precioussisterslogosmall.jpg

The Board of Trustees is in charge of the leadership of the organisation. There are 7 trustees, with three named positions:  Chairman (Gerald Maithya), Secretary (Connie Emerson), and Finance Director (Dominic