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Simon, Jabir and Fatawi

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

Programme Director
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

Clinical Operations 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.

Zainab Ahmed

Finance Manager
Keeping our numbers in order since 2016, Zainab looks after all our financial systems and is a whiz when it comes to bookkeeping. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in finance and accounting from Zanzibar University, and was previously the Minister of Women and Development for the Zanzibar Institute of Financial Administration.

Othman Ali Makame

Administrator
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.

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.

Jon Rees

Now a General Practitioner in Somerset, Jon met Ru during surgical training. He then worked in Mnazi Mmoja hospital in Zanzibar, under Dr Mohammed Jiddawi. Jon also spent time working in Lesotho, South Africa and Tanzania, and has a particular interest in the management of non-communicable diseases in Zanzibar.

Susie Moore

With over 14 years of experience in the advertising and marketing world, including the launch of Orange, the re-brand of O2 and the transformation of the former Millennium Dome, Susie uses all this incredible experience to help spread the word about HIPZ.

Laura Cunningham

Laura was first introduced to our charity in 2007, when she was working in Tanzania for CARE international. We’d been operating at Makunduchi hospital for just a year when she visited, and she’s remained in touch ever since. She brings to the table over 20 years of commercial experience in strategy, marketing and business management (plus a love of organising events).

Dr Nick Campain

Nick worked in Makunduchi in 2011. He oversaw the renovation of hospital wards and managed the expansion of surgical services, among other hospital facilities. He’s a surgical trainee who has worked across several African countries, and strongly believes in the HIPZ ethos of working in partnership with the Ministry of Health in Zanzibar.

Caitlin Farrow

Having moved to Zanzibar in 2012 to take on the role of Project Manager, Caitlin was instrumental in the transformation of Kivunge hospital. She returned to the UK in 2013 but keeps a strong involvement as a trustee. When she’s not helping us, she’s Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Anthony Nolan and has co-written reports on the rights of child migrants in the UK.

Ian Franklin

Ian is a serious number cruncher, being a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He’s got over 30 years of international experience in the healthcare sector and uses that wealth of knowledge to help support our mission.

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.

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