Practical Action appoints first African Chair of Trustees

International Development Organisation Practical Action has appointed five new trustees.

These trustees join Practical Action as it develops a new strategy for 2025-2030. This new strategy is focussed on speeding and scaling up the solutions urgently needed to build livelihoods and wellbeing in the face of the climate crisis.

The new trustees bring expertise from Latin America, Asia and Africa making the board truly reflective of the global nature of Practical Action’s portfolio and staff.

The appointments include:

Sazini Mojapelo, who will take over as Chair of Trustees from Martin Tyler in December 2024, is an experienced social impact executive who has worked in the private, public and nonprofit sectors for more than 20 years. She will take up the Chair alongside her role as Chief Executive Officer of the South Africa Gender Based Violence and Femicide Response Fund (GBVF RF). She will be Practical Action’s first African Chair of Trustees.

Isabel Studer Noguez, a climate resilience and sustainability expert based in Mexico. She has 30 years’ experience working in government, academic and civil society institutions in Latin America and the United States.

Aki Temiseva, a fundraising and communications expert has extensive experience in the private and not for profit sector, including a spell as CEO of World Vision Finland and as a marketing and fundraising advisor to non-profits including respected INGOs such as Frontline AIDS.

Jane Sloane, a gender expert who has held executive roles with the Global Fund for Women, Women’s World Banking, and International Women’s Development Agency. She is currently senior director, women’s empowerment and gender equality with The Asia Foundation. She is one of the inaugural 75 climate change presenters who were trained by Al Gore in Australia.

Claire Ireland, an advocacy and sustainability expert with more than 30 years’ experience as a diplomate, technical expert on climate change, WASH and sustainable livelihoods, and as a donor. She is currently Director of Programmes of The Elders.

Current chair of trustees, Martin Tyler, said:

“These new trustees will provide world-class leadership and guidance to our work.

“With a breadth of global expertise in gender, fundraising, advocacy and sustainability they will further enable us to understand and tackle social and environmental problems and create change at speed and scale.

“I am excited to see what the organisation can achieve in the next five years with such an exciting and expert group of people leading the way.”

Sazini said:

“I am greatly looking forward to becoming chair of trustees at Practical Action. It is an incredible organisation, with a fantastic history.

“As the world faces more complex challenges, it is vital that organisations like Practical Action are there to provide a blueprint for what can be done.

“To do this successfully it is also vital, the organisation reflects the diversity of the people it works with, and that work for it, and I am greatly looking forward to leading the organisation through the next years.”

Practical Action will be launching its new strategy from 2025. It will build on an existing commitment to take action against climate change by working alongside those who are most vulnerable to it.

You can find out more about all our trustees and senior leadership team at Practical Action here.