Meet the Team

Alan Elliot, Trustee, from Zimbabwe is the Father of Presidential elephants of his valiant deeds to save and conserve the endangered wildlife, specifically elephant species, since 1980, just after the country had gained independence. He was enthusiastic to gathering the frightened elephants for approximately twenty-one years of his life and cared for them, and after that, they turned out to be healthy, which procreated about three hundred more healthy elephants. He was worried and approached President Mugabe to grant protection for the elephants, hence the name ‘The Presidential Lions’. In 1970, there were increased poaching activities that led to the loss of many elephants, leaving only twenty-two of them. These elephants had been habituated in the Hwange estate. The land lacked fencing, and the surrounding was forests estates and a national park camping zone. This is probably the main reason they were exposed to the prospective poachers. As a result of the poaching, the remnants of the elephants were nervous of any human presence around them.

Between 1970 and 1990, Allan Elliot worked towards habituating the elephants with the human who was becoming too successful with time to a point he felt that the more tourism attraction meant more exposure which could drawback poaching. He resolves to seek President Mugabe’s assistance and asked for special status for the herd. He at that time had named his company ‘touch the world’. President Mugabe passed a decree that no elephant in the areas of Hwange should be never be culled or hunted. It was done after the anointing of the herd. He passed that these herds are to be a symbol of Zimbabwean commitment to wildlife conservation. The decree and patronage resulted in the flagship herd concept and the term “The Zimbabwean Presidential Elephants”.

Bruce Beckley, Trustee practices Chartered Accountant in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Bruce has passion for wildlife and his home country, Zimbabwe. When he is not working, is enjoying spending time in the bush with family and friends. He is supported by a team of staff offering accounting, taxation, advisory, and corporate services to businesses. Mr. Beckley also assists with structuring new projects, forming companies and assisting with complying with the Zimbabwean laws and regulations including those pertaining to foreign investments in to the Country. His clients include many entities in the mining industry.

Previously, Mr. Beckley was a Partner of Baker Tilly Zimbabwe between 2011 and 2017 having returned form working internationally. Bruce had held a position as a Senior Manager with one of Australia’s largest audit and accounting firms, Baker Tilly Pitcher Partners whom he joined in July 2008. Prior to joining this firm Bruce worked for Baker Tilly London. Mr. Beckley qualified as a Chartered Accountant in the UK in 2002, having started his articles with Ernst & Young in Bulawayo, before moving to London in 1999. Bruce was promoted to Fellowship of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 2013.

Mr. Beckley is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe.

Charlene Hewat, a Trustee, is a passionate conservationist born and bred in Zimbabwe. She has an MS in Development Management from Open University, UK. 1998. Charlene has dedicated the past 30+ years to her country. She believes in Private, Public Community partnerships to achieve sustainability and protect our wildlife and our environment.

Her early experiences growing up on a farm in Zimbabwe instilled a deep love of nature, thus her passion for the environment. While out on a walk in the bush over 30 years ago, Charlene came across the carcass of a poached rhino, and it was this traumatic experience that saw her and a friend ride bicycles from the UK, across Europe and Africa back to Zimbabwe, 22 000km to raise Funds for Rhino conservation. Over 250 000 pounds was donated to the Zimbabwe National Parks in trucks, Land rovers, boats and other equipment.

She co-founded an organisation Environment Africa where she was the CEO and grew the organisation in 4 African countries. After 30 years of dedication, she handed over the organisation to the younger generation to pursue and founded an organisation Greenline Africa, a local community based Trust that works in and around Victoria Falls with community development initiatives.

Charlene has won many national, regional and international awards, one being the Most outstanding young persons of the World for Environment – Junior Chambers International Award.

Laurie Ward, Trustee, is the Acting CEO of African Sun Limited. He has over 20 years of executive management experience both internationally and throughout Africa, primarily in hospitality and project management. Laurie qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Zimbabwe, having served his articles with Ernst and Young. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from Rhodes University in South Africa.

