Misha Teasdale

Founder & TreeEO

In 2010, Misha gathered like-minded individuals to plant 1000 trees in a month and hasn’t looked back since. When he is not planting trees, you can find him doing wheelies on his bicycle or sprinting up Table Mountain.

Follow him on Twitter: @mishateasdale

Lauren O’Donnell

Founder & Managing Director

Lauren is a co-founder and the Managing Director of Greenpop. With a passion for people, Lauren spends her days inspiring individuals from all walks of life to be active citizens and get active (not anxious) about the future of our planet. As the Managing Director of Greenpop, she is continually looking for ways to run an organisation differently, more organically and yet also professionally.

Jeremy Hewitt

Founder

Before he was the award winning South African folk musician Jeremy Loops, Jeremy Hewitt co-founded and managed the finances for Greenpop. Today, Jeremy lends passion and power to the project from afar and inspires his thousands of adoring fans to tread a little lighter.

Zoë Gauld-Angelucci

Head of Programmes

Born in Knysna and raised in the United States, Zoë moved to Cape Town in 2008 to study at the University of Cape Town. After leading a variety of student organisations, teaching undergrads, and earning a Masters degree in Development Studies, she joined Greenpop in 2014. When she is not heading up programmes across Sub-Saharan Africa, you can find her tending to her garden, practising Italian, and searching for the best pizza in the Mother City. 

Follow her on IG: @zoeswgauld

Emma Jones-Phillipson

Head of Operations

Raised in Cape Town, Emma joined the Greenpop crew at the Zambia Festival of Action in 2015 and 2016 whilst completing her degrees in Politics, Economics and Public Policy at UCT. After working in Human Rights and completing her MSc in London, Emma returned to Cape Town and began working full-time for Greenpop in January 2018. She considers herself an authority of random trivia with a predilection for procrasticrafting and stress baking, and when she’s not keeping things ticking-over at Greenpop, she enjoys dismantling the patriarchy and indulging in foreign cuisines.

Yazeed Peters

Fundraising Manager

Born in the green hamlet of Kramat and raised in the beach holiday suburb of Strand, Yazeed finally settled in the hustle and bustle of historical District 6. After completing a degree in marketing management, he spent the next 6 years working in the nonprofit and social enterprise sectors. In 2017, he decided to bring his passion for making a positive contribution to Greenpop. When he is not managing our donor relationships, you can find Yazeed hiking or attending dhikr gatherings.

Catherine Edwards

Marketing Manager

Born and raised in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, Catherine grew up with an appreciation for nature. After school, she studied Graphic Design at CPUT and worked in design for a few years before going into her new passion, Marketing. Her hobbies include design, cooking and yoga. Outside of Greenpop she can be found on the beach at the first hint of sunshine and making playlists for every possible scenario. Catherine believes any goal can be achieved with creativity, simplicity and good coffee.

Deon Knoetze

Urban Greening Programme Manager

Born in Durban, Deon moved to Cape Town as a child and went on to study music at Stellenbosch University. After earning his BMus, he worked toward his PGCE and spent the next few years teaching in South Africa and the UK. In 2017, he moved back to Cape Town and joined Greenpop’s programmes department. When he is not overseeing our urban greening work, you can find Deon tending to his honeybees, working in the garden and making delicious curry.

Nadine Botto

Office Coordinator

Born and raised on the Cape Flats, Nadine always had great passion for life outdoors. After studying PR and working in corporate Nadine woke up one day with a strong urge to quit her job and plant trees for the rest of her life, with this finding her self at Greenpop. Nadine is Greenpop’s Administration and Office Coordinator and runs the office firmly making sure everything has a place. When she’s not in office Nadine loves spending time with her friends going on adventures and considers her self a serious foodie.

Tapera Mlambo

Eco-Education Hub Caretaker

Originally from Mtare, Zimbabwe, Mlambo relocated to South Africa in 2009 with his wife Patience. Together, they have four children, three girls and one boy, and they are currently working hard to put them all through school and university. His son, Emmanuel, just finished his matric and one of his daughters is in her second year of university. At Greenpop, Mlambo ensures that our Eco-Education Hub stays safe and sound. 

Matthew Koehorst

Programme Facilitator

As a trained anthropologist and environmental scientist, Matthew is fascinated by the nexus of people and planet and is committed to reawakening the connection between the two. After working full-time for Greenpop for 3 years, Matthew founded his own project called Six Kingdoms, which aims to explore and implement solutions for better relations between all forms of life through education work and project development and implementation. Matthew currently contributes to Greenpop as a programme facilitator. 

Cliff Maunze

Programme Facilitator

Born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Cliff Maunze is an avid beekeeping expert who is currently working for BioHub Trust as a Project Officer based in Harare. Over the last 24 years, he has worked for multiple impactful organisations on projects promoting sustainable livelihoods and protecting forests and bees. To date, he has trained over 3000 beekeepers in Southern Africa. 

Marleen Lammers

Ambassador

Marleen (pronounced ‘Marlane’ – sensitive subject) started her career as a broadcasting journalist in the Netherlands, but was drawn to African adventure and moved to Zambia ten years ago. After developing and managing community and conservation volunteer projects in Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, she joined Greenpop in 2012. Marleen is passionate about photography and is also a Director at Penda Photo Tours and The Penda Trust.

Toby Angelucci

Office Happiness Manager

A born and bred Capetonian, Toby joined the Greenpop team in 2018. When he is not spreading cheer around the office, Toby enjoys bird watching, brunch, and long walks in the forest with his humans.