Board Members

ASAP Board of Trustees – South Africa

Priscilla Higham – Founder and Programme Director of ASAP, she first began working with women caring for orphans and vulnerable children in 2000 while working as a journalist in Nairobi.  Founded ASAP in 2003 in South Africa.

Rosalia Mashale – Founder & Director of Baphumele Children’s Home in Khayalitsha Township, Cape Town serving 86 children. Trained in Waldorf Education in Germany and founded Baphumele Educare Centre providing Waldorf-based care for 230 children under 6.

Dr. Jaiyesimi Funiwe Njobe (Phd. EDU.) – Founder of the National Rural Development and Education Programme (NARDEP). NARDEP links government agency personnel with the communities they serve by training community development workers to interface at the civilian and government level; a model now adopted by national government.

Thobeka Mirriam Zwane – Co-founder and Director of Praxis Computing (Pty) Ltd., Mrs Zwane was recognized as Top Woman in Information and Communication Technology in 2003. Praxis has been awarded Top 20 Non-Listed Companies in 2003 and Top 3 Most Progressive Companies in ICT 2003.

Beatrix Silvano – Trustee and Financial Director ASAP South Africa and member of the ASAP UK Advisory Board. Beatrix Silvano holds qualifications in Economics and Law and has worked in finance, property and Law for the past 20 years. Special remit to oversee the finances of ASAP worldwide and to provide strategic input.

Leonora Sauls – Manager of the Pick ‘n Pay corporate and Ackerman family Foundation. Has previously worked for South African Breweries in Public Relations and Community and Enterprise Development. She has served on the Black Management Forum Regional Board.

Charlene Blacker – Development Director of ASAP since April 2009, and currently completing her Bachelor of Social Work degree through UNISA.  Worked in nuclear safeguards for 28 years for the UN International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria.

ASAP Board of Directors – USA

Suzi Peel works on HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria affecting children in Africa. Experience with UNAIDS, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, foundations, and NGOs has convinced her that grassroots collaborations are the most enduring investments.  She guided Priscilla in the early days of ASAP and is the current Chair of the US Board.

Noah Fischel – Director of US Operations.  Founding member of WILD FM Youth Radio in Sydney, Australia.  Served as Vice President  of Fourth Down, a community organization benefiting children and youth at risk. He has volunteered for ASAP since 2004 when he opened an office in his house in Hudson and registered ASAP as a 501 © 3.

Sasha Wade – Director of ASAP School To School, lives in New York with her husband and two children. She has been involved in several charitable organizations, including The Celiac Disease Foundation at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, and Common Cents in Manhattan.

Patricia Blanchet – photographer and active patron of the arts and education. She has held arts managerial and programming positions at leading New York institutions including Director of Development at the Museum for African Art, Programming Manager at New York University’s Institute of African American Affairs, and Development Consultant at the Caribbean Cultural Center.

Alice Treves  is a licensed clinical social worker with a practice based in San Anselmo, California working with youth and their families.  She has been closely involved with ASAP since inception as she is the daughter of Priscilla and mother of her grandchildren..

Andy O’Neill completed a PhD in astrophysics before spending 2008-2009 volunteering at one of ASAP’s supported community organizations in South Africa  He has been providing volunteer technical services to ASAP since 2007 and joined the board in 2009. He currently works as a software engineer in Brooklyn, NY.

Alex Richards is a published author and artist living in Brooklyn with her husband, Andy, and their new daughter, Beatrix. In 2008-2009 she and Andy volunteered with ASAP in the Eastern Cape doing art projects with the orphans and training the staff in grant writing among other things. She joined the board in 2009 on returning to the US.

Kevin Kollenda, creative director and talent manager, was a director at CLM agency in London and New York for 12 years, when he decided to “change my life, change direction, change perspective, change the channel and it was time to give something back, try and make someone else’s life a bit better.”  He travelled to one of the ASAP villages in the rural Eastern Cape where he made a film for ASAP.  On returning to New York in 2010 he joined the Board.

Amy Hondo worked for several years on projects aimed at improving public education in New York City. As a doctoral student at Princeton University, she continues efforts to evaluate and rethink the ways we live, learn, and work together—especially in our increasingly connected (and conflicted) world.

ASAP Advisory Board – United Kingdom

Lady Elizabeth Ashcombe
Lady Anne Lambton
Rosie Bartlett
Annabel Elliott
Lady Charlotte Fraser
Lynne Franks
The Hon Jane Ormsby Gore
Tiggy Kennedy
Violet Naylor Leyland
Sue Crewe
Camilla Lowther
Beatrix Silvano
Cynthia Conran
Melanie Metcalfe
Irena Milloy
Diana Heimann