Who We Are

ygap Kenya Country Director

Carol Kimari

Carol leads on the strategic direction of the ygap Kenya office, manages the delivery of the ygap Kenya Program, and represents the program throughout the East Africa ecosystem. A serial entrepreneur, Carol has started several businesses across different sectors. An avid book lover, Carol started Grab a Book, a social enterprise that sets up libraries in slums, with an aim to bring reading and library services to thousands of Kenyan children. Carol is a former Stockbroker on the Kenyan Stock Exchange. With over ten years of experience as an entrepreneur, she brings a wealth of knowledge on East African social enterprise. Carol is an alumnus of the ygap Kenya program and an Unreasonable Institute fellow.

ygap Kenya Program Manager

Albert Kimani

Albert has over 10 years experience advising start-ups, SMEs and corporates across East Africa. A key component of his work has been to support organisations to grow their efficiency and effectiveness in their respective ecosystems. Predominantly, this has involved Albert helping enterprises understand their markets and their customers,helping enterprises refine their MVPs and their value propositions,and helping these ventures develop impact and performance tracking frameworks for continuous improvement. Albert holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Statistics & Computer Science and a Diploma in Business Studies. In addition, Albert is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Strategic Management.

ygap Kenya Impact Officer

Periz Odhiambo

Periz is responsible for the implementation of ygap Kenya’s impact strategy including supporting ygap Kenya’s portfolio venture’s to conceive, prepare and fine-tune their venture-specific impact strategies. Periz provides input through comprehensive data collection and proactively advises on all aspects of impact tracking to the portfolio ventures of the ygap Kenya program.In the first 4 years of her career, she has spent time in research roles tracking social change with leading development intervention programs. She holds a Bachelors of Arts, specializing in Economics and Sociology.

ygap Kenya Program Assistant

Andy Njoroge

Andy joined ygap Kenya as a volunteer in 2016 and has since become a critical member of ygap Kenya’s venture support and reporting team. Andy has over ten years experience in customer service and helps to keep ygap Kenya in constant communication with their various stakeholders all over the country.

ygap Kenya Business Development Officer

Mercy Munene

Mercy is a diligent and hardworking lady serving as ygap Kenya’s Business Development Officer. She has a passion for supporting African youth and women in  enterprising.She is an International Relations student at United States International University, Africa.Prior to joining ygap Kenya in 2021, she had and continues volunteering with the Catholic Youth Network for Environmental Sustainability in Africa as a core team member in Kenya, mobilising and sensitising young people to care for the environment. Her greatest drive is to see more African women entrepreneurs emerge at early ages.

ygap South Africa Country Director

Palesa Mabidilala

Palesa is the Country Director for ygap South Africa. The last ten years of Palesa’s career is a testament to her passion for entrepreneurship and expertise in the sector. After experience with both Deloitte and Ernst & Young (EY), Palesa headed up Entrepreneur Services at Endeavor, a global organisation accelerating high impact entrepreneurs. In addition, Palesa founded EnziAfrica, an entrepreneurship development organisation focused on assisting entrepreneurs to build sustainable enterprises.  Palesa holds a Bachelor of Commerce Information Systems Degree, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Enterprise Management both obtained from the University of Cape Town.

ygap South Africa Program Assistant

Natacia Gwebu

Natacia Gwebu is the Programme Assistant at ygap South Africa. Natacia joined ygap South Africa as an intern in 2019 and soon after became a permanent member of the team, providing administrative and research assistance. Over her career, Natacia has worked in administration roles in various industries including Mott MacDonald, a Management Consultancy company, Procet Freight, a logistics company and Save the Children, an international NGO. Natacia is very passionate about entrepreneurship, which led her to start her own entrepreneurial ventures including the Vegetables Agency, a food packaging company that served established clients such as Salsa, a large restaurant franchise company in South Africa. She also co-founded the Rapid Growth Events company which involves hosting a variety of events in her community. Natacia is currently studying a degree in Industrial Organisational Psychology at the University of South Africa.

