CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Peter holds a B. Com degree from the University of Fort Hare and a Master of Business Leadership (MBL) and Advanced Executive Programme (AEP) certificate from UNISA. He has several years of experience in the ICT sector. He served as General Manager Telecommunication Services at The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and later as Executive Head of Economic Regulation at Vodacom Group. He participated in regulation making processes in South Africa, Lesotho and Tanzania. Provided telecommunications consultancy services to clients based on the African continent, Europe and North America. He is currently serving on the Complaints and Compliance Committee - an independent tribunal of ICASA.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The promise of a safe, supportive, and protective environment is a commitment every humanitarian organisation makes, and it therefore licensed their operations. I am a Child Rights Activist who believes all children and youths can grow and develop to their full potential with right support systems within their communities. I help design, develop, and implement projects and activities with the framework of safeguarding children and young people. I empower all staff to understand their roles and responsibilities in the implementation of the child safeguarding policy and related policies in the organisation. Having started my journey with the children as an Educator in Rural Eastern Cape until I entered the Child Care space at SOS Children Villages SA where I then progressed in the Child Care field to be a Child Protection and Safeguarding Advisor for Eastern and Southern African Region.

BOARD MEMBER

Ashleigh Fynn Munda is a Development Economist who graduated from the University of Cape Town. She spent 4.5 years working as a monitoring and evaluation specialist for Genesis Analytics before moving to Oppenheimer Generations Philanthropies where she worked as a social investment Associate for 3 years and has recently become the Head of Philanthropies. She is responsible for the strategic and philanthropic giving of Nicky and Jonathan Oppenheimer and their families. She is passionate about improving people’s lives and the spaces they live in. She has been a Guild Cottage Board Member since 2023.

BOARD MEMBER

Bongani Luthuli graduated from the University of Johannesburg with an LLB degree and further obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Corporate Law specialising in the Companies Act 1998. He is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa and is proudly mentored by Justice Edwin Cameron. Bongani is the Director of Bongani Khanyile Attorneys, which he founded in October 2016. In addition to Guild Cottage, he is a board member of Witkoppen Health and Welfare, the Bible League of Southern Africa. In addition to his regular duties, Bongani regularly appoints and takes law students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds as interns.

BOARD MEMBER

Francesca Maraschin is a medical doctor who graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand and then spent four years working at Chris Hani Baragwanath and Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic hospital. She completed her Masters in International Health at the University of Oxford. She is a published researcher whose research interests focus on Global Child Health. Francesca now works at Huma, a digital health company, where she is responsible for research activities across the company. Francesca is passionate about child health and hopes to specialise in paediatrics. She has been serving on the board of Guild Cottage since 2019.

BOARD MEMBER

Melanie is a minister at St Columba's Presbyterian Church, Parkview Johannesburg. She has been an ordained minister of the UPCSA for the past 18 years and is married and a proud mother of two children. Melanie is deeply passionate about love and justice for the least, the last and the lost.

Bhekithemba Mbatha is an admitted attorney of the high court. Hispassion for law dates back from when he was young, he is an alumnus of the Johannesburg Student Council (JSC) a program aimed at training young people in high school to actively participate in governance, entrepreneurship and be the voice of young people in shaping policies in the Johannesburg Council.

While in high school, Bheki was granted admissions at the African Leadership Academy (ALA); a school that aims to build the next African leaders in various fields. The African Leadership Academy (ALA) receives many applications across the continent each year, admission to ALA, is based on merits shaped by leadership skills, entrepreneurship, academic excellence, a commitment to serve and ability to work in a team.

He also participated in the African Leadership Program, known as the BoldLeaders Program, which is sponsored by Critical Mass Education and the Department of State. The program involves two weeks of leadership training in Denver, Colorado, United States of America, and another two weeks in Washington DC which focuses on democracy, law and creates a platform for participants to build relations with different personnel in Washington.