Founders

Stephanie and Matteo Ferrario set up Give A Future Foundation after many years of supporting vulnerable children in the developing world, mainly in Africa. Their professional experience is in banking, marketing, and business development. They hold degrees in economics and business administration.

Stefania Calice is the co-founder of Give A Future and has been supporting children in Ethiopia for several years. Stefania lives in London with her husband and three small children.

 

Trustees

Jenna Hoyt is a Canadian based in Addis Ababa. She is a certified nurse and has worked for multiple NGOs in Africa that work with vulnerable children and people suffering from late stage AIDS. She oversees all Give A Future projects in Addis, together with her Ethiopian colleagues.

Amelie von Wedel graduated from the Technische and Freie University Berlin with a degree in Economics and History of Art. She currently lives and works in London as an art consultant and gallerist where she set up Wedel Fine Art in 2006. Amelie has a strong interest in education and social policies, having been selected as a “Young Leader” by the American council on Germany and having been responsible for the exchange and educational programme of The Red Mansion Foundation for several years.

Sophie Pongracz has been an economic adviser in the Department for International Development for more than eight years. She has worked on development programmes in many of the poorest and most fragile countries in the world, including Afghanistan, Bolivia, Moldova, and Palestine. In recent years, Sophie has specialised in making development aid more effective in fragile states and has co-written papers on the subject. She holds an MSc in Development Economics from SOAS.

Alexis Kessler Calice graduated from Vassar College with a degree in Art History and French Literature. She has produced radio and television programming on youth and education issues, for PBS (American Public Television) and NPR (National Public Radio), as well as current affairs programs for PBS and New York Times Television/Discovery Channel. She produced The Promise of Preschool, a 2002 PBS documentary about early childhood education policy and The Merrow Report: School Sleuth, a PBS documentary on excellence in education. She is the proud mother of two.