OUR TEAM
Our team comes from around the world, bringing their expertise and passion for ethical manufacturing to EAA’s work. Prior to joining EAA our team worked with brands such as ASOS, GAP, George, M&S, Levi’s, The North Face, MAS, Hela Clothing, Lee, Wrangler, Dickies, Tommy Hilfiger, Speedo, Tesco.
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Keren Pybus
CEO and Co Founder
As Co-founder and CEO of Ethical Apparel Africa, Keren brings over 25 years of experience in sourcing, merchandising, and retail operations. Her passion for ethical manufacturing drove her to start the business with Paloma to develop a model that proves that living wages and worker empowerment are not mutually exclusive with cost-competitive product and profit. Keren has worked all over the world including living in Bangladesh for 3 years, setting up and running the George sourcing office. She has worked with both large retailers such as Walmart UK/South Africa and with small scale artisan suppliers. She is based in London, speaking frequently at conferences and developing the EAA strategy and international networks.
Paloma Schackert (née Pineda)
COO and Co Founder
Paloma’s drive to create tangible impact through business led her to found EAA with Keren in 2015. As a management consultant at Bain & Company, Paloma focused on process optimization, organizational restructuring, and growth strategy for multi-billion-dollar companies. Prior to Bain, her work in monitoring & evaluation for international NGOs in West Africa and India gave her a firm belief in the power of job creation for women. She is thrilled to contribute to building a sustainable industry in West Africa, unlocking its potential to become a world-class manufacturing hub. From her base in New York and West Africa Paloma oversees implementation of the EAA Operating Model while traveling frequently to develop partnerships.
Pauline Watine
Social Impact and HR Director
As the Social Impact and HR Director Pauline develops, oversees and is accountable for sustainability and impact strategy, evidence based programs design as well as talent recruitment and development. In the last 15 years, Pauline has lived and worked in Mali, Senegal, Ghana, India and France in international development and people management including working with the ILO, Oxfam, Freedom from Hunger and myAgro.
She is passionate about building our local partners capacity to foster workers' wellbeing, engagement and empowerment and to adopt concrete measures that protect the planet. Pauline holds a Master degree in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University and a Master in International and Economics from 'Science Po'. Pauline is based in France with frequent travel to West Africa.
Paul Allen
Technical Director
Paul joined EAA as its mission and model embodied his passion for transparency, honesty, integrity, and social responsibility. He is passionate about developing local talent to realise their potential. He brings with him over 40 years of experience in the industry, including 15 years’ managing manufacturing and sourcing operations for Levi’s. Paul has worked across more than 15 countries in diverse roles, from starting operations in a new manufacturing region to implementing new Lean systems to drive efficiency improvements. Paul is based in Ghana where he manages the technical team and EAA’s factory partnerships.
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Kwabena Owusu-Adjei
Non Executive Director
Kwabena is Managing Partner & Chief Investment Officer of Third Way Capital, an Africa focused venture investment company that invests in growth-ready African SMEs to deliver transformational economic and social value. He has 15 years’ of experience formulating and executing finance and business growth strategies across multiple industries, companies and geographies. He started his career at General Electric (GE) in Accra Ghana taking on various assignments of increasing responsibility in 6 different countries in his time there. Prior to co-founding Third Way Capital, Kwabena was Senior Investment Officer with Aker Ghana Investment Company where he led due diligence and investment appraisal for a $20M investment in a Ghanaian Oil & Gas Services Fund and a $10M Ghana-focused SME fund. Kwabena brings expertise in financial & investment strategic decisions.
Dominic McVey
Non Executive Director
Dominic has extensive experience of delivering highly effective change, growth and optimization initiatives across the world. Prior to joining EAA, Dominic built Hela Clothing from a small, unknown entity to a $200m turnover business specializing in underwear manufacturing for PVH and Tesco. He worked with The North Face, Lee, Wrangler, Dickies, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Speedo, Tesco and Michael Kors. In 2009, Dominic was recognized as the second most influential businessperson under 30 in the UK. In 2017, he won the PVH award for Human Rights. Having led the growth of a global apparel manufacturing business as part of the executive team, Dominic brings relevant expertise in the retail and apparel space.
Prashanth Kumar
Merchandising Manager
Prashanth has worked in Manufacturing in India, Jordan and Kenya and has worked with brands such as Gap and Old Navy. He is client focused and a dedicated and creative problem solver always striving for excellence. His focus is on sampling, risk assessment, critical path management. He particularly appreciates EAA for its ability to ensure every aspect of the work is truly ethical and dedicated to job creation.
Florence Yarney
Operations and Finance Manager
Florence has over 13 years of varied experience in Operation management, Accounting, Procurement and Administration across corporate and International development organizations including GIZ. She loves the genuine spirit of cooperation and shared goals at EAA, which contribute to always satisfying our partners. Florence's knowledge and experience enables us to provide our clients with strong logistics support. She manages finances and accounting, and handles local procurement.
