OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SA BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Leigh Bristow
Executive Director, South Africa
Founder and Executive Director of the Trust, Leigh is a Science graduate who has taught in Kenya, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. Her own family has a long and intimate historical association with the region and its people. Leigh played a major role in the founding of Ridgeway College, was the founding Head of Ridgeway College for many years and served on the Ridgeway Board until 2018.
Mike Linden
Mike has had over forty years of experience in education as a teacher and school Head. His career has included work as a director of outreach programs in Swaziland, teacher and project director of a program for young offenders in the United Kingdom, head of an international school in Tanzania, and rector of a College of Education in Limpopo Province. He has a Masters degree in Community Education from the University of East Anglia, UK.
Hendrik Roux
Hendrik Roux, the chairman of the board, graduated from the University of Stellenbosch with a Law degree. Hendrik is the archetypal entrepreneur who has only ever worked for himself. His business interests are as diverse as they are successful.
Andy Walford
Andy studied Politics and Economics at the University of Cambridge in the UK. He now resides in Cape Town and works in Private Equity. Before moving to South Africa, Andy worked with our founding partners Marwyn Investment (London) Since the start of Sumbandila, Andy has been actively involved.
Doug Hoernle
Doug is the founder, and director, of a number of innovative technology ventures operating from Cape Town, South Africa. Doug started his first business at the age of sixteen and was named an Allan Gray Fellow for his entrepreneurial and charity work throughout high school and university. He has been immersed in the education technology space for the past few years founding two successful ventures, Karri and Rethink Education. He is a dynamic, fast-moving entrepreneur, creative thinker, and is committed to improving education across Africa using mobile technology. He was recently profiled by Forbes as one of the top 30 African Entrepreneurs under the age of 30.
Takalani Muloiwa
Takalani Muloiwa is a former pupil of Ridgeway College and a graduate student in Demography and Population Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. She is a Mellon Mays Research Fellow and has conducted her research training in Brunswick in the United States. Takalani was selected and served as a task team member for the textbook delivery investigation in the Limpopo Province during 2012. She is currently a research assistant at the Centre for Researching Education and Labour at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
UK BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Leigh Bristow
Executive Director, Sumbandila Scholarship Trust in South Africa. Leigh is a co founder of Ridgeway College and the founder of the Sumbandila Scholarship Trust in Louis Trichardt, South Africa. Leigh is currently and has been since 2008 the Executive Director of the Sumbandila Scholarship Trust. Leigh was the founding Head of Ridgeway College and headed the school for a period of 10 years. In addition to the operational management of Ridgeway and Sumbandila, Leigh was the sole fundraiser for both organizations, raising more than 20 million rand or $1.3 million since 2007. Prior to starting Ridgeway / Sumbandila Leigh taught Maths and Biology in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, and the UK over a period of 28 years.
Doug Hoernle
Doug is the founder, and director, of a number of innovative technology ventures operating from Cape Town, South Africa. Doug started his first business at the age of sixteen and was named an Allan Gray Fellow for his entrepreneurial and charity work throughout high school and university. He has been immersed in the education technology space for the past few years founding two successful ventures, Karri and Rethink Education. He is a dynamic, fast-moving entrepreneur, creative thinker, and is committed to improving education across Africa using mobile technology. He was recently profiled by Forbes as one of the top 30 African Entrepreneurs under the age of 30.
US BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Graeme Aegerter
Secretary of the Board
Graeme is a documentary filmmaker, community educator, and fundraiser from Seattle, WA. He has worked on films in Alaska, Utah, South Africa and Kenya and his documentaries have shown at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, the Durango Independent Film Festival, the Peace on Earth Festival and more. Through his films, Graeme seeks to highlight issues of identity, inequality, culture, and social change through intimate storytelling. Community engagement and inclusion are the foundations of his work as both a filmmaker and an educator. Whether designing an outreach plan for a film, a youth development workshop, or a crowdfunding campaign, Graeme strives to ensure his work is shaped by the voices and ideas of the communities he collaborates with. He is passionate about using art and development to creatively work towards equity, justice, and education.
Leigh Bristow
Executive Director, Sumbandila Scholarship Trust in South Africa. Leigh is a co founder of Ridgeway College and the founder of the Sumbandila Scholarship Trust in Louis Trichardt, South Africa. Leigh is currently and has been since 2008 the Executive Director of the Sumbandila Scholarship Trust. Leigh was the founding Head of Ridgeway College and headed the school for a period of 10 years. In addition to the operational management of Ridgeway and Sumbandila, Leigh was the sole fundraiser for both organizations, raising more than 20 million rand or $1.3 million since 2007. Prior to starting Ridgeway / Sumbandila Leigh taught Maths and Biology in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, and the UK over a period of 28 years.
Jennifer Lauren Chu
Chair, Think Tank, Sumbandila, U.S. Jennifer has a dual-degree in Economics and Classics from Cornell University. She has been immersed in the digital media space at Conde Nast facilitating the organization’s most critical strategic priority, transforming the organization from it’s traditional print heritage to a digital publishing powerhouse. She led Brand Strategy and Marketing for multiple titles at Conde Nast including Vanity Fair, Vogue and Wired. Prior to Conde Nast, she was working in the Financial Services Office at Ernst and Young and the Business Planning group at MetLife International. Her passion for sustainability through education has been exercised with her investments in organizations such as StreetSquash and Prisoner’s Express.
Antoinette “Q” Quarshie
In her 31st year in education and her 21st year at Riverdale Country School, Q is a Middle School Consultant, Coordinator of Community Engagement, and Assistant Director of Global Studies. Q grew up in four countries, which seeded in her a passion for world travel, a love for varied cultures, and an interest in gender studies. Her classroom experience at Christ Crusader Academy in New York, NY, developing methods to increase students’ critical thinking and creative problem-solving, and at Riverdale Country School in Bronx, NY, guiding students’ textual analysis of literature and building their writing skills, solidified her yearning to grow in others an appreciation of our diverse world and a desire for learning more. Through lead roles in institutional research, as Dean of Students for 6th graders, and in guiding students, colleagues, leaders, and Riverdale, she has dedicated herself to increasing equity and inclusion.