Leadership

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.