Our Committee
A dedicated team of volunteers and partners form the committee of the Tanzania Development Trust. We are passionate about making a difference in the lives of people in Tanzania. To support the work we do, the committee includes individuals with expertise in fields such as education, community development and project management.
Committee members from Tanzania and the UK meet online monthly to assess and review projects, with regular ongoing dialogue between meetings.
UK-based committee members include the Chair, Treasurer, Project Officers and Fundraising and Digital teams, all highly knowledgeable about Tanzania. Most have been involved with TDT for many years, and many are regular visitors to Tanzania.
The Tanzania-based committee consists of local representatives in each of the areas in which we work and are therefore essential to our work. These areas are: rural Dodoma, Kagera, Kigoma, Lindi, Mara, Mtwara, Singida, Shinyanga and Simiyu.
Our Tanzanian team initiate projects as well as assessing and monitoring applications. The committee gets clear evidence of community participation and approval from local government officials and are our eyes and ears on the ground. They gain insights into the progress of projects as well as monitoring their impact.
Meet the Committee
Ahia Ntamubano
Kagera, Ngara Representative
Ahia Ntamubano is Executive Secretary of Kagera People Centred Development Foundation(KAPECEDEFO), a National NGO facilitating community development projects in Ngara District – Kagera Region. “I am pleased to join the TDT family, hoping to share information, knowledge and practical experiences with you in our efforts of working with and for communities.”
Aikande Clement Kwayu
Trustee
LinkedIn.
Alpha Ngailla
Muleba, Kagera Representative
Alpha Ngailla is a teacher at Ikondo secondary school in Muleba district. He has a Bachelor degree of arts with education, major in History.
Benedicto Hosea
Kigoma Rural Representative
Benedicto has lived in Zeze village near Kasulu, Kigoma all his life. He has a degree in Environmental Planning and Management, and a strong passion for agriculture – especially in rural development and as a route out of poverty. He set up Mboni ya Vijana to do this. In 2018 BTS sponsored him to speak at their AGM, and at the UK Parliament. Hear his story here
Brian Medcalf
Treasurer
Following a career in Pharmaceutical Project Management, Brian worked in management of an alcohol counselling agency. After periods of volunteering in Southern Kenya, he, with his wife Aleen, was based in the Dodoma region of Central Tanzania, assisting with sponsorship projects and school management, from 2011-2015. He continues to support this work from the UK.
Brian Rockliffe
Project Officer
Brian worked as a VSO volunteer in Tanzania between 1974 and 1978, initially as a teacher at Ilboru Secondary School near Arusha. He worked for VSO throughout his working including as Director of the International Citizen Service (ICS) programme.
David Gibbons
Project Officer and Trustee
David lived in Tanzania as a child. He is a teacher in the UK, and helped coordinate and support a school link and exchange with Shambalai secondary school, Lushoto.
Evelyn Leonard
Kigoma Urban Representative
Evelyn studied Organisation and Management for her BA degree. She worked for Barclays Bank and the British Council before taking up her current position as Director of the Kigoma NGO, Hope for the Community.
Ezekiel Kassanga
Simiyu and Tabora Representative
Ezekiel is the founder and Executive Director of Kawiye Social Development Foundation, and the founder of the Tumaini School. He holds a Postgraduate degree in Education Management and Planning with over 15 years of working with the community. Ezekiel’s organizations empower marginalized people through training and assistance. Hear his story here
Freda Rockliffe
Project Officer
Freda worked as a VSO volunteer in Tanzania 1974-78 at Sec schools in Arusha and Dar es Salam teaching science and English . 1983-84 at Milton Margai teachers college as education lecturer Sierra Leone. In the UK as a primary teacher in London for 15 years. 2000-2016 lecturer in primary education in 3 London universities. Her interests include girls education, small scale income generating projects and clean water sources.
Godfrey Makenzi
Mtwara Representative
Godfrey holds a Bachelor Degree in Regional Development Planning from the Institute of Rural Development Planning, Dodoma. He works as civil servant at Masasi District Council. He has a passion for helping communities and the rural poor, and helps grass-root CBOs and NGOs to write project proposals.
Hamza Rajabu
Singidia North Representative
Ian Coles
Trustee
Ian is a qualified English & US lawyer. He has worked in the London office of Mayer Brown LLP, the international law firm, heading both the global Africa & Mining practices for many years. He is now a senior consultant with the firm. His work in Africa has extended to both transactional and government advisory mandates, with the practice group having had experience in more than 30 different African jurisdictions (including Tanzania). He has travelled extensively in Africa.
Ian Powell
Project Officer
Ian did VSO in Tanzania from 1974 to 1976, teaching Chemistry and Maths. When he returned to the UK, Ian founded a charity which did education and crime prevention work, before moving on to work for a number of other not for profit organisations.
Janet Chapman
Chair of Trustees and Project Officer
After a career in educational technology, Janet has been visiting Tanzania since 2014 to help assess projects and work with our partners. Realising that a lack of maps hampered their work she started the mapping project Crowd2Map in 2015. She is passionate about girls’ rights and chairs the committee.
