Our Team

We’re a small bunch of hardworking people, united by our passion for improving healthcare. Most of us are based in Zanzibar, with a small team in the UK. Our Board of Trustees is made up of nine committed (and very impressive) people, ranging from doctors to financial experts. They meet quarterly and play a huge role in supporting our core team.

Want to get to know us all a bit more? Keep reading…

Core Staff

Simon Kühnert

Chief Executive Officer

Simon’s been with us since April 2019. He keeps our programmes on track, loves a framework and supports the whole team in the design and creation of all our projects. He comes from NGO management and has worked around the world in places like Belize, Uganda and Kenya for a wide range of organisations.

Jabir James

Programme Director

Having started in 2015, Jabir oversees all our work in the hospitals and health facilities, working closely with the management team. He keeps an eye on equipment needs, service delivery and is no stranger to building a whole new department from scratch. He’s qualified in public health and hospital management, and comes with a wealth of experience from running hospitals in both mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.

Pamela Allard

Programme Advisor

Pamela (AKA Pam), is at the heart of HIPZ. She keeps our staff, hospital team and donors connected to our purpose and achievements. She joined in 2014 with extensive knowledge of working with NGOs in the health sector. She originally hails from Chicago but has lived and worked in Tanzania for over 20 years.

Dr Zubeda Ngware

Monitoring and evaluation Coordinator

Dr Ngware joined our team in March 2022 and makes sure we collect, measure and act on solid data and evidence. A medical doctor with a Masters in Public Health, she has a wealth of knowledge that is helping shape our project design and delivery. She spent over 10 years working with the Tanzanian Ministry of Health and has led multi-country programmes.

Haji Fatawi

Mental Health Coordinator

Known to us as Fatawi, he’s been project lead on our mental health programmes since 2017. While he now specialises in this crucial area, it’s not usual to find him performing a C-section on his weekends off if an extra pair of trained hands are needed. He has a huge range of medical skills, as well as a beaming smile and sense of optimism that he brings to work every day.

Othman Ali Makame

Administrator and photographer

Before becoming a full-time member of the team in 2020, Othman was giving Kiswahili lessons to our international volunteers. We’re yet to find something he can’t do – from fixing things in the hospitals, getting content to share with our donors or inputting data, he’s our go-to man for everything.

Kathryn Sheldon

Fundraising Manager

Kathryn is our cheerful Fundraising Manager. She has 15 years of experience in Fundraising for a range of charities, including managing a hospice team, a Masters in International Development and a CIM Marketing Management Diploma. Kathryn joined us as our UK-based Fundraising Manager in 2023 and is passionate about raising funds to support our work in Zanzibar.

Anna Thorne

Communications and Development Lead

Anna is HIPZ’s Communications and Development Lead. Anna hones her writing and creative skills alongside the dynamic growth and fast pace of the organisation. She makes sure our donors and audience are always in the know by managing our quarterly newsletters, social media, and fundraising campaigns, as well as orchestrating our various fundraising events across the year.

Nassor Abdulla Mbarak

Finance Officer

As Finance Officer, Nassor joined HIPZ in December 2023 under our programme with Lady Fatemah Charitable Trust. As part of the Zanzibar team, with knowledge of accounting and finance and experience working in the NGO sector for more than 7 years, he plays a large part in organising and operationalising the finance tasks in Zanzibar.

Juliette Webb

Finance Director

Juliette joined our part-time UK based team in January 2023, with a mission to lead and develop the HIPZ finance team, coordinating all aspects of financial management across the organisation in Zanzibar and the UK. Juliette's career has been largely in the public sector, but she also has a wealth of knowledge and experience in supporting INGO's on their financial journeys, across East Africa and South east Asia. She has travelled extensively to support her passion for this work, and has spent some time working with the HIPZ team in Zanzibar.

Rachel Kalyapu

Finance Manager

Rachel is our Finance Manager and joined the UK team on a part time basis in April 2025. Rachel has spent over 15 years working in finance teams both in the profit and non profit sector. For the past 5 years has been working for an INGO and brings accounting and finance knowledge with her to equip the Finance team. She has worked and volunteered in a number of African countries and is passionate about supporting the work of HIPZ.

Trustees

Ru MacDonagh

Ru is where HIPZ all began. Currently working as a Consultant Surgeon in Taunton, he worked in Tanzania and Zanzibar in the early 90s. It was there he met Dr Mohammed Jiddawi, who would later reach out for help improving healthcare for the people of Zanzibar. In 2006, Ru visited and founded HIPZ, and has since been awarded a BEM in recognition of his charitable work.

Dr Nick Campain

Nick is a Consultant Urological & Robotic Surgeon in Exeter and was a volunteer doctor for HIPZ in Makunduchi in 2010- 2011. He oversaw the renovation of hospital wards and managed the expansion of surgical services, amongst other hospital facilities and has worked with HIPZ ever since. He strongly believes in the ethos of working in partnership with the Ministry of Health in Zanzibar to achieve universal health coverage.

Michael Sugden

Michael has been involved in HIPZ since 2007, so it was an easy decision when Ru asked him to become a trustee. He’s CEO of the VCCP partnership – a full service creative, media and experience agency. His clients include the likes of Cadbury, Macmillan and Amnesty International and he champions us being efficient, agile and focused on the impact we can deliver.

Dr Nikki Biggs

Nikki is a Consultant in emergency medicine, with additional training in paediatrics. She spent a year volunteering for us in Zanzibar, before becoming a trustee. She is a member of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) Global Emergency Medicine Committee and brings that fantastic expertise, along with her knowledge of the island, to our cause.

Lindsay Solera-Deuchar

Lindsay is a psychiatry registrar working in East London. She spent a year with HIPZ as a volunteer doctor in 2016-2017, supporting Kivunge and Makunduchi hospitals with the development of their mental health clinics. More recently she took some time out of the NHS to work abroad in the humanitarian sector in both Greece and Mexico with MPS. She is very happy to be back in the HIPZ family, bringing this experience to support our work in Zanzibar.

Ebun Atinmo

Ebun is a seasoned communications professional with over 15 years of experience. As the Head of Communications at Peabody, one of London's largest social housing providers, she leads a team in delivering strategic communication initiatives that enhance corporate reputation and engage stakeholders. Her expertise includes employee engagement, crisis communications and stakeholder management. With a strong background in building relationships and developing integrated communication plans, Ebun brings valuable insights and dedication to her role as a trustee at HIPZ, supporting the charity's mission to improve healthcare services in Zanzibar.