ygap South Africa Program Manager

Hazel Mkwanazi

Before joining ygap, Hazel worked on the USAID Government Capacity Building and Support Project with a focus on Social and Behaviour Change Programmes for the Department of Social Development. She has worked for several NGOs in environmental management, public health, food security and child protection. Hazel is passionate about inclusive and sustainable development that enhances the lives and livelihoods of communities. She holds a Master of Social Science and Postgraduate Diploma in Development Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Development Studies.

yher Africa Regional Director

Katleho Tsoku

ygap Bangladesh Country Director

Erad Kawsar

ygap Pacific Islands Regional Manager

Talei Goater

Fiji Country Coordinator and Facilitator

Miriama Waqa

Intern - Regional Assistant

Nonney Kalinta

ygap First Gens Program Manager

Marisha Nair

Polished Man Campaign Manager

Kaitlin Harasym

Kaitlin is the Campaign Manager for the Polished Man campaign, and has played an instrumental role in raising $7 million over the past seven years. With degrees in Psychology, Sociology and Psychotherapy, Kaitlin uses this academic training combined with real world experience to guide her team in fundraising and marketing strategy. She has always been fascinated by the inner workings of the mind and what makes people tick, and is enamoured with the collective power of individuals.

Polished Man Partnerships & Engagement Manager

Priya Ray-Hook

Polished Man Graphic Designer

Taryn Yat

Taryn is the graphic designer for Polished Man and looks after all things design and creative. Her experience ranges from print publications, branding and marketing to digital design and websites. In her spare time, Taryn enjoys photography, crafty projects and chasing after her twin girls.

Polished Man Campaign Coordinator

Mel Kang

Mel was in the marketing and advertising industry for 4.5 years working on different brands within the FMCG and retail space before deciding to take the leap in finding a role that would allow her to truly feel fulfilled in her day to day. This led her to ygap and she’s so excited to be a part of the Polished Man team to help end violence against children, for good. Mel loves a good laugh, the outdoors, gigs, a sushi platter or two and unleashing her inner zen by meditating and practicing yoga.

Polished Man Digital Communications & Ambassador Manager

Nikki Mathison

Head of Philanthropy

Sarah Hornby

Sarah gets a buzz from connecting passionate people with the difference they can make. She has a keen interest in sustainable approaches to development and over 14 years experience in philanthropy and relationship management. She holds a Bachelor of Communications and a Postgraduate Diploma in International Development. When she’s not working, she’s hanging out with her husband and kids, reading, cooking and listening to true-crime podcasts.

Strategic Partnerships Manager

Christie Raymond

Christie is our Strategic Partnerships Manager here at ygap and looks after our high-networth individuals, trusts, foundations, corporate partners and grants. Previously she worked for a social-enterprise called Thankyou and has worked across Australia, Cook Islands and New Zealand.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager

Hedda Ngan

Hedda began her social impact journey as a volunteer in Sweden tutoring refugee students. Their lives and stories sent her on a path back to Melbourne where she spent the next six years in program and stakeholder engagement roles in the forced migration program at Australian Red Cross. After finishing her Red Cross chapter through a last volunteer assignment in Mongolia, Hedda returned to study a Master of Social Impact with Swinburne University. She then tried out a couple of different roles within the social impact consulting space in Australia and Hong Kong, before finding her niche in monitoring and evaluation at ygap.

Marketing and Communications Manager

Eva Mackinley

For the last 15 years Eva has worked in campaigning for social change across a range of areas including youth empowerment, environmental education and locally-led development, through the mediums of digital campaigning and strategic communications. Eva is a General Sir John Monash Scholar and a Rotary Peace Fellow, and is undertaking a Masters in International Relations and Security Studies.

