Africa Goal :: The Team

The team proposing this trip is primarily made up of the same people who coordinated the 2006 Africa Goal Project. All members are keen football fans, who have grown up and worked in Africa and have a great passion for the reduction of HIV prevalence in the region. Part of the team is made up of media professionals and the rest have worked in the development field in Africa. Among the group there are three development practitioners, two of them are directly involved with HIV and AIDS awareness in Africa, a documentary filmmaker, a multimedia journalist, a graphic designer, a professional photographer and a tour-guide / mechanic.

Mary Leakey
Profession: SAfAIDS Senior Project Officer
Citizenship: Kenya
Education: BA. School of Oriental and African Studies
Relevant Experience: Another member of the 2006 Africa Goal project coordination team, Mary is currently a programming consultant for the Southern African HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS) at the country office in Zimbabwe, a regional organization whose mission is to promote ethical and effective development responses to the epidemic and its impact through HIV and AIDS knowledge management. Mary speaks fluent Kiswahili and has extensive experience with private community development initiatives in Kenya. Her knowledge of contemporary development issues, in particularly her hands-on work responding to the HIV and AIDS epidemic, will be essential to the trip’s success.
Favorite World Cup Team: South Africa

Maciej Sudra
Profession: Graphic Designer / ICT Teacher
Citizenship: Switzerland / Poland
Education: MA. Harvard University
Relevant Experience: One of the 2006 Africa Goal project coordinators, Maciej Sudra, has a background in graphic design and computer science. He is currently teaching media arts and information technology in Harare, Zimbabwe. Previous professional experience includes design work in the advertizing industry with Saatchi & Saatchi and in the NGO sector with the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) foundation and Eduvision Ltd. Maciej will bring his experience into the operation of all technological aspects of the journey, including designing and updating the Africa Goal website.
Favorite World Cup Team: Switzerland

Tiana Leakey
Profession: Photographer/Artist
Citizenship: Kenya
Education: BFA. City and Guilds Art Foundation
Relevant Experience: A member of the original Africa Goal team, Tiana currently lives in UK but has spent most of her life in Kenya. She speaks fluent Kiswahili and is a talented photographer, artist and illustrator. Her artistic contributions will not only benefit her own personal goals but will also excite the documentation of this trip and ensure the success of the exhibitions.
Favorite World Cup Team: Ghana

Ben Weigl
Profession: The Travel Collective Pty Ltd. Director / Operations Manager / Guide / Mechanic
Citizenship: Australia / Germany
Relevant Experience: A member of the original Africa Goal team. A true travel addict, Ben has travelled all around the world by car, boat, bike, foot, you name it. He is currently the director of the Travel Collective, a group of Australasian companies specialising in small group travel with an active focus. When he is not in the office Ben runs cycling tours through remote outback Australia. Throughout his adventures he has gathered extensive experience in management, logistics, group safety, bush skills and vehicle maintenance. These skills will play an important role in the coordination of the trip.
Favorite World Cup Team: Australia

Dominic Matthews
Profession: Photographer / Eco-Tourism Coordinator
Citizenship: UK
Education: BA. Bristol University Relevant
Experience: A member of the original Africa Goal team, Dominic has traveled and worked throughout Southern and Eastern Africa. He speaks fluent Kiswahili and has a lot of experience establishing private / community partnerships in the East Africa. His knowledge of rural community structures and politics will be of great use throughout the tour.
Favorite World Cup Team: England

Jacob Holmsgaard
Profession: Danish Government Foreign Aid Worker
Citizenship: Denmark
Education: MA. African Studies, University of Copenhagen
Relevant experience: Jacob has a lot of ecperience work in the international development field, focusing on Kenya and Zambia. In the latter case, he was working with HIV/AIDS and good governance for the Danish Embassy in Lusaka. This included peer-education work with local grassroots organization as well as people living with HIV and AIDS within Zambia’s prison system. He speaks fluent Kiswahili and has played professional football in Denmark.
Favorite Team(s): Denmark & Ivory Coast

Matthew Herren
Profession: Blankpage AG Chief Technology Officer
Citizenship: Swiss / USA
Relevant Experience: Matt is the founder and Chief Technology Officer at the Swiss software company Blankpage AG. He is also the co-founder of the Eduvision project, a one to one computing initiative for rural schools in Africa. He is the winner of several international development awards, including the prestigious TR35 Award given out by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Matt will work together with Maciej coordinating all the technological components of the project.
Favorite World Cup Team: USA

Tammy Tschentscher
Profession: GTZ Intern / Business Economist
Citizenship: Germany
Education: B.A. Humboldt University of Berlin
Relevant Experience: Tammy's passion for Africa has led her to travel in various African countries, work with GTZ in Ethiopia and doing various sorts of volunteer work, ranging from conservation projects to a basic game ranger course and community work at AIDS orphanages in South Africa. Tammy is an avid and talented photographer, and will contribute to the documentation of the trip. Her organizational skills will be invaluable both before and during the trip.
Favorite Team: Germany

Jan Sudra
Profession: Development Economics Student
Citizenship: Swiss/Polish
Education: B.A. Univerity of Massachusetts-Amherst
Relevant Experience: Jan is an avid soccer player who is currently studying Operations Management and Political Environmental Economics at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in U.S.A. Recent work experience includes a research internship with UN-HABITAT where he was involved in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of several capacity building projects.
Favorite team in the World Cup: Switzerland

Cynara Vetch
Profession: Multimedia Journalist
Citizenship: UK
Education: MA History. University of Edinburgh
Relevant Experience: Cynara Vetch is a multimedia journalist who grew up in Kenya. She focuses on media for and about the developing world, specifically Africa. She has worked on educational television soap operas, documentaries and radio programmes that educate African audiences on issues surrounding HIV and aids. Recently she wrote about International Development issues for The Guardian newspaper and is currently producing and directing a short film about alcoholic Maasai. Cynara's focus for the Africa Goal trip is to offer reportage on the journey and to coordinate media coverage.
Favorite World Cup Team: Cameroon

Tamara Lodge
Profession: Documentary Film Maker
Citizenship: UK
Education: BA University of Bournemouth, UK
Relevant Experience: Tamara Lodge is an experienced documentary filmmaker currently living in the UK. Tamara has filmed all over the world, including South Africa. Her recent work includes projects for the BBC and Animal Planet. Tamara’s goal is to document the Africa Goal project, and produce a documentary film at the end of the trip.
Favorite World Cup Team: England