Shabber Golam
Raw Materials Sourcing Manager
Shabber brings more than 10 years of experience in fabric and trims sourcing, product development, production and retail merchandising for an end to end supply chain management. Shabber is a passionate professional who particularly likes working in challenging and fast paced environments. Shabber is based in Ghana and supports all EAA teams and partner factories in raw materials identification, quality assurance and logistics.
Somduth Heeramun (Kailash)
Technical Manager
Kailash brings more than 30 years of experience in the garment industry in Mauritius, Madagascar, Benin and Ghana. Kailash started his career as an Industrial Engineer before as From an IE background, he has worked as Finishing and Washing Quality in Charge, Production Manager and Factory Manager. He has succeffuly worked with Gap , Banana Republic, Tommy Hilfiger , Zara , Levi’s , Hugo Boss , Sacoor Brothers , Dillard , J-Crew , Polo, M&S, Esprit. Kailash passion is to transfer the know-how to the youth and develop the leaders of tomorrow.
Farida Olass
Compliance, Impact & HR Manager
Farida Olass started her career in cognitive skills training and has now worked in apparel for 6 years, gaining experience and knowledge in merchandising, administration, marketing and compliance. She has a BSc in Business administration in management and is currently driving compliance at EAA and partner factories as the social compliance and impact manager working to go beyond compliance. Farida is driven to continuously challenge herself and learn new expertise.
Daniella Marilyn Osei
Merchandiser
Daniella is a people-focused person who joyfully brings her experience in Finance and IT to EAA. Daniella is creative and results oriented and likes shaping tools and processes to make them more efficient. In her spare time, she enjoys making her own clothes. Daniella is based in Ghana where she works on critical path management, sample development, inventory and logistics. She is eager to support EAA to achieve their mission and vision.
Joseph Manu
Logistics Manager
Joseph is a Certified International Supply Chain Professional and Manager from IPSCMI, USA.
He worked at DHL Global Forwarding, Huawei technologies and MTN Ghana, where he was responsible for managing all imports and exports. Joseph brings almost 10 years of experience in logistics and Supply Chain and drives cost saving and operational compliance. He is a vivacious and affable person and loves the multicultural staff base of EAA.
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Rose Amponsah
Technical Associate
Rose comes from Ghana and started her career in the environmental sector before shifting to fashion design and technology. She has been working in the fashion industry for the last 4+ years as a Marketing Administrative Facilitator and Quality Executive. Rose is a COTVET and CBT certified facilitator and has trained students on sewing and patterns. Her passion for women's development and empowerment led her to EAA. She supports sample development, quality inspections and training in partner factories.
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Manohar Mani
Product Development Manager
Over the last 18 years Manohar has worked across many product areas including lingerie, denim, activewear and tailoring, he brings a wealth of knowledge to the EAA team. His skill set stretches from pattern drafting right through to production support and he has developed products for brands such as Levis, Zara and M&S. Manohar really appreciates EAA’s commitment to training and developing local experts and the company's energetic atmosphere.
Felix Kissi Dankyira
Raw Materials Sourcing Assistant
Felix holds an MSc. in Logistics and Supply Chain Management and is an affiliate member of CIPS-UK. Before joining EAA, he worked as the Procurement and Sourcing Specialist at S-Sens Food and Logistics Officer at Maximum Impact Travel and Logistics. As a young professional, Felix aspires to grow in the fast-paced apparel industry where he assists in local and offshore sourcing, coordinate with functional structures at EAA and partner factories and maintains strong supplier relationship to ensure effective operations.
El-Freda Lartey
Assistant Merchandiser
Elfreda has a degree in Business Administration and Strategic Management and has diverse experience working in finance, consultancy, advertising and sales. She joined the EAA merchandising department in 2021 and works on critical path management, sample development and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System.
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Justin Hendrix
Strategy & Partnerships Consultant
Justin is a Bain & Company management consultant who completed a MBA at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. He is passionate about the intersection between business and social impact and was inspired by EAA's vision. Justin has supported EAA to engage in and drive projects related to public-private partnership, technical capacity building, due diligence and cotton supply chain integration.
ADVISORY Council
The below individuals have been instrumental advisers to EAA on our journey so far.
John Connors
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John plays a key role advising EAA on growth strategy, leveraging his experience in investment, finance, and business operations.
John is a managing partner at Ignition, which he joined in 2005 following a distinguished career as a software-industry executive. John spent sixteen years at Microsoft in several high-level, strategic roles including serving as the company’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Information Officer. John is currently a member of several boards of directors including Nike, Splunk, and FIREapps. John was named to the 2013 Forbes Midas List, a ranking of the world’s top venture capital investors, and to Business Insider’s 2013 list of top enterprise technology VCs.
Lucy Quist
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Thanks to her incredibly rich experience working in Ghana and worldwide, Lucy will support EAA in developing additional fruitful business relationships in Ghana and helping us to continue to grow as a cross cultural organization
Lucy Quist is a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley serving as the Global Head of Firm Resilience. She is the author of the book, ‘The Bold New Normal’.