Graphic Designer

Yue Yamanaka-Mead

Yue Yamanaka is a Graphic Designer born in Tokyo, Japan and based in Melbourne, Australia. After a career in hospitality Yue realized that the two things they valued the most was communication and helping others. To achieve these ends, Yue drew on their family’s background in visual arts to create bespoke branding and communication design for hospitality businesses in Melbourne. When the opportunity came to work with ygap, Yue found the perfect place for practicing meaningful design.

Chief Executive Officer

Mark Harwood

Having joined ygap in March 2020 as the CEO, Mark is responsible for overseeing the organisation’s overall direction and ensuring strategic alignment towards its mission. Mark started his career as a management consultant with Accenture working across multiple continents supporting both Government and private sector clients for six years before pivoting to the for-purpose sector with World Vision where he led the Social Entrepreneurship & Economic Development (SEED) unit. Mark is extremely passionate about the role of entrepreneurship in helping to achieve both equitable and sustainable outcomes and is proud to work alongside his ygap colleagues to ensure entrepreneurship is more inclusive, in and of itself, as are the outcomes being achieved. When not at work, Mark loves to get creative with his two young children or taking them out on family bike rides on his preferred form of transport – an electric cargo bike.

Chief Financial Officer

Lisa Hyden

Lisa is a Melbourne-based professional with 10+ years of experience in finance and management. She is compelled to work with people and organisations that have a positive impact and work towards alleviating injustices in the world, which has led her to working with non-profits, impact investors, and social enterprises over a number of years. Lisa plays a number of roles with several organisations, including finance expert, strategist, manager, mentor, facilitator, director, and committee member. She values integrity, simplicity, accountability, and connection and rely on these values to deliver outcomes to a high standard.

Director of Strategy and Operations

Audrey Jean-Baptiste

Audrey is ygap’s Director of Strategy and Operations. She leads the design, development and operationalisation of ygap’s impact strategy. This involves working with our experienced global team to strengthen our existing programs as well as grow ygap’s reach in both existing and new markets through innovative, collaborative programs. She is passionate about creating the right conditions for all entrepreneurs to reach their full potential, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, age, race, ethnicity, religion, national origin or disability. Her work focuses on levering entrepreneurship to build sustainable, scalable and just solutions to systemic social and environmental problems. As part of that, she strongly believes that we need the world’s diversity to be equitably represented in those building these solutions, as well as in those who support and fund those solutions to be built – for all to benefit. Through her career to date, Audrey has supported hundreds of entrepreneurs around the world in growing their early stage ventures. Her work now focusses on strengthening the support available to entrepreneurs, as well as addressing barriers that they face when trying to access markets and finance. She’s a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor on a number of initiatives and holds qualifications in user experience design and neuroscience based coaching, as well as degrees in Economics, Management and Psychology.

Chairperson

Jillian Roche

Jill’s career spans multiple sectors including management consulting, information technology, corporate and not for profit. She brings her extensive experience in corporate affairs, change management, information technology, policy, advocacy, government relations, and governance to her role as Chair of ygap. Jill holds the position of Chief Operating Officer for Brave, an organisation that works to support expecting and parenting teens, and prior to this she was a member of the World Vision Australia Executive Team where she was Chief of Corporate Affairs. She is a graduate and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and in addition to her time on ygap’s board, Jill is a voluntary Non-Executive Director of Micah Australia. 

People, Culture and Nominations Committee

Elliot Costello

In addition to being a board director, Elliot is ygap’s founding CEO and one of the organisation’s co-founders. A leader in social entrepreneurship, innovative fundraising and strategic problem-solving, Elliot brings these skills, along with an intimate knowledge of ygap and its history, to his role on the board. Prior to joining the non-profit sector, Elliot spent time in the corporate world with PricewaterhouseCoopers and PPB Advisory. After finishing at ygap, Elliot completed a Master’s of Theology and Religion at Oxford University in 2019. Elliot is back in Australia building a new environmental venture with leading technology that converts organic food & green waste into biodegradable plastic.

