WHO WE ARE: OUR TEAM

THE BOARD:

Founder/President: Allan Schwarz (ZA)

After a successful international career as an architect, artist, craftsman and environmental designer, Allan Schwarz, a graduate of Wits University and MIT, where he also led a course "Design with Nature" at the CAVS, left traditional practice and academia to pursue the ideals of Sustainable Design in Mozambique.

He established the Mezimbite Forest Centre over 30 years ago, training and empowering indigenous people to become the producers of heirloom quality furniture, household goods and accessories, as an alternative to simply logging. This was linked to the building of a culture of putting back what you take. This led him to establish the first Indigenous Species Nurseries since the end of the war.

His pioneering work has earned him many accolades, including being elected an Ashoka Fellow and Beautiful Africa Soul Fellow. Now he shares his experiences by consulting and teaching internationally. He is regularly cited as a climate change leader and most recently listed at COP 26 amongst the 25 most important Climate Change Warriors in the world.

Governance/Chairman: Thomas Frey (CH)

Thomas Frey acts as legal counsel and advisor to international families, their global businesses and international wealth-holding structures, including Swiss investment, operating and holding companies. He advises investors residing and investing in high-tax and regulated jurisdictions, such as the US, UK and EU, on complex cross-border tax, legal and regulatory matters. He acts as a board member, protector or trustee for families and their international businesses and holding structures.

Managing Partner of KENDRIS Ltd.

Attorney at Law, LLM

TEP/Dip (ITM)

Member of the Swiss Association of Trust Companies (SATC) Executive Committee

Financial Control: Olivier Weber (CH)

Olivier Weber is Partner, Head of Taxes and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of KENDRIS. He is an attorney-at-law and certified tax expert with a focus on national and international taxation, negotiations with tax authorities and appeal proceedings, as well as corporate and individual transactions and develops tax-optimised financing concepts and refinancings. Olivier Weber regularly lectures on tax topics and is president of the examination commission for Swiss tax experts.

Attorney-at-Law

Swiss Certified Tax Expert

President of the Examination Commission of Swiss Certified Tax Experts

President of the Association of Swiss Certified Tax Experts (ASEFiD/SVDS)

Member of Zurich and Swiss Bar Association

Member of EXPERTsuisse

Member of Treuhand | SUISSE

ADVISORY BOARD:

Akyaaba Addai-Sebo (Ghana)

Independent Consultant on Cultural Synchrony in Development and Reforestation, and Development Advisor for Dedeso Holdings Incorporated (Ghana), which holds the Lake Volts recoverable hardwood timber salvage concession covering 3,500 square kilometres, collaborating on value-added and environmental initiatives with Mezimbite.

Lifetime achievements:

Director of Miro Forestry and timber products, securing 10,000 ha of degraded land for reforestation.

Director of Tribute Inspirations Ltd, which produced the epochal Nelson Mandela concerts in Wembley Stadium before his release.

Special advisor to the Secretary General of the OAU during the transition to the AU. He also founded the Panel of the Wise at the AU.

He facilitated and brokered peace between the warring factions of Liberia and then brought the war to an end in Sierra Leone as a Special Peace Envoy of International Alert.

He received an Honorary Doctorate from Oxford University, is also the founder of Black History Month, in the UK and now internationally and has many more great achievements.

Roberto Zolho (Mozambique)

Roberto was an Ecologist specialising in natural systems and protected areas management with over 30 years of experience. As the first post-Civil War Warden of Gorongosa National Park, he helped catalyse its revitalisation and jointly started with Allan and Mezimbite in the country's first community-based forest development and conservation project. As a team leader in several national and regional consultancies, including mid-term project reviews, climate vulnerability and biodiversity assessments. He worked in government institutions, soundation, both national and international NGOs, both community-based and corporate sector organisations in Mozambique, Tanzania, South Africa and Germany.

Roberto held a master's degree in Resource Management from the University of Edinburgh and a bachelor's degree in Natural Systems and Wildlife Management from the University of Queensland, Australia. A Diploma in Wildlife Management from the College of African Wildlife Management, Tanzania and elementary training in agriculture and animal husbandry.

His particular interests were the design and management of rural development projects, planning conservation area management and the promotion and implementation of nature-based solutions in community development initiatives.

