural Studies. Before joining PFL in 2023, Itunu worked in academia, serving both as a cultural studies theory lecturer and a supervisor to a number of postgraduate students.

    Since 2013, Itunu has dedicated himself to social research projects in Platfontein, driven by a profound commitment to fostering opportunities for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. His project on the !Xun and Khwe Indigenous youth music is on display at the Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre co-owned by the !Xun and Khwe San, situated about 16 km from Kimberley.

    Itunu enjoys traveling, discovering diverse cultures, and engaging in weightlifting at the gym.

  • Cherene Matendi

    INTERN - PLATFONTEIN

    Cherene Matendi, a Xun San graduated from the !Xunkhwesa High school in 2023 as one of the best graduating student. She is passionate and eager to learn the practicalities of implementing social projects. She speaks !Xuntali, Afrikaans and English.

  • Andre Nthoho

    INTERN - PLATFONTEIN

    Andre Nthoho is a Khwe San resident in Platfontein. Andre has worked with Dr Itunu as a research assistant since 2013. He is passionate about social development of San people and enjoys working with local Platfontein people to implement Palms for Life social projects. He is optimistic about the future despite the many challenges faced by people of Platfontein.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

  • Naama Laufer

    PRESIDENT

    Naama Laufer's international upbringing in "third-world countries," due to her mother's work with the UN's World Food Program, has provided her with a face-to-face expression of poverty and the efforts needed to uproot it. The work that Palms for Life Fund has developed over the past 10 years, under the banner, "we are all connected to the poor," is the way Naama has always approached the world, and she is happy to be part of this family too. Naama lives in New York with her husband and two kids who make her life just a little bit more interesting every day.

  • Andrew J. Trager

    DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

    Andrew J. Trager is an 18 year veteran of the Employer Services Division of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP). With nearly $9 billion in revenues and over 585,000 clients, ADP is one of the world’s largest providers of business outsourcing solutions. Mr. Trager works with a vast array of small to mid-size organizations across multiple industries including not-for-profit entities. Mr. Trager leverages his experience, advising his clients on HR, payroll, regulatory compliance, and benefits administration solutions. During his time with an eLearning company founded by Sylvan Learning Systems, Mr. Trager worked with multi-national organizations to implement executive education courses in partnership with leading business schools such as The Wharton School, and the University of Southern California. Mr. Trager is a graduate of the State University of New York College at Oswego, and received his Master of Arts from The University at Albany.

  • Ellen Jacobson

    DIRECTOR

    Ellen Jacobson is the owner of Elila, the foremost intimate apparel brand for plus-size women in the US market. Ellen is a third-generation executive of the undergarment business and, over the past 15 years, has developed partnerships with over 350+ shops nationwide, national online lingerie retailers like Classic Shapewear, JCPenney & Herroom, and international retailers across several countries. Educated at Simmons College in Boston, Ellen earned her BA in Business.

    Ellen is also an active member of the Rudolf Steiner education community in New York, where she resides with her husband and daughter.

  • Eric Moskowitz

    DIRECTOR

    Eric Moskowitz is Vice President of Market Intelligence and Analytics at Korn Ferry, the world’s largest talent management firm.  Eric also heads up the firm’s North America Research and Knowledge Management group, consisting of 100 off and on-shore staffers. The team focuses on general company research, name generation and Market Intelligence projects related to Compensation, Competitive Market-Making and Trend Analysis across all sectors and functional areas. He introduced the firm’s Market Intelligence Team business to provide pro-active information to clients on a real-time basis. He previously worked as an Executive Director and head of market intelligence at a well-known global executive search boutique with a special focus on Capital Markets and Investment Banking. Eric began his career as a business journalist at such publications as The New York Times, Bloomberg News, New York Post, TheStreet.com and SmartMoney magazine, writing and editing topical business stories about the financial markets. Eric graduated from New York University with a M.A. in Journalism and from University of Rochester with a B.A. in Political Science.

  • Elizaveta Malashenko

    DIRECTOR

    Elizaveta Malashenko has spent her 18+ career working on energy transition and sustainability. Currently a Senior Director with Alvarez & Marsal Energy in New York, Elizaveta specializes in supporting clients in investment strategy, deal execution and operational excellence. Through her career, Elizaveta has driven innovation and change as a consultant and a policy maker. Elizaveta spent more than eight years in the California state government, where she drove policy formulation on a wide range of topics in the energy and sustainability space, including climate change adaptation and wildfires.

