About Us

We are a charity committed to empowering disadvantaged women in Sierra Leone to set up and run their businesses.

Everything we do has collaboration at its heart. We work with local organisations to deliver imaged-based programmes, set up savings banks and forge links with critical service providers.

Partners

We work alongside local expert organisations to ensure our approach is effective and suitable to local contexts. We believe that working in partnership with A World Institute for Sustainable Humanity (AWISH) in Sierra Leone is essential to our

History

Prosper originated as part of Peace Child International, a UK-based charity founded in 1981 which has operated in 183 countries over the past 40 years. Prosper was established to deliver the Peace Child International programme known as 'Be The Change Academy', which empowered over 16,000 women in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea to start businesses between 2011 and 2022. We're proud of our shared legacy with such a long-standing charity

Meet the team

CEO

Fred Fenwick

Fred has 10 years experience delivering effective training programmes to marginalized communities in West Africa. As COO at Peace Child International, he designed the Prosper training programme and supported over 17,000 individuals with limited formal education to improve their businesses

Project Manager - Sierra Leone

Alpha Beretay

Alpha has worked alongside our CEO since 2014, helping to establish training cohorts in over 50 communities he partners with the CEO to develop training materials, monitor savings banks success, and reports progress to the board in Sierra Leone.

Facilitator

Nancy Jah

Nancy is one of our most experienced facilitators. As our longest-standing female trainer, Nancy is regularly praised by participants as a role model

Facilitator

Hassan Sheriff

Hassan joined after a varied career his experience as a radio presenter makes him an engaging and enthusiastic Facilitator

Facilitator

Alie Beretay

Alie started working as a Facilitator in 2015. With his breadth of experience leading Prosper's training in a range of communities. He has also played an important role in developing the material for future cohorts

Facilitator

Bendu Holder

We are delighted to welcome Bendu as our newest facilitator, having been prompted from Intern

Finance Officer

Sellu Beyan

Sellu works closely with the CEO and Programme manager, monitoring resources and ensuring prudent financial management

Chair of the Board & Trustee

Joanna Mobed

Joanna is a project and export finance specialist with a focus on international energy and infrastructure projects. She has over ten years experience working with education and development-focused charities, both in the UK and abroad. Joanna was previously a corporate lawyer at Allen & Overy and Milbank LLP and was President of the Cambridge Union Society

Treasurer & Trustee

Viji Underwood

Viji is an experienced professional who specialised in Commercial Banking
/Credit Risk in the Asia Pacific region. Viji has a keen interest in the environment, wild-life,

gender and youth development issues. As a young graduate she worked as a Field Officer on a poverty alleviation programme in
Sri Lanka. In recent years in the UK she worked for WWF/TRAFFIC exploring ways in which to control the illegal trafficking of wildlife and timber by 'following the money’. Viji currently works at UK Export Finance

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Interim Secretary & Trustee

Rory Copeland

Rory is a solicitor who helps financial technology companies to offer innovative services to consumers. He is passionate about helping people in developing countries to save and send money in a safe and reliable way, and is on the editorial team of the Business and Human Rights Review

Safeguarding Officer & Trustee

Olivia Hutchinson

Olivia is a public policy and human rights professional with eight years experience in government and the third sector, both in the UK and overseas. She is passionate about advancing opportunities for women and building more inclusive societies for all

Safeguarding

We believe that it is never acceptable for a child, young person or vulnerable adult to experience abuse of any kind and we recognize our responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children, young people and vulnerable adults by a commitment to a practice that protects them. We recognize that:

• All people, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity, have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse

• Some children or vulnerable adults are particularly vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues

• It is essential to work in partnership with children, young people, their parents and carers to protect and promote young people’s welfare

Prosper has zero tolerance of bullying, harassment, abuse and any kind of exploitation of children, young people and vulnerable adults. If you have any concerns please contact us at:

info@prosp-er.org