Jen Bjorkman
Communications Lead
Jenny is a UX Consultant with decades of experience in financial services and tech. Over the last few years she has worked with various charitable organisations to help them increase their online donations. She’s also active as a mentor, coach, facilitator, guest speaker and panel member for several organisations in the UX and tech communities.
Jeremy Lefroy
Trustee
Jeremy Lefroy and his family lived in Moshi between 1989 and 2000. While a member of Parliament (2010-2019), Jeremy chaired the All Party Group in Tanzania. He is a director of various companies including Café Africa and is Hon. Treasurer of Britain Tanzania Society.
Jonathan Pace
Trustee
Following a career in Music Education and School Management, Jonathan worked in Namibia as a VSO volunteer with the Ministry of Education. He joined TDT as a Project Officer in 2010.
Laxmi Aggarwal
Trustee and Project Officer
Dr Laxmi is an environmental scientist, green criminologist, and sustainability consultant from Mwanza, Tanzania. Her work centres on conservation and decolonised methodologies, creating solutions based on local data and cultural nuances. Influenced by her upbringing near Serengeti, Laxmi is tirelessly committed to environmental preservation, rural development and empowering marginalised groups. As a trustee of TDT, she supports and consults on grassroots projects.
Neil Stevens
Trustee
A business owner, and part-time philanthropist, bringing over 25 years of business consultancy and project delivery experience to the TDT team. Neil is passionate about improving the lives of young people in East Africa and is a big believer in ensuring that every penny of fundraising is spent on delivering maximum impact. He is a co-founder of The Stevens Foundation and has several other business and commercial interests.
Patrick Matonya
Dodoma Representative
Patrick Matonya, leads the Diocesan Deaf Ministry in Dodoma and has a Diploma in special needs. He started to work with the DCT deaf ministry in 2016 as a translator. His passion is to serve people with special needs and he is fluent in Tanzania Sign Language. Learn more about him here.
Paul Harrison
Chair of BTS and Trustee
Paul has over 20 years’ global work experience in environmental conservation. He is a director of specialist advisory firm, Kilimanyika and former United Nations Development Programme staff, where he set up and co-ran the Global Wildlife Programme.
Phil Grant
Project Officer
Phil has been involved with overseas development for 40 years. In Tanzania he has been an agricultural extension officer, manager of a farmers’ training centre, and has also worked with Maasai people in capacity building. He was also a VSO trainer in the UK for many years.
Rachel Monger
Project Officer
Rachel and her family lived in Tanzania for 10 years, volunteering with Emmanuel International. In Iringa and Mwanza she was involved in establishing community development projects working with local groups making fuel-efficient stoves, training in conservation agriculture and tree planting, beekeeping and women’s income generating projects.
Ramson Lucas
Lindi Representative
Ramson Lucas studied a degree of Community Economic Development and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in International Cooperation and Development at the Open University of Tanzania. He is also Project Manager for a development project in Lindi schools for an NGO called Sports Development Aid which has been using Sports as a tool for development since 2011.
Rhobi Samwelly
Mara Representative
Rhobi is an FGM survivor and activist and the founder of Hope for Girls and Women Tanzania. In 2018 she was invited to speak about her work at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and organise an event showcasing how mapping can help protect girls from FGM by UNFPA.
Robert Kasaaju
Kagera North (Bukoba) Representative
Robert is Headteacher at Nyakato Secondary School and has a bachelor degree of art with education. He is passionate about supporting his community.
Ruth Ndegwa
Trustee
Ruth is an experienced professional in Financial, Operations, Governance and Program management with a distinguished multi-decade track record managing contracts, grants and sub-grants for large-scale multi-million dollar global projects in East and Southern Africa. She has several years’ robust working experience with various organizations in agriculture, environment and technology. She has an outstanding passion for entrepreneurship in women-led and youth-led enterprises in Africa.
Sheila Farrell
Trustee and Fundraising Lead
Sheila is a transport economist who has undertaken many assignments in Tanzania over the years. Her main areas of expertise are in business planning and finance. She has a strong interest in economic development strategies for poorer countries, and is fully committed to the eradication of poverty.
Steve Scorer
Project Officer
A career in teaching in UK, France and Spain was followed by retirement and travel. Steve then stumbled across VSO at the Adventure Travel show and signed up for a short posting in Lindi, south east Tanzania in 2014, which ended up being for 3 years. Steve joined the TDT team in early 2019 and is also on the board for Tumaini Open School.
Vipul Tanna
Trustee and Project Officer
Vipul was born in Tanga, Tanzania and now lives in the UK. He is a technology executive with a specialism in business applications and large scale enterprise transformations. Vipul is keen to contribute and “give back” to his country of birth through his engagement with TDT.
Willhard Titus
Singida Representative
Wilhard has a Bachelor degree of Education in Economics from University of Dodoma. Now Wilhard works as business studies teacher in Manyoni district. He is also co-founder of Mbalamwezi Organisation, a charity that supports male teenagers from rural areas in Singida region.
William Shayo
Shinyanga Representative
William studied for a BA in Mass Communication before joining the Tanzania Red Cross Society for over six years. He lives in Shinyanga, and is currently executive director of the Organization of People Empowerment, overseeing various community projects.