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Meet us
Members of the Board
Chairman of the Board
Sandesh Singh
Sandesh is the Director and Attorney at Singhs Attorneys and is the CEO of Labour Assist (Pty) Ltd, among several other roles and positions. His relationship with Topsy first started in 2002, with Topsy being a client of Labour Assist. In this way he got to learn about Topsy, the reason for its existence and the amazing support that it was providing to the people of Grootvlei. He believed with a full heart and mind, in what Topsy was doing for the forgotten people of Grootvlei. When he was asked to join their board some years later, there was absolutely no hesitation in doing so. It was his opportunity to drive Topsy’s agenda, in providing the essential care and support for the people of Grootvlei.
Board member
Rodney Waldneck
Rodney obtained his legal BA at Wits and then worked in South Africa in the labour relations field. His experience working with the Garment Workers Union in Johannesburg and employers in that related industry, included the planning and provision of medical and social services to majority population groups in the country. He obtained his MBA at City University in London and went on to work in both the public and private sectors and as an HR consultant. In the UK his work covered the planning and implementation of equal opportunity & diversity policies and programs, policy analysis, event management, conflict resolution, and devising training materials and programs. Much of this took place during his time at the UK’s Commission for Racial Equality. Working with volunteer organisations, is a passion for Rodney.
Board member
Ayn Brown
Ayn has many years of executive experience in the financial services sector, in various functions ranging from Human Resources, Sustainability and Health and Safety. As an amateur photographer she first became involved with the Topsy Foundation, more than 12 years ago and has been documenting their work through our evolution from HIV/AIDS focus to Community Health, to Early Childhood Development (ECD). A passionate advocate of ECD in South Africa and the empowerment of communities, Ayn has been a Director since 2017.
Board member
Andre Gilbertson
Andre’s experience and expertise lies in the Events Planning field, where she has been active for over 30 years. She has worked with many international and local celebrities. Her events and involvement range from launching fundraising for the Red Cross Children’s Hospital Trust, to judging the SAMA Awards (South African Music Awards). She is a walker, passionate about her family, music and helping underprivileged children in South Africa.
Board member
Carolyn Sullivan
Carolyn is passionate about Topsy and it’s achievements. She feels, to truly make a difference in her homeland South Africa, we need to begin with our children and our women. Carolyn obtained a legal degree and spent six years in the legal world before the financial world beckoned and is privileged to have served as the Financial Manager at Topsy from 2004 to 2019. She is honoured to have been asked to join the board as a director in 2019.
Management
Executive Director
Sarah Du Toit
Sarah is responsible for its strategic and operational direction and overall programme implementation in 3 districts in Mpumalanga. Sarah moved to and fell in love with South Africa in 2006.
Sarah has a BA Honours from the University of Exeter in Public Relations. Before joining The Topsy Foundation NPC, Sarah had a successful career in Advertising in London and Johannesburg. She arrived in South Africa in 2006. She worked for Ogilvy and Mather advertising agency in a Client Service role for four years. Topsy was a probono client of Ogilvy, and Sarah jumped at the chance to be involved as the Account Director.
After 18 months of volunteering with Topsy, Sarah knew that her heart was no longer in advertising and she wanted to do something more meaningful within the non-profit sector. Her skills translated nicely into a Business Development position within the Non-Profit Sector. In August 2019, after four years with Topsy, she was appointed as Executive Director.
General Manager
Marianna Pretorius
Marianna’s career began in 1987 as a Registered Nurse for the Balfour Municipality, tasked with establishing a new clinic. During her 16 years, prior to joining topsy, she rose to Chief Professional Nurse for the Department of Health. Marianna joined the Topsy team in 2003 with a wealth of experience in the field of Clinical and Community Health work. The main objective was to develop, manage, and structure the different new community projects at Topsy, for the communities that we served. Marianna was part of the team who headed and managed the Advanced HIV and AIDS Clinic. As the General Manager at Topsy, Marianna overseas all our Early Childhood Programmes, Health Programmes, Parental and OVC programs and Vegetable Gardening programmes, among many other duties.
Financial Administration Manager
Dudu Zwane
Dudu started working at Topsy Foundation in 2002 as an Admin Clerk and quickly moved to Senior Admin Clerk in 2006. She became Financial Admin Clerk in 2014, responsible for processing and keeping track of Financial Transactions.. With the dedicated training and mentoring from the Financial Manager at Topsy, Dudu was promoted to Financial Administration Manager in 2019. Her positive attitude and tireless energy helps, to encourage other to work hard.
Assistant Fundraiser
Zinhle Lukhele
Zinhle, known affectionately as Zee started working as the Fundraiser for The Topsy Foundation NPC, in August 2019, a role that came after volunteering for over a year. Zee found Topsy through Forgood, an online platform that connects people and companies to great NPOs. She chose Topsy because she has always believed that transformation in South Africa needs to come in the form of improving the lives of children, and that is what Topsy does and more. The beneficiaries she has met, both past and present tell the same story of how Topsy has helped and made a difference in their lives. She is proud that she can play a small part in the impact Topsy has, on communities in South Africa.
