MEET OUR TEAM
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Barbara de Waard, Founder and CEO

Whilst living in Malaysia, Barbara got involved in conservation efforts to save the highly endangered Malayan Tiger and decided to dedicate her career to saving endangered species and their habitats. Combining her extensive experience and skills as a Marketing Communications Professional with her passion for wildlife, she embarked on a Masters Research project “Re-inventing Capitalism to save the Tiger”. Since then, she has provided consultancy to local and international conservation NGOs on Strategic Marketing and NGO-Business collaboration. This ground-breaking work resulted in the creation of BiodiversityBusiness, a social enterprise dedicated to Creating Shared Value for Nature and People.

Listen to Barbara’s podcast on Social Marketing and Conservation

Angela D’Alessio, Operations Director

Angela brings a wealth of operational experience to the team. Having spent 10 years working in wildlife centres in Indonesia, she can be considered an expert in the field of animal rescue and rehabiliation. Her strength is not only the practical aspects of husbandry and operations, but also strategic development and quality management. One of her recent achievements has been the design and construction of a new songbird rescue centre in Borneo.

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Shimara Gokani, Finance and Compliance Manager

Shimara is a wiz with contract management and admin. This is not surprising given her legal training and experience in the financial sector. She is also a great guide to Malaysia and its delights, as she grew up right in Kuala Lumpur. She has travelled extensively within Malaysia and beyond. So, mention the word ‘Roti Canai’ and she can find you one, in Perhentian or London!

Dora Khoo, Partnership Coordinator

Dora has an admirable track record of supporting grassroots conservation in Malaysia over many years. She has been a long-standing trustee of the well respected Turtle Conservation Society Malaysia. Her pragmatism and sense of humour are a great asset to build relationships with local conservation groups. Currently, Dora is active on the committee of the Gibbon Conservation Society which manages the popular GReP Gibbon Rehabilitation Project in peninsular Malaysia.

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Daniel Quilter, Conservation Partner

Trained as an environmental scientist at Plymouth University, Daniel had a lifechanging experience on a field trip to Malaysia and decided to set up his own ecotourism company, Ecoteer, in 2005.  His goal is to inspire as many people as possible to make small changes in their lives to help reduce our impact on the planet.  Ecoteer has developed several inspiring and impactful conservation and community projects, including the popular ‘Ecoteer House’ on Perhentian Island. Based on the success of the volunteering, Daniel also co-founded Fuze Ecoteer Outdoor Adventures, to offer tourism experiences to individual travellers and groups such as schools and corporates

Fareea Ma, Conservation Partner

Growing up in urban Kuala Lumpur, Fareea‘s passion for nature and wildlife has been evident from a very young age influenced by her father.  After dabbling in the corporate sector for a few years, Fareea co-founded APE Malaysia, one of the country’s first social enterprises to dedicate people, funds and efforts to managing volunteers in support of environmental conservation and wildlife welfare projects.  The diverse APE Malaysia team has been working continuously with local communities, both on in-situ and ex-situ project sites, building capacity for conservation and making an impact through highly focused wildlife welfare

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