African Leaf Ltd – Directors Profiles

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Edward John (Ed) Ahern
Director

Ed has been actively involved in business for over 25 years and has a keen interest in sharing his good fortune with those less fortunate. He is the former President of Byron United (Byron Bay Chamber of Commerce), and now Vice President. He is a Former Chairman of Byron Bay Visitors’ Centre, now a board member.

He is a founding member and former Treasurer of African LEAF, Ed and his staff sponsor two African LEAF children through his two businesses in Byron Bay. He frequently visits Nairobi.

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Paul Anthony Kelly
Director and Secretary

Bachelor of Laws (Syd), Graduate Diploma in Law (Wollongong), Certificate in Legal Practice Management (UNE), Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW.

Paul worked as a solicitor in private legal practice for 14 years, and since 1994 has been a lecturer in law at Southern Cross University. He has over 25 years experience as a volunteer in community service organisations. Paul has served as Secretary and Chairman on several community-based committees including Kyogle and Lismore Community Youth Support Schemes, and is a past Secretary and past President of Byron Bay Chamber of Commerce.  He is also a former Secretary of the Far North Coast Law Society and has published articles in both US and Australian legal journals.

A founding member of African LEAF, Paul and his wife Eva sponsor one of the African LEAF children. They have stayed with the orphans in Nairobi on several occasions. Their commitment to the children is strong and they both have plans to return to them in Nairobi on a regular basis.

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Michael Leonard (Mike) McAuley
Director and Treasurer

Associate Diploma Applied Science (Landscape), Ryde School of Horticulture.

Mike previously worked in the Horticulture and Landscape Industry for 17 years. At Randwick Municipal Council (Sydney) Mike was responsible for Landscape Contracts Administration which involved responsibility for the construction and administration of 6 major Bicentennial landscape projects. Mike was Manager of Design and Construction, with a staff of 65, at Jensen International Pty Ltd, at that time Australia’s largest Landscape Design and Construction Company.

After moving to Byron Bay in 1990, Mike took up a position as Manager of a large Tree Farming enterprise before purchasing Horizon Foods in 1999.Horizon Foods is a wholesale distribution company specializing in organic, dietary specific and gourmet foods. Mike and Alice have been Directors of Horizon Foods for the last 11years, overseeing the expansion of that business to the position it currently holds as the largest distributor of organic and health foods in Northern New South Wales.

Mike and Alice recently sold Horizon Foods,and Mike is currently a Director of the SPAR Supermarket in Suffolk Park.

Mike and his wife Alice have been members of African LEAF since 2004.  They sponsor an African LEAF child and have travelled to Africa to meet the children and the team associated with the Steiner School, Mbagathi, Nairobi.

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Eva Schaefer
Director and Public Officer

Registered Organic Farmer (Lueneburg, Germany); Foreign Language Correspondent Degree (Hanover, Germany); Bachelor of Arts (UNE); Landscaper (Byron Bay); Carer for the Disabled (Ballina Community Services). For the last 9 years Eva has worked locally as a Nanny, caring for and loving the many children who have been entrusted to her. She runs two children’s playgroups in and around Byron Bay.

Eva has been an active member of African LEAF since 2004. Together with her husband Paul, she sponsors one of the African LEAF children. They have stayed with the orphans in Nairobi on several occasions. Their commitment to the children is strong and they both have plans to return to them in Nairobi on a regular basis.

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John Clifford Adam
Director

After 30 years in the building industry in Australia, John first became involved in humanitarian work in the squatter camps of Cape Town in 1997 – the year he turned 50. His first job was as project manager, overseeing the building of a training centre and kindergarten in Phillipi on the infamous Cape Flats, where millions of Africans live in sprawling shanty towns. It was the classic ‘life changing’ experience.  This led to numerous trips to Africa, returning to Cape Town to continue various projects and eventually to East Africa.

Returning to Kenya many times with his wife Susan, who worked in teacher training, they eventually moved to Nairobi and lived on the outskirts of the city for three years. John became involved in the expansion of the Nairobi Rudolf Steiner School, and started to support a fledgling kindergarten in the Kawangware slum in Nairobi, continuing to fundraise for this, and other projects.

It was during this time that African LEAF was born, following the visit to Nairobi by Paul Kelly. Paul returned to Byron Bay with news about the projects in Kenya, and fundraising started along with the sponsorship program for orphaned and vulnerable children. The kindergarten, now called “Saints of Hope”, is still supported to a large degree by African LEAF.

John and Susan returned to Australia and live in Lennox Head, revisiting Kenya regularly to continue their work and to support the Kenyans who now run the projects there. They are both been actively involved in African LEAF since its inception.