Chair - Audit and Risk Committee

Luyen Duong

Luyen is a senior Audit Director with Deloitte Australia with over 15 years’ experience in providing audit and accounting services to a wide range of large global and local companies, as well as publicly listed companies on the ASX.  During her career she spent six years working in Ottawa, Canada and New York, USA. There she led large multi-national integrated engagements under the SOX reporting and PCAOB accounting standards. As a result she has a deep understanding of the regulatory reporting and governance environment. Luyen brings a suite of skills to the ygap board, including financial accounting, controls, analysis and audit governance. Luyen specialises as client focused in the retail and business consumer sector, and enjoys challenging responsibilities in the audit and assurance practice. She has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and is also a member of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

Audit and Risk Committee

Sally McCutchan

To the ygap board, Sally brings expertise in finance, funds management and strategy. She has held senior roles with Accenture, JP Morgan, Citigroup and UBS. Sally has a rich background in governance, as a non-executive director of Indigenous Business Australia Asset Management, Oxfam Australia, and as part of a National Australia Bank securitisation company. Sally is a member of the Expert Panel of Australia’s Social Impact Investing Taskforce; the Australian Advisory Board on Impact Investing and the QBE Committee for Social Impact. She is a CPA and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Sally was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her work in impact investing.

Chair - People, Culture and Nominations Committee

Tim Middlemiss

Tim was a founding director of for-purpose creative studio, Agency, which partnered with domestic and global organisations, businesses and civic bodies to deliver impact-driven campaigns, including the United Nations World Humanitarian Day. Agency was named New Agency of the Year 2015 and one of Westpac’s Businesses Of Tomorrow in 2017. Tim was also the creator and presenter of World Vision’s youth leadership conferences globally, presenting to tens of thousands of young people. Tim was previously Head of Communications and Engagement for impact investment firm Leapfrog, and is now focused entirely on Ripple which he co-founded – a digital platform of tools and opportunities for young people to develop purposeful careers. Tim was also named as an inaugural Obama Foundation Leader for the Asia Pacific.

People, Culture and Nominations Committee

Catherine Scalzo

Scalzo Foods is one of Australia’s largest privately owned food companies, but it’s Cathy’s experience as the head of the company’s social impact arm that has brought her further into the world of business for good. As a trustee of the Grace and Emilio Foundation, Cathy has supported charities such as Eat Up, and ReachOut, and invested in social businesses like HireUp. Cathy’s expertise lies in business, impact investing and profit for purpose, and she has a strong background in governance, as a Director on the boards of the West Melbourne Economic Alliance, Kids in Philanthropy and the Social Studio Organisation.

People, Culture and Nominations Committee

Aaron Tait

Aaron co-founded Spark* International with partner Kaitlin Tait, which merged with ygap in 2015, adding a deep expertise in locally-led international development practice to the organisation. Aaron holds masters degrees in International Development (Deakin), Global Strategy and Policy (UNSW) and an MPhil from the University of Cambridge focused on the scaling of innovative impact projects. Aaron spent seven years as an officer in the Australian military with service on United Nations operations, and since 2007 has worked on the frontline of impact projects across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North and Central America, and the Pacific. Aaron is also the co-founder of Education Changemakers, a consulting and training BCorp that works with more than 25,000 teachers a year across the globe, is the author of two best-selling books Edupreneur and Dream Team, and is a senior advisor to organisations including Microsoft and DFAT. 

Audit and Risk Committee

Demetrio Zema

As the founder of Law Squared, a high growth, specialised commercial law and litigation firm, Demetrio brings legal expertise to the ygap board, as well as the lived experience of founding and starting multiple businesses. Demetrio is highly accoladed in the law space in Australia, having been nominated for the Victoria Legal Awards, Law Firm Leader of the Year and won the Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 in Commercial Law. In addition to his seat on the ygap board, Demetrio is the deputy chair and director of the Centre for Multicultural Youth, and he sits on the board for the Victorian Deaf Society.

Company Secretary

Kate Gilkison