Congo history
1950s Lotumbe: Two of HandUp Congo's Founders

HandUp Congo directors work with Congolese women
Women Helping Women

(Photo, left)
Two of HandUp Congo's founders, Lucy Hobgood-Brown (l) & Anne Zolnor (r), share a long history in Congo. Their grandparents moved to Congo in 1912, and their father, Ben Hobgood (shown), was born in Lotumbe. As an adult, he was a founder of Université Protestante au Congo in Kinshasa. HandUp Congo focuses its efforts on maintaining relationships with trusted Congolese colleagues and old friends in both locations to this day.
 
(Photo, right)
HandUp Congo's directors are unpaid volunteers who travel to Congo at least every 18 months to maintain relationships and monitor projects. Here, the HandUp Congo team works side by side with their Congolese partners in FLO's nutrition garden.
 
 

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Anne Zolnor, Director / Chief Financial Officer

Anne Zolnor brings more than 30 years of experience in clinical, managerial and consulting experience in healthcare to development projects in the Congo, where she grew up. She is the oldest of HandUp Congo's founding sisters, whose grandparents first came to Congo in 1912. A manager with Accenture, the international consultancy, Anne is on the road year-round. She enjoys linking her professional and organizational skills to HandUp Congo's projects, and taps into her international network to increase awareness of Congo's needs. Anne has a Master of Business Administration from Jacksonville University, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Texas Christian University.

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Lucy Hobgood-Brown, Director / Secretary

Lucy Hobgood-Brown has lived and worked in nine countries. Her career has included working as a journalist and university teacher, and she is now using more than 25 years of communication management skills to foster capacity-building projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she and Anne grew up. She lives in Sydney, when she works on community development projects outside Australia. Her company, Clay Partners International, manages projects in China as well as in Congo. An Australian-American dual citizen, Lucy has Masters degrees in International Communication and International Social Development.

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Betsy Brill, Director

Betsy Brill, a former journalist and business editor, spent more than a year traveling, studying, and writing about microfinance approaches in Egypt, India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. “The world is filled with problems,” Betsy says, “but solutions fascinate me. Sharing those solutions – taught by women in other developing countries – is the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my life.” Betsy lives in San Francisco but spends part of the year in a small village in France when she is not working in Congo.


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Linda James / President

Linda James was drawn to the Democratic Republic of Congo as a result of the missionary work that her aunt and uncle, Mabel and John Ross, did in Congo and in the remote village of Lotumbe for more than 30 years. In December 2008, Linda first traveled to Congo with her cousin, Ernest Ross, where they joined Anne, Lucy and their husbands on a trip to Lotumbe in support of non-profit projects. As the West coast Marketing and Business Development Manager for a large international law firm, Linda looks to combine her skills with the needs of HandUp Congo. Linda holds a Bachelor of Arts in French and German.

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Roma Mehta / Director

Roma Mehta and Lucy Hobgood-Brown first connected in Taipei many years ago. Their partnership has continued on many fronts, and when HandUp Congo was initiated, Roma came on board to help with the logo and other supporting collateral. Roma is a keen supporter of HUC’s mission of facilitating sustainable development in marginalized communities. Connecting to and working with people toward empowering women and children is a passion she has shared with her father, who established and then for 35 years supervised a school for street children in Kolkata, India. Roma is co-owner of a design and print firm and the editor for a lifestyle magazine in Taipei, Taiwan.


Jacky Gendre has been working in the development sector for the past 10 years after coming to Australia in 1989 from England. She has an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and a Graduate Diploma in International and Community Development. Since July 2009, Jacky has been the Project Officer for Papua New Guinea at Baptist World Aid Australia after serving as their PO for Africa for the last few years. Being an experienced project manager Jacky has strong skills in the monitoring and evaluation of development programs. Jacky has had a passion for Africa since first learning about it at school and has traveled the continent extensively. She has developed a keen interest in the DRC in particular since working on a project in Bunia for the past five years and after spending time with FLO staff on her trip to Mbandaka with Lucy in November 2009.