    Ms. Malashenko earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles.

BOARD OF ADVISORS

Daniel Ahmad

Daniel Ahmad, a Canadian-British national, resides in Montreal, where he is employed in finance in the aviation industry. Trained at McGill, Paris, Oxford and Yale, he served the United Nations in various humanitarian capacities in Kenya, Republic of Congo, Ecuador and New York. His experience also includes electoral observation missions in Bosnia and Colombia. Daniel's most important life experience was managing three UNHCR refugee camps in Congo during a civil war from 1997-1999. He is interested in livelihood-economics issues, and keenly remembers when a previous boss mused, "World peace begins with a decent breakfast".

David L. Rottman

David Rottman is a recent Past President of the Board of Directors of the C.G. Jung Foundation of New York, and a member of the Jung Foundation’s Continuing Education faculty. He is a member of the Faculty of the Archetypal Pattern Analyst Training Program of the Assisi Institute of Vermont. His seminars on psychology and human motivation have received wide acclaim in the United States and Canada. Mr. Rottman is the past President of the Career Counselors Consortium (CCC), an organization he founded in 1997 for the purpose of bringing the work of career counselors to the public. The CCC’s annual award for Distinguished Achievement in the field of Career Counseling has been named the “David Rottman Award.” Mr. Rottman served on the charter Board of Directors of the Association of Career Professionals International (formerly the International Association of Career Management Professionals), a 1500-member organization that he was also instrumental in founding. He currently serves on the International Advisory Board of the ACP. He has supervised and trained many of the leading career counselors and career coaches in the New York Metropolitan area. Mr. Rottman writes frequently on the subject of careers, and his articles have appeared in local and national publications. The National Business Employment Weekly, a Wall Street Journal publication, honored him twice for having written one of the year’s Ten Best Articles on Careers. Mr. Rottman has a Master’s in Applied Psychology from New York University.

Kathy Hansen

Kathy Hansen has over 12 years of experience in building partnerships with corporations, foundations, and governmental agencies. She is currently consulting for the Institute for OneWorld Health in San Francisco (iOWH), and formerly worked for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in New York. She holds a Masters in Public Administration with an emphasis in Nonprofit Organizational Management from the University of Colorado at Denver, and has completed coursework toward a Masters in Global Public Health from New York University. She has traveled and worked on projects in East Africa, including Tanzania, and has prepared, monitored, and evaluated projects and proposals in public health in conjunction with Ministries of Health, community based organizations, and technical staff representing nongovernmental organizations and U.N. agencies. Her specific areas of interest and work in global public health include child survival from neglected diseases, environmental health (water and sanitation), HIV/AIDS (prevention, care, and treatment), safe motherhood, operations research, emergency healthcare in conflict settings for refugees/internally displaced populations, and building the capacity of community health workers through training and ongoing technical assistance.

Trevor Page

Trevor Page worked for the United Nations for 31 years. Most of his work was with the World Food Programme in Africa and Asia but he was also seconded to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, and to the UN‘s Department of Political Affairs. He has served as Head of Mission in major countries, including India and China, and at the headquarters of the World Food Programme in Rome, Italy, as the Director of emergency humanitarian relief, worldwide.Some of his most challenging assignments were in Sudan, at the height of the civil war in the south, as the first head of the UN in Eritrea at the end of its 30-year civil war with Ethiopia, and he opened and managed the WFP office in North Korea when devastating floods on top of a collapsed economy caused it to appeal to the outside world for help. He has also served in Guyana, Suriname, Haiti, Jamaica, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Uganda and the countries of the Sahel. While posted in India, he had regional responsibility for Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.Prior to joining the UN, Mr. Page served in Algeria, Benin, Togo and India with the US PVO, Catholic Relief Services.Upon retirement from the UN, Mr. Page served in India as the CEO of an American social-marketing company dealing with women's reproductive health, family planning and HIV/AIDS protection.After settling in Canada in 2001, Trevor became involved in community work in his new hometown of Lethbridge, Alberta. He has served on the Board of the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs, the Mayor’s China Committee, Lethbridge Symphony Association and USC-Canada, an Ottawa-based international development NGO. He also wrote a weekly newspaper column on international affairs.Currently, he is President of the Lethbridge International Film Festival, Communications Director for the environmental NGO, Kainai Lethbridge Earth Watch, official photographer for the Blackfoot

