Meet our Trustees

The Board is Family’s governing body of trustees which meets regularly at Board meetings to make governance decisions. The Board has legal responsibility for the general management of Family, including ensuring effective use of resources and overseeing risk and performance. 

The majority of trustees are elected by the membership at the General Meeting. Some trustees are co-opted to ensure a full range of skills across the board. 

Please see our Articles of Association and our Governance Manual for further details.

Rekha Nathoo - Chair of the Board

CEO, CINDI (Children in Distress Network) (South Africa)

Rekha is a specialist in Community Development and Adult Education, and her expertise is in running networks and process facilitation. In her early career, she worked as a Training Specialist for the Provincial Department of Land Affairs, KwaZulu-Natal after which she lectured at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Centre for Adult Education. Later she moved to the iNdlovu Partnership for Lifelong Learning Network and then to CINDI where she was first Director and then CEO. 

Zeny Rosales  - Vice Chair

Executive Director, Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse (Philippines) 

Zeny is a registered social worker, co founder and executive director of CPTCSA. Her areas of specialization are Individual, Group and Family Counseling.  She is currently the Chairperson of the Sub-Committee against Sexual Abuse and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children of the Council for the Welfare of Children whose major function is to formulate and evaluate policies, coordinate and monitor the enforcement of all laws and the implementation of programs for children. Zeny is also an active member of the Philippine Juvenile Justice Welfare Council, a policy-making, coordinating and monitoring body tasked with the implementation of Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of the Philippines through its member and coordinating agencies.

Dr. Abla El-Badry - Trustee

Director, Hope Village Society (Egypt)

Abla is a passionate advocate for street children, and her advocacy has resulted in the change of laws in Egypt for orphans, street children and young street mothers. Abla introduced shelters and a mobile care service centre for street children to provide love, and the psychological, health and social care environment they need. She is now leading a new initiative to develop a foster family system for street children who are not covered by the government system of foster care.

Blessing Mutama - Trustee

National Programme Manager, FOST (Zimbabwe)

Blessing is a seasoned development practitioner, with particular expertise in conducting Psychosocial Support training. Since 2002 he has advocated for the support of orphans and vulnerable children at provincial, national, regional and international forums. 

Estella Duque Cuesta - Trustee

Director, Taller de Vida (Colombia)

Estella founded Taller de Vida (Life Workshop) to transform the lives of children, young people, families and communities facing forced displacement, disappearance and armed conflict.  As a psychologist, Estella has developed innovative methodologies for psycho-social intervention from rights-based and differential approaches. In addition, she has developed peace education processes that contribute to her work as a human rights activist and promoter of peace-building in Colombia.

Ian Hanham - Treasurer, Co-opted Trustee

Ian brings to our Board a strong knowledge on financial leadership and UK charity governance, and he sits on the Board of Family for Every Child New Zealand as well as the global Board. An accountant, Ian has worked in the not for profit sector since 2007 in a variety of finance and organisational management roles – he is currently the Director of Finance and Information Systems at the Nuffield Foundation. Ian is also the Chair of ECPAT UK, and is a trustee of Kindled Spirit.

Jane Dekker - Co-opted Trustee

Jane brings extensive experience in international Human Resources. Jane’s professional career spans over two decades with senior roles within the private sector oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, and food industries as well as in local government. The majority of her Human Resources experience has been in international environments supporting senior management teams on strategic HR issues.

Krishna Thapa - Trustee

Director, Voice of Children (Nepal)

Krishna founded Voice of Children to protect children who are separated from their families and those who are vulnerable to sexual abuse, especially boys. Krishna developed the ‘ladder approach’ methodology, which provides opportunities for separated children to develop gradually and reintegrate with their family. The methodology is now used by the Nepalese government and all organisations working with street-connected children.  He has also established two thematic networks in Nepal, a national alliance of organisations working with street children and the National Child Protection Alliance.

Patrick Obonyo - Co-opted Trustee

Patrick is a talented professional with extensive experience in philanthropy, organisational assessment and development, strategy development and programme management and fundraising. Early in his career, Patrick established an educational leadership development programme in East Africa. He later moved into philanthropy with a role at Porticus Amsterdam to advise the board on social investments. At the IKEA Foundation, Patrick currently manages programmes on Employment and Entrepreneurship. Patrick sits on the steering committee of the International Education Funders’ Group (IEFG).

Trevor Pearcy - Co-opted Trustee

A retired solicitor, Trevor has been involved in the voluntary sector for over 25 years, and was Chair of the Terrence Higgins Trust, the UK’s leading HIV charity. Trevor brings extensive experience of charity governance, and he sits on the Board of Family Alliance, US, as well as on the global Board. Before retirement, Trevor held an executive role at the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, and previously at IFPI, the international trade association for the music industry. 

Cassandra Dickinson - Trustee of Family for Every Child New Zealand

Cassandra studied international business and non profit management and has undertaken postgraduate research in international development. She is passionate about seeing communities and families thrive and has run community programmes for disadvantaged youth in Fiji and the USA, and has supported asylum seeker families and refugee children in Australia. Cassandra is currently based in New Zealand working as the Quality Assurance Manager on engineering projects in South East Asia.

Fi McPhee - Trustee of Family for Every Child New Zealand

Selar Henderson- Trustee of Family for Every Child New Zealand

Selar is the Managing Director of Future Value Co., a social investment facilitation company, is a recognised social impact leader and knowledge expert, and has over 20 years’ experience servicing the For-Purpose sector in senior leadership, senior fundraising, governance and capital raising roles across Australia and New Zealand. Selar is an advocate and catalyst for transformational shifts to greater sustainability and a more democratic economy, believing in the generation of social impact benefits through the implementation of ESG accountability and re-direction of investment and fundraising to achieve social and environmental outcomes, alongside financial return, for long-term community wellbeing. 

Tom Lent - Chair of Family Alliance, US

A passionate advocate for the cause of children around the world, Tom Lent is an unrivaled expert in international development. He has over 40 years of experience in integrated development and advocacy in human rights, gender, disaster relief, and education-sector reform. Tom’s vast experience includes serving as an adviser to the Ministry of Education in Guatemala; running an international project for the Bernard Van Leer Foundation on early childhood development; founding the “Social Movement for Child Rights” In Guatemala, and forming “the circle of learning on child rights and municipalities” in Central America with UNICEF, Plan International and national-regional NGOs. He is currently a consultant and an Adjunct Professor at the American University.

Sheela Bowler, Trustee of Family Alliance, US

Sheela Bowler, MPH, MEd, is a social entrepreneur working at the intersection of early childhood development (ECD), child health, and child protection - focusing her career on building child wellbeing systems that enable families to thrive together. Sheela was the founding COO of Kidogo, Senior Program Consultant for the African Early Childhood Network, and Senior Advisor for Programs Strategy at NYC's Administration for Children's Services. She is currently Foster America's first Director of Strategic Initiatives and Innovation, where she co-designs reform projects alongside public child welfare agencies to create transformative change for children and families nationwide.