Brett Childs, a Trustee, has a B. Com (Hons) C.A. (S.A.). He is originally from Zimbabwe; Brett qualified as a Chartered Accountant in South Africa, where he lived for nine years. Brett moved to the United Kingdom in 1987, where he spent fifteen years working in London. He was involved in the development of Equitas, the vehicle set up by Lloyds of London to acquire distressed re-insurance contracts from Names, and was one of the first individuals to be approved by Lloyds of London to act as CFO to corporate capital providers in Lloyds of London. After leaving the re-insurance industry in 1997, he helped build a successful venture capital business focused on the IT industry, with businesses in ten countries. Brett was responsible for treasury, group structuring, investor relations, project leader in listing assets on LSE and HEX (Finland), and selling assets in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, South Africa, and Australia.

Brett and his family moved to Mauritius in 2001, where he currently resides. Brett has or continues to sit on the Board, in a non-executive capacity, of several companies, publically and privately owned, focused on banking or investment, including entities regulated by the Bank of Mauritius, Financial Services Commission (British Virgin Islands), Malta Financial Services Authority and Financial Services Commission (Mauritius).

Brett returned to Zimbabwe in 2015 and, in 2017, became CEO of Arden Capital Limited (formerly Brainworks Capital Limited) at the beginning of 2017. Through this group’s ownership of land near Hwange Game Reserve, Brett was introduced to Alan Elliot, Mandebele, who introduced him to the Presidential Elephants and his vision of a trust whose focus would be research and protection of this herd.

His passion is education, and he co-founded a private school group, Northfields International Schools, in Mauritius 19 years ago. The school caters to kindergarten, preparatory and secondary scholars. This passion for education has led Brett to support Mandebele’s vision of gaining a better understanding of our elephants and educating people about the importance of protecting our scarce wildlife.

Darren McKissock, an advisor, was born & raised in Zimbabwe, where he spent a great deal of time in the bush camping and at the National Parks, thus developing a passion for African wildlife and conservation.

He immigrated to Australia and married an Australian girl Michelle, after spending their honeymoon in Zimbabwe at Touch the Wild camps in Hwange, Michelle too fell in love with the African bush and wildlife. They returned a few years later at worked at Touch The Wild camps for Allan & Scotty Elliott. The very same camps they had spent our honeymoon.

In 1998 they moved to Botswana and worked in the Okavango Delta’s heart for many years in the safaris & conservation industry.

Based in Dubai, UAE, Darren & Michelle regularly travel back to Africa to follow their passion for conservation & safaris.

Veronica Chapman, an Advisor, was born and educated in Zimbabwe. Her profession is in community development, communications, and sustainable tourism. A true African at heart passionate for its people, communities, wildlife, and the environment.

She moved to South Africa in the early ’80s and managed a Human Resources company for 29 years. She was involved in social development and environmental issues and projects.

She returned to Zimbabwe in 2010 and currently lives in Victoria Falls. In 2014, one of Greenline Africa Trust co-founders worked with rural communities in Hwange just outside Victoria Falls, focusing on rural community development, livelihoods, health, education, and environmental issues, including human-wildlife conflict.

She is a certified Assessor and Africa Representative for an international Sustainable Green Tourism Certification Programme, which was launched in Victoria Falls and Hwange in 2016. The programme is currently under upgrade development and will be accessible online for tourism businesses across the African Continent.

Debbie Grant, an advisor, was born and raised in Zimbabwe, educated at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg in South Africa, where she obtained an Honours degree in Zoology. She commenced work as a researcher on the Presidential Elephant Research Project from September 1993 until August 2000. During that time, she, together with a young English Veterinarian, documented the Presidential Elephants, individually identifying some 350 individuals in the population and trying to work out their family relationships.

Debbie had a fantastic opportunity to spend time with Cynthia Moss and her dedicated women team, who ran the Amboseli Elephant Project in Kenya in 1998. Glean precious information from this project; data collection methods could be used for the Presidential Elephant Research Project. During her seven years working with the elephant project for Touch The Wild safari company, Debbie also obtained a Professional Guide’s Licence and worked as a safari guide. In 2001, an Australian, Sharon Pincott, took over the elephant project, and she remained in Hwange working on the project until 2013.

Debbie commenced teaching as a junior Science and Biology teacher at Falcon College, Esigodini, in 2001. Except for a few years off to raise young children, she remains, with her teaching portfolio now including; junior Science, Geography, Environmental Management, and Biology. She is the mother of two teenage boys who both attend College as students