Mirella Mokbel Genequand

Mirella Mokbel is native of Lebanon where she graduated from the American University of Beirut (AUB) in 1976 with a masters degree in Nutrition. After a few years of work as a senior research assistant in the Food Technology and Nutrition department of AUB, she obtained a UNU fellowship which allowed her to join the University of Massachusetts in Amherst from which she graduated in 1985 with a PhD. Her international work experience started soon after her graduation in the Nutrition Assessment Service of the Food and Agricultural Organisation in Rome followed by a consultancy with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) as a Monitoring and Evaluation adviser in the Project Design Service. She joined the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1988, where she worked for nearly 18 years. As chief of the Food Aid for Development Unit, she was responsible for coordinating WHO technical assistance to WFP: advising on policy and programmatic issues and leading/participating on behalf of WHO in the situation analysis, design and evaluation of WFP country programmes and projects in many countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Currently a free-lance consultant, she continues to participate in the design and evaluation of technical assistance programs in the area of nutrition and food security.

Tatiana Osorio

Tatiana has ten years of fashion industry experience ranging from product development to sourcing and licensing for companies such as Bottega Veneta, Tod's and Kenneth Cole. She eventually came to realize how unsustainable many industry processes can be and has since committed to utilizing her skills and knowledge to assist fashion companies in building sustainable business practices while maintaining their brand and stylistic identity. Tatiana received a BS in Business Management from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica in Rio de Janeiro, and went on to graduate cum laude from the Fashion Institute of Technology with a degree in fashion merchandising management. She also holds a Master's in Fashion and Design Brand Management from the prestigious SDA Bocconi in Milan. In addition, Palms for Life Fund receives inspiring and motivating support from family, friends and colleagues in the form of encouragement, marketing, financial support and networking. Our list of friends grows every day.

Raphael Smith - Food Anthropologist

A Swiss-American, residing in Central New Jersey, he is currently pursuing a career as a food writer and private chef with a focus on sustainable and seasonal cuisine. Previously, he studied cultural anthropology at Rutgers University and University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. In these two institutions he focused primarily on studying the
effects of globalization on local cultures. In the past year Raphael completed an in-depth ethnographic study on the Slow Food movement in Switzerland. Inspired by the leaders of Slow Food in Switzerland and Italy, Raphael aims to apply the Slow Food philosophy of “clean, good, and fair” to both his social and entrepreneurial endeavors.

David Mait

David currently is a Product Marketing Manager at Castlight Health, a startup in San Francisco providing game-changing health care transparency tools on cost and quality. Throughout his career, David has been helping socially driven organizations. He has worked for the UN World Food Programme, non-profits, startups and marketing/communication firms – advising big brands on consumer strategy and product evolution. He also has designed and raised millions of dollars for hunger, water and education projects around the world. Most recently, he founded YogiBreak: a platform bringing wellness/yoga into the workplace. David received his BA from Lehigh University and his Masters in International Relations from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.

David Brooks

David has been conceiving and managing digital programs in the B2B, B2C and B2G spaces for 14 years.  His focus at Ogilvy is on IBM’s social media programs across all business units. His clients have included Intel, Right Management, JPMorgan Chase, The Department of Veterans Affairs, Sun-Maid, Quest Diagnostics, Phoenix Wealth Management, Applica Consumer Products, Kraft Foods, Nabisco, Dun & Bradstreet, and many others. His work has included web sites, social media monitoring, social media channel development and strategy, mobile sites, email marketing, product development, online applications and more. Prior to Ogilvy, David worked at The Yankee Group (market research), Qwest (telecommunications), and Burson-Marsteller (digital marketing/ social media / public relations). David holds a BA in English Literature from Boston University and an MBA from Stanford University. David is interested in applying his knowledge of marketing and social media to motivate people to buy socially conscious goods and services.  He believes this is not only a trend, but increasingly a mandate if companies are to thrive in the coming years.

Previous
Previous

History

Next
Next

Conscious Action