No Barriers Education Foundation Inc (NoBarriers) is a small Australian, not-for-profit organisation with the purpose of “assisting Zimbabwean children and youth to overcome barriers to education, to encourage their learning and to create opportunities for them to thrive”. It represents a group of individual supporters, who value education and feel strongly that education should be accessible by all. It is apolitical and does not have any religious affiliations.
NoBarriers is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. It has Deductible Gift Recipient status. Donations are tax deductible. NoBarriers is operated entirely by volunteers; donations go directly to initiatives which further its cause.
Our Mission
We want children and youth in rural Zimbabwe to reach their full potential in life: We assist them to overcome barriers to education, encourage their learning and create opportunities for them to thrive.
We share the values of the Australian Council for International Development. These values guide our conduct with the communities we support in Zimbabwe, the communities who support us in Australia and the partners we collaborate with:
INTEGRITY:
We act with honesty and are guided by ethical principles in all that we do: when raising funds, when working with school communities in Zimbabwe, when selecting partner organisations and contractors to assist us in the delivery of our initiatives and when measuring and reporting on their implementation and impact.
RESPECT:
We are committed to treating others with respect for their rights and dignity. We aim to reverse the dis-empowering impact of poverty on children’s and youth’s sense of self-worth and nurture them to grow entitled to quality education and opportunities in life.
EQUITY:
We are committed to overcoming prejudices and disadvantage and to promoting fair and just access to education. We provide support at school community level, so that all of its students shall benefit. When support is provided to individual children, it is done based on an objective assessment of their situation and need.
ACCOUNTABILITY:
We take responsibility for our actions and are accountable to all our stakeholders, but in particular, to vulnerable children in the disadvantaged communities we support.
TRANSPARENCY:
We openly share information about our Foundation and its work with our stakeholders and with the public. Our financial systems are maintained at the highest level of transparency and accountability.
EFFECTIVENESS:
We strive to deliver outcomes that bring about positive change in the lives of the children in the school communities we support. We assess the impact of our initiatives by measuring and reporting tangible change over time.
COOPERATION:
We work with and alongside others respecting their diversity and difference in the pursuit of common goals. We initiate apolitical partnerships with like minded organisations to maximise outcomes for children in the communities we support.
Our Board of Directors
Ann Verbeek, Chair
Ann Verbeek has over 20 years experience in academia, corporate communications and management consulting in Australia, Southeast Asia, Middle East and USA. At the University of South Australia and Flinders University she has been lecturing in entrepreneurship, innovation and enterprise in STEM. In policy and change management, Ann has worked within the South Australian Department of Education and Department of Primary Industries and Regions. Ann has also In Singapore Ann worked at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, Singapore Management University, INSEAD business school and Boston Consulting Group. Ann has a Master of Public Administration from the National University of Singapore and Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Melbourne.
Kelly Batsiokis, Secretary
Kelly has been a project officer in the public and private sector for the past decade and is focused on the delivery of outcomes in health promotion, social services, education and improving the lives of people impacted by chronic diseases. Currently living in Brisbane, Kelly is engaged in stakeholder engagement as part of a national evaluation of a chronic disease management program for Australian veterans. Kelly’s experience includes project management, the evaluation and review of programs and services with two private health consulting firms, the Office of the Chief Medical Information Officer at SA Health, Diabetes SA and the Cancer Council SA. Kelly has a Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours in Anatomical Sciences) from the University of Adelaide, qualifications in training and education, and is an accomplished artist.
Will McEwin, Treasurer
Will has extensive experience across the financial, corporate and general management functions. His former roles include GM-Australia at Nanshan Group Limit, Commercial Manager and CFO (Asia) at Futuris Automotive, GM-M&A and Divisional COO at Elders Limited. He currently holds the position of Managing Director at Frontier International Agri.
Will has worked in several cities across Australia. He worked in China for six and Europe for two years. He has worked predominately in the broader agricultural sector but has also spent time in the automotive industry. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business with Adelaide University, an MBA with Deakin University, a Grad. Dip. in Finance, a Grad. Dip. in Accounting and is a graduate of the AICD (GAICD).
Will is the father of three young daughters and has a strong belief in the utility of education. This reinforced in him his conviction that a good education is the door to future opportunities in adult life. Will seeks through his directorship to advance education for children and youth in disadvantaged communities where education still remains difficult to access.
Ringisai (Langton) Nyasha, Country Director, Zimbabwe
Langton is a qualified and certified builder, born and educated in Harare, Zimbabwe. He holds several trade qualifications. Over the past 13 years he has been a building contractor working for commercial and residential clients across Zimbabwe.
In 2019, he constructed a community library on the grounds of a primary school in the Muzarabani District, Mashonaland Central. During that time and during follow-up work in the District he formed strong relationships with the local communities. Langton – feeling a strong desire to support disadvantaged local communities – decided to offer his local knowledge and ability to navigate an everchanging Zimbabwean operating environment to the No Barriers Education Foundation.
Langton was appointed in December 2020 as Country Director, Zimbabwe and since then has worked on liaising with local communities and government authorities. He co-ordinates a small NoBarriers team in Zimbabwe and works together with the Executive Director on the local implementation of NoBarriers’ initiatives.
Sigrid Pfaffle, Executive Director
Sigrid has worked as a management consultant for many years in Australia assisting corporate and public sector clients. More recently, she has worked in health, community and international development sectors and in humanitarian assistance internationally and in Australia.
For several years, Sigrid worked in Jordan as Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, Middle East and North Africa for Caritas Switzerland. More recently, she implemented a scholarship and school fee support program in rural Zimbabwe. Prior to this, she worked as an advisor to the Philippine Red Cross.
During 2020, she was approached by the principals of two secondary schools in the Muzarabani District, Zimbabwe seeking assistance to support their students. This approach triggered the inception of the Foundation.
Her work as Executive Director of the Foundation allows her to deliver practical, much needed support in education to disadvantaged children and youth. It also gives her the ample opportunities to apply “all the tools in her box” – skills and experiences, acquired over many years and in many different settings.
Sigrid was appointed Executive Director, No Barriers Education Foundation in December 2020.
Pamela Upton, Director
Throughout most of her career Pamela worked in analyst, policy and management roles for the South Australian State Government across several departments: Treasury, Department of Health and Office of Public Sector Reform. Later in her career she worked as a consultant with focus on business planning for corporate and public sector organisations. Now retired, she spends significant time on her passions being art / art history, architecture, gardening and travelling.
Pamela is a strong advocate of gender equality and the importance of education for women and girls to create their own opportunities in life. By working with NoBarriers, Pamela seeks to support her values with concrete action.
Eddie Sandrini, Director
Eddie Sandrini is an engineer with over 30 years experience in design and construction management across a range of engineering sectors, a thorough understanding of the project delivery process, including risk management, quality, and safety. He has worked across the building, infrastructure, and energy sectors throughout Australia. Eddie has a degree in Civil Engineering (Honours) and an MBA from the University of Adelaide. Recently, Eddie supported NoBarriers through sponsored fundraising on his bicycle.
No Barriers Education Foundation, ABN 12 585 031 991, 4 Loma Linda Grove, Wattle Park SA 5066, Australia