About Us
What’s the story?
Team Kenya was officially founded in 2008 by Valerie Wilson, a geography teacher and senior manager working in a secondary school in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK. Before establishing Team Kenya, Valerie had been working with the Ndhiwa community since 1999, focusing on school partnerships and curriculum exchange. In 2008 Valerie left her job in teaching to dedicate her time to Team Kenya and is now the Chair of Trustees. Her daughter, Victoria, has also been heavily involved with the charity since it was founded.
Since 2008, Team Kenya have built a strong relationship with the community in Ndhiwa, and the Ndhiwa Community Empowerment and Development Project (NCEDP). Team Kenya work in partnership with NCEDP and together we have transformed the lives of over 60,000 people in Ndhiwa, including 20,000 young girls.
We are real. Meet the team
Valerie Wilson
Valerie is the Founder of Team Kenya and also our Chair of Trustees. As well as her role as Chair, Val is also our Partnership Manager. Val has over 30 years’ experience in the education sector, including work as a Head of Sixth Form, lecturer in Geography and DFID Kenya Curriculum Project Coordinator. She has previously been a Trustee at One World Network North- East and spent eight years as a volunteer and Trustee at the Kenya Acorn Project.
Ben Margetts
Ben is our Development Manager and has been in post since March 2017. Ben has previously worked with NSPCC, Childline, and the Tropical Health and Education Trust, as well founding and running a small UK charity that operated in Kenya. Ben says ‘my previous experience of working in Kenya highlighted the huge challenges that girls and women face in rural areas, and I am excited to be joining an organisation that is engaging an entire community in gender equality, so that girls have an equal opportunity to reach their potential.’
Brad French
Brad is our Fundraising and Project Officer. Brad has previously worked at COCO, where he oversaw the implementation of projects in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Brad also has a lot of experience organising and taking part in fundraising events, he has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Toubkal, cycled Kenyan Maasailand and run the Great North Run. His first challenge for Team Kenya is to climb Mount Kenya!
Jacky Quincey
Jacky is a Team Kenya Trustee. She also supports our Water Works For Girls project and helps with grant applications. Jacky has over 30 years’ experience in education, starting her career as a teacher in East Africa and finishing as Deputy Head in a Northumberland High School. She volunteered at our projects in Ndhiwa for 6 weeks in 2013.
Julie Scanlon
Julie is one of our Trustees, she joined the Board in 2017. Julie is a Senior Lecturer in English Literature at Northumbria University and specialises in examining the ways in which cultural representations of gender and sexuality across literature, film and television impact upon our understandings of our society. She is a member of Northumbria’s Gender and Society Research Hub and the Gendered Subjects Research Group and is interested in all things pertaining to gender equality.
Terry Courtney
Terry is our Treasurer. He is a qualified accountant and worked in industry, in particular manufacturing and engineering, over 40 years for various companies, most recently as Finance Director of an engineering business where he was responsible for all finance and most commercial activities. Terry is now retired from full-time work but holds a non-executive directorship with a local design and manufacturing company and is a trustee of two charities in Newcastle and Darlington.
Vic Hancock Fell
Vic, is one of Team Kenya’s co-founders and took on the role of Development Manager, then Marketing and Projects Manager from 2015 until 2018, she now supports Team Kenya as a volunteer. She has 10 years’ experience working in the education and non-profit sectors and has recently completed her Masters in NGO Management. Vic is now the UK Director of Vision Africa, another small charity working in Kenya.
Philippa Michael
Philippa is our newest Trustee, having joined the Board in 2017. She has already been out to visit our projects in Kenya and is now supporting our marketing and fundraising campaigns. Philippa is a marketing campaign manager with experience in the public and not for profit sector and currently works for the Mayor of London. She has previously worked as a campaigner for an international non-profit working to protect civilians during conflict.
Emilie Suggitt
Emilie joined the Board in 2016, she has worked in fundraising for five years in the arts, education and international development sectors. Emilie is currently Programme Funding Coordinator at Self Help Africa, an international development charity that has been working to eradicate hunger and poverty in rural Africa for 30 years. Emily is passionate about girls and women’s’ rights and eradicating poverty.
Alicia Jeans
Alicia is a Trustee based in Perth, Australia. She has 10 years’ experience in the finance and insurance industry, Alicia’s current role is as the Education Coordinator and Hospital School Liaison for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Alicia volunteered in Ndhiwa in 2009 for one month and in 2011 for 2 weeks.
Kath Prandle
Kath is one of our fantastic volunteers. She has spent one year coordinating our sponsored students programme and is now supporting us in raising vital funds to support our work.