Aidan glasby

(co-founder & co-managing director)

Aidan was born in Australia and educated at the Mt Barker Waldorf School. Growing up in a family of four siblings and parents who loved adventures, he had a colorful and exciting childhood that took him through Europe, Asia and throughout Australia. After completing year 12 Aidan completed a shipwright apprenticeship. In 2003 he started a degree in environmental science, but after returning from his trip to Ethiopia decided to change over to nursing, which he completed in November 2008. From 2009 through to 2012 Aidan, together with his partner Lexi, worked in remote Indigenous communities in the NT. In 2013 Aidan was part of a team named Desert Microlight Odyssey, which was a cross-cultural adventure story of two young couples travelling 5000km across Australia in two Microlights. The aim of the project was to share through a documentary the positive stories of the diversity of characters living and working in remote Australia. Aidan and his partner Lexi and their three young children are currently based in Cairns, Queensland where Aidan studying dentistry. 

ALEXANDRA (LEXI) KENEALLY

After a trip to a remote Australian community when she was a young child, Lexi had always envisaged herself working alongside minority groups with a particular interest from a health perspective. Once she graduated from nursing in Adelaide she moved to Alice Springs to work in Indigenous Health. It was here she met Aidan, Sunil and Kyra and embarked on her first overseas trip to Ethiopia in 2010. Lexi strongly believes that in our western world where education is so accessible it is our social responsibility to work alongside minority groups and share this knowledge. She believes that it is vital to build a mutual respect through relationship, which develops over time. She feels particularly passionate about empowering women to bring about change in their lives through education. Lexi is committed to building relationship, learning more about the Afar people, their culture and how we can best support their goals and ambitions in the future.

ANNA FAWCUS

Anna Fawcus is an Australian fine art and documentary photographer, based in Brisbane Australia. She works on humanitarian, environmental and animal welfare projects, with various NGO's and international development organizations around the world. Anna became involved with Barefoot Initiative in 2010, when she visited the Afar for the first time. She was impressed by not only the incredible work that Barefoot Initiative were doing, but also in their method; engaging with the community and working with them to create change together. Anna's admiration for the organization got her more involved, and she went on subsequent trips to the Afar, building relationships in the community and continuing to document both the place and the people. Her photographs of the community have been used at various fundraisers over recent years.

KERRY TAYLOR

Kerry Taylor was based and lived in central Australia for over 30 years, where she worked in Indigenous health and education. Kerry is now based in South Australia, and holds a strong interest in the principles of social justice and primary health care as a means of addressing inequities in health.

KYRA MARWAHA

(co-founder & co-managing director)

Kyra comes with over 15 years of international community development experience, where she has managed community led, and multi sectoral programmes in Ethiopia, Cambodia, Lao, India and Nepal.

After completing high school Kyra travelled to Ethiopia, the Middle East and Asia, where her time was spent working as a volunteer in a variety of settings, which included living in a remote Afar village in Ethiopia. Through this experience Kyra had the privilege to witness the incredible richness of the Afar culture, and the extreme challenges that many Afar people endure on a daily basis. This experience paved the path for the founding of Barefoot Initiative.

Kyra currently lives Nepal, where she works for an international non government organization (INGO).

ZESHI FISHER

Zeshi is a midwife with a background in international health and development. She first visited Ethiopia with Barefoot Initiative in 2003 and has maintained a connection with the Afar Region through friendships and work ever since. Zeshi has lived in the Solomon Islands and East Timor, and worked with partners in Ethiopia, Uganda, India and other countries throughout the Pacific Region. She has skills and interest in project design and management, health systems, measurement and data use, and quality improvement in maternity care. She is currently working with the Burnet Institute in Melbourne, Australia.

SCOTT LINDQVIST

Scott Lindqvist is a Chartered Accountant and Member of the Institute of Company Directors, with more than 20 years experience dealing with many facets of business ownership and management. Having worked in a major accounting firm, and as a partner in a middle sized firm, and then in a small two partner firm, Scott established Outcome Accounting in 2008. The subsequent growth of Outcome Accounting is due, in part, to the high level of responsiveness and commitment shown to clients, and the provision of fairly priced services. Over the past twenty years Scott has worked as an advisor on transactions involving the significant restructuring of public and private businesses. More recently he has focussed on the particular needs of small and medium sized enterprises and family businesses, including consulting on business improvement, strategic planning, succession planning, compliance, accounting and tax. He also has had and continues with particular interest in the pre and post start-up needs of not for profit enterprises. Driven by the need to make a difference, Scott's passion is to see the people and enterprises he works with succeed, and in doing so, be in a position to empower disadvantaged communities globally to prosper through enterprise.