Dr. Tony Cunningham (ZA)

Originally trained in botany and entomology, Tony went on to a PhD in Botany (University of Cape Town, 1985) on the uses of wild plants to people and also did a master's in Social Science (University of KwaZulu/Natal, 1993) based on a study of the traditional medicines in southern Africa. In 1986, he started South Africa's first ethnobotany programme, the Southern Life Ethnobotany Programme, at the Institute of Natural Resources, University of KwaZulu/Natal.

The focus of his work over the past 45 years has been a. understanding the values of wild plant resources to people, b. resolution of conflicts between local communities and conservation areas, c. micro and small enterprise development based on sustainable use of wild plant populations.

He has mentored post-graduate students across Africa, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda and Asia-Pacific, China, Fiji and Indonesia and has worked extensively across Africa and Asia. He is the author and co-author of over 150 publications, including the book "Applied ethnobotany: people, wild plant use and conservation" (Earthscan, 2001), which is also available in Chinese and Spanish. He is the recipient of the Sir Peter Scott Conservation award (1999) from the IUCN for his conservation work, the E.K. Janakki medal (2003) for services to the field of ethnobotany, the Distinguished Economic Botanist award (2016) from the Society for Economic Botany and the American Botanical Council (ABC) and the Steven Foster Botanical Conservation and Sustainability Award (2025).

Dr. Christie Schutze (USA)

Associate Professor of Anthropology at Swarthmore College in the United States of America, she received her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010. She has lived and worked in Mozambique for a total of nearly 9 years at different periods, beginning in 1998. She has primarily lived in Gorongosa and central Mozambique and speaks Portuguese, Sena and chiGorongosi (chiDuma), and has been associated with Mezimbite for most of this time. She has conducted extensive field research in Mozambique, returning regularly for long stays. Her research has focused on gender, spiritual practices, religion, land rights, development, conservation and the recent history of Gorongosa. She is the author of numerous published articles and books on these topics.

Moffatt Ngugi (Kenya)

Moffatt K. Ngugi previously led multiple teams on Natural Resources Management, Environment and Climate for Integrated Systems for Food Production. He worked on Issues relating to agriculture, climate and natural resource management. He is a geospatial ecologist by training with a background in range-land management, physical resources and agro-ecology. He studied at the University of Nairobi, Ghent University, Belgium, and Colorado State University and has worked in diverse settings worldwide.

His research and work experience include dissertation research on social and ecological characterisation of key herbivore resources in the Horn of Africa, post-doctoral research at the University of California, Davis, using GIS/remote sensing to constrain biogeochemical modelling of greenhouse gases, working as a consultant for terrestrial carbon science, and an inventory of forage resources in the Dakota grasslands at USDA-ARS.

His recent role at US AID was to collaborate with stakeholders to address climate change concerns and sustainable development across natural systems in order to improve livelihoods and living standards where we work. His research unveiled the exemplary practices of Mezimbite, inspiring him to forge a connection with the Mezimbite Forest Centre.

David Jeromin (USA)

David is the founder and Chief Executive (CEO?) of Agnify, a credit infrastructure software company that supports Africa's agriculture sector. He has worked in the sustainable agriculture finance sector across Africa for 17 years, and before that, he was the Vice President for Oppenheimer & Company in San Francisco.

He is a long-serving advisor and collaborator with Mezimbite.

David is also the proud father of a young son and an avid endurance athlete.

Lúcia Mércia Chande Van der Zwan (Mozambique)

Sociology graduate from Jean Piaget University of Mozambique with 19 years of experience in developing and implementing community projects, based on promoting environmental protection, agriculture, education, health and nutrition activities. She began her professional career as a corporate social responsibility coordinator, leading the planning, implementation and evaluation of social assistance programs. Her involvement in conservation projects has always been based on training communities and promoting campaigns that respect the environment and the rational use of natural resources. She has successfully helped to establish profitable agricultural production practices that adapt to climate change and has ensured their continuity in a self-sustainable manner.

She was the national coordinator for a Portuguese NGO for the activities focused on improving agricultural production and the nutritional status of the population, particularly women and children, through school feeding programs, where they train them in maternal and child health.

Throughout her career, often associated with members of Mezimbite, she has strengthened her skills in the field of participatory approaches and community behavioural change and the implementation of environmentally friendly habits. She has broadened her expertise in balancing local policies with community needs in order to achieve positive social, economic, cultural and environmental benefits for all.