Lucy is a thought leader and the first Ghanaian woman to head a multinational telecommunications company as the former CEO of Airtel Ghana. She is a Co-Founder of the Executive Women Network, she served as the Vice President of FIFA's normalisation committee in Ghana. She is a member of the boards of INSEAD, Mercy Ships and Margins ID Group and also serves on the advisory board of Yemaachi Biotech.
Lucy is a passionate advocate who believes in harnessing STEM to advance development around the world by ensuring greater participation by young people.
Reggie Brown
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Reggie serves as a Financial Advisor to growing companies, supporting businesses to operate profitably and prepare for possible acquisition. His corporate expertise includes SEC reporting, financial planning, business development and M&A.
Reggie previously served as Microsoft's first senior finance executive of their emerging digital media group, building the analytical backbone for ventures such as Expendia and MSNBC. He has held diverse roles in high growth organizations including as CEO and CFO of two successful digital media startups. Reggie was recently named to the Board of Beneficial Saving Bank, a $1 billion community bank in Oakland, CA. In keeping with his passion for supporting education, he also serves as Vice Chair of the Ashesi University Foundation in Ghana and as Board Chair of Rainier Scholars in Seattle.
Brian Warshawsky
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Brian advises EAA on sustainability strategy and environmental impact within the whole supply chain.
Brian is the former CEO and co-founder of Fenix International, an African off-grid energy company which was acquired by ENGIE in 2018 (now ENGIE Energy Access). Brian oversaw the growth of Fenix from a team of 6 to over 1200 employees and 600k solar home system customers across 6 African countries.
Prior to Fenix, Brian was an early member of the iPod operations team, where he served as operations lead for the development and introduction of the iPod mini.
Brian now advises startups across a range of disciplines including product & service development, outsourced manufacturing, finance, and scaling issues and also Angel invests in startups in the US, Europe, and Africa.
Alan Kirk
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Alan brings to EAA deep expertise in global sourcing strategy development and execution.
Alan Kirk is a veteran of the Apparel and Footwear Industry. Originally from Scotland, Alan has spent the past three decades working in Product Development and Global Sourcing for large UK and US companies. Alan knows how to build brands, develop quality product and source all kinds of product for the best value worldwide. Alan is currently CEO of a US-based Global Sourcing and Product Development Company based in Seattle WA. Prior to this he has worked for Mast Industries (sourcing division of The Limited Inc), Lands’ End, Eddie Bauer, Filson and The Billabong Group.
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Jan Forest
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Jan provides invaluable guidance to EAA in the realm of customs and international trade law.
Jan has over 35 years of experience as a customs lawyer, working for the US government, in private practice, and as a consultant in developing countries. She has worked all over the world on issues such as trade capacity building, WTO compliance, trade policy reform, and customs reform. She specialises in areas such as rules of origin, customs valuation, classification, sanctions, textile quotas, and trade legislation. Most recently Jan has focused on working with companies in Africa to determine eligibility for duty-free treatment under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
Carly Beischer
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Carly advises the EAA Board on European sales and sustainability strategies.
Carly worked at EAA from 2016 to 2021 as Sales Director. She was initially based in Ghana where she focused on building collaborative relationships between factories and brands and driving sales. In previous roles she was responsible for sourcing from multiple regions for UK high street fashion brands. Carly also ran her own brand after university, starting at Portobello Market in London scaling to supply Topshop, ASOS and Urban Outfitters.
Auret Van Heerden
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Auret founded the Swiss consulting company Equiception in 2014. It provides consulting and training services on all aspects of sustainable value chains, including investment zones, human resource development & management, labor relations, and social plus environmental sustainability. He has public and private sector clients in many industries including apparel and footwear. He also teaches on a number of Exec Ed programs.
Before that Auret was the President and CEO of the Fair Labor Association in Washington DC from June 2001 to December 2013. From 1996 to 2001 he was responsible for the Special Action Programme on Social and Labor Issues in EPZs at the ILO in Geneva.
His 40 years of experience in value chains in different sectors and countries equips him to advise public and private sector clients plus
engage with stakeholders to build partnerships and alliances.
Richard Woo
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Richard Woo has 30 years of philanthropy experience at The Russell Family Foundation, the Levi Strauss Foundation, and Levi Strauss & Co. where he played major roles in breakthrough social change initiatives addressing anti-racism, HIV/AIDS, global social justice, environmental sustainability, and impact investing.
At Levi Strauss & Co. in the 1990s, he launched the company's global sourcing guidelines in Asia Pacific. Upon retirement "Inside Philanthropy" recognized Richard in its 2019 Philanthropy Awards naming him the "Foundation President We'll Miss the Most" for having "been a trailblazer in such areas as equity and impact investing." He serves on the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation board and the Impact Advisory Council of Tiedemann Advisors.
JOIN OUR TEAM
For career-related queries, please see our careers page for job details or contact talent@ethicalapparelafrica.com
