Pieter de Vos is an award-winning documentary photographer, engaged academic, and facilitator. Pieter has a PhD in Anthropology as well as a MSc in Public Health.
Leilani Farha is the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing. A lawyer by training, for the past 20 years Ms. Farha has worked both internationally and domestically on the implementation of the right to adequate housing for the most marginalized groups. In her current work she continues to promote a human rights-based approach to poverty.
Stephan de Beer grew up in the inner city of Tshwane which instilled in him a passion for urban centres and their potential to be real and sustainable homes for all people. He studied theology but always with a commitment to the urban vulnerable and poor. In 1993, Stephan sensed that urban churches were ready to engage in reviving their parishes. He united six into a charitable trust that became the Tshwane Leadership Foundation, with the knowledge that urban regeneration efforts had to become more radical, holistic, and transformative. Today, Stephan is the Director of the Centre for Contextual Ministry at the University of Pretoria where he focuses on the training of community leaders for contextual engagement in their communities.
Donald Banda was born in South Africa. He grew up in Pretoria East close to where Woodlane Village is situated. Donald has a stand in Woodlane Village and has lived in the community since its establishment. In late 2017, he relocated with his wife, Rose, to another informal settlement near the township of Mamelodi. Donald is the former chair of the executive committee of the Village.
