Program Staff
Simon Willans – Executive Director
simon@energyforopportunity.org
Simon serves two distinct roles with EFO, splitting time between the office and the field. In the office he coordinates the overall EFO operations and tries his best to think of new and inventive ways to quickly get back out in the field. When doing fieldwork he can often be found in front of a classroom, on top of a roof or holed up in a small room checking on the system wiring. He has a variety of semi related degrees in Mechanical Engineering, International Development and a Masters in Political Science and over ten years of engineering and development experience. Simon currently lives and works in Sierra Leone.
Paul Munro – Program Manager
Paul’s role as Program Manager involves the developing and designing of new projects, as well as the facilitating of relations between both funding and implementation organisations. He draws experience from over five years of working with environmental organisations and universities in Africa, Europe, Australia and Latin America. He holds a BA from Sydney and a MA in Environment and Development from King’s College London, and is currently studying a PhD in Resource Management and Geography, at the University of Melbourne, with his thesis focusing on different processes of forest conservation in West Africa.
Chernor Marju Jalloh
jalloh@energyforopportunity.org
Chernor officially joined the EFO team in January 2010 in an Engineering role. He was born in Koiqima, Kono District and attended Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School. After graduation he went on to complete his Electrical Engineering Certificate at the National Power Authority Training Centre. His first assignment with EFO will be to oversee the Community Charging Station in Matru Jong. When he is not at work Chernor spends his time playing with his computer, reading books and magazines and watching football.
Mohamed Kabba Turay
mohamed@energyforopportunity.org
Mohamed has been helping EFO since his time at Government Technical Institute (GTI), assisting to organise the PV class in his role as Vice President of the Student’s Union. He joined the team full-time in January as an Engineer and will be leading the Community Charging Station project in Kamabai. Mohamed was born in Lunsar, Port Loko District and has a Diploma in Electrical Engineering from GTI. In addition to all things solar, he enjoys games, listening to the news and reading novels.
Board of Directors – Canada
Robert Munro - Chief Information Officer
Rob heads the IT services at EFO, from designing and developing software systems, to training and acceptance testing. He is a San Francisco resident, and has worked as a commercial software developer and social development IT-specialist for 10 years, drawing on qualifications from a PhD from Stanford (abt) and Bachelors degrees from Sydney. When not working, Rob can be found in remote places indulging his other passions: documenting endangered languages and cycling across continents.
Mike Krysa – Advisory Board
Mike sits on EFO’s advisory board and assists with conducting funding research and handling administrative aspects of the charity. He holds degrees in Education and Kinesiology with Geography from the University of Western Ontario, Canada. Mike has had his hand in various international charity projects over the years. He currently teaches Health and Physical Education at a private school in Quito, Ecuador.
Linda Krajcovic – Advisory Board
linda@energyforopportunity.org
Linda’s role at EFO is to develop the organisation’s funding strategy and to provide overall project guidance. She holds a Bachelor of Law from the University of British Columbia and a Masters in International Human Rights Law from the University of Toronto. She enjoys outdoor activities such as cycling, running and camping. She is currently employed by the Federal Government of Canada and is based in Toronto, Canada.
Kevin Jones – Advisory Board
kevin@energyforopportunity.org
Kevin sits on EFO’s Advisory Board and is directly involved in the development and promotion of EFO in the North America region. He has a degree in Education from D’Youville College in Buffalo, USA and a degree in Physical Education from Brock University, Canada. Kevin enjoys camping and hiking and taking in live music around the city. He currently resides in Toronto, Canada and is an Educator of primary school students.
Mathew Willans – Treasurer
mathew@energyforopportunity.org
Mathew serves as Treasurer and thus is responsible for managing the finances of EFO. He holds a Bachelor degree in biochemistry from the University of Windsor and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Alberta. Currently Mathew lives in London, Canada where he works in the chemistry department at the University of Western Ontario. When not chasing after his young son, he enjoys a variety of sports, especially ice hockey, soccer, golf and alpine skiing, watching the Toronto Maple Leafs and extolling the virtues of environmental sustainability.
Board of Directors – Australia
Pete Grzonkowski – Secretary
Pete has become involved with EFO due to his experiences in West Africa and his current training. Pete traveled through West Africa in 2003/4 for five months before heading back to Australia to study. Currently he is completing a degree in Natural Science in Health and Environment, majoring in Public Health at the University of Western Sydney, with a special interest in HIV/AIDS. He currently works as a Household Sustainability Assessor and will fill the role of Secretary on EFO’s Australian Advisory Board. Pete is now busy looking after his first child, struggling to keep a hold of his brain while he chases her around.
Sean Moran – Fundraising Officer
Sean’s role as Fundraising Officer entails work on funding proposals, surmounting the bureaucratic mountains of Australian Taxation Law, and project development and implementation. He has a Bachelors degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of New South Wales and a long-term adrenaline addiction. When not white water kayaking in Africa or the Americas, Sean prefers a life of minimal resistance in Sydney, Australia.
Will Johns – Treasurer
Will fulfills the role of Financial Officer at EFO Australia and is looking forward to crunching numbers and managing the organisation’s budget as well as assisting in aspects of fundraising and public relations. His interest in development stems from his time at university when completing a BA from Sydney, his travels around the world and through his current work as a high school teacher of Geography (Masters of Teaching, Sydney). Will is currently living in Canberra, Australia, where he partakes in his other interests: playing guitar and writing music, sustainable housing, table tennis and reading American fiction.
Jim Munro – Chairman
Jim is the current acting chairman of EFO Australia. He has been an active engineer for over 30 years, with a specialist focus on explosion protected equipment and occupational health and safety. Currently he directs his own company that provides engineering consultancy to manufacturers, users, and testing bodies around the world. He is also the chairman of an international standards committee and an international assessor. In 2007 he traveled to Sierra Leone and assisted with the installation of a solar power system on Tiwai Island. When not working, Jim is often found hiking across mountains and throwing himself down canyons.
Amé Christiansen – Program Officer
Amé has worked with children and adults with a disability and their communities since 1998. She gained a BA in Community Development from Murdoch University and an MA International Development from RMIT. In 2006 she worked as the Volunteer Coordinator for Trama Textiles, an indigenous women’s weaving cooperative in the Guatemalan highlands. She has interned internationally with Save the Children and the Asian Development Bank in Indonesia and with the Nossal Institute for Global Health in Melbourne. Amé currently coordinates services for children for a Local Government Area in Melbourne’s inner east, where she also holds a policy research and planning position. She is also a lecturer in Bachelor of Education at Victoria University in Student Diversity.
The EFO logo was created by Junior Valler Design