When I joined the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance as the CEO in 2015, the organization was going through an unprecedented transition.

PASA is the largest association of wildlife centers in Africa and a groundbreaking model of effective collaboration. At the time, it temporarily had no staff and had a tenuous relationship with most of its 23 members.

I first focused on working with the Board of Directors to strengthen relationships with the members across Africa and ensure that all stakeholders understood the Alliance’s shared values. With support from the Board, I created a new strategy for PASA—rapidly expanding it to become a more impactful organization, while still prioritizing the members.

The next steps were to build the infrastructure needed to sustainably support this expansion, starting with a fundraising plan. I leveraged the Alliance’s strengths, using the compelling stories of its members’ achievements to increase individual donations and using its reputation to receive grants from diverse sources. Within three years, I had increased PASA’s annual revenue by more than 500%. We were securing an average of 50 grants per year, some ranging from US$50,000 to $750,000.

This revenue enabled me to hire more staff each year, so that when I left PASA after six years, it had eight staff and more than 40 volunteers who are continuing to increase its impact today.

Within three years, I had increased PASA’s annual revenue by more than 500%. We were securing an average of 50 grants per year, some ranging from US$50,000 to $750,000.

With my team, I established new global partnerships and launched projects ranging from cross-border rescues to public awareness campaigns. Although the Covid pandemic devastated the tourism and volunteerism which many African wildlife sanctuaries depend on for income, PASA provided enough emergency funding to ensure that no members closed down, and actually empowered them to become more sustainable.

In my last years at the helm of the Alliance, I worked with the Board of Directors to make a strategic plan with the aim of making PASA a global leader in primate protection, complementing its capacity-building programs for its members by forming a cohesive movement to address the major threats to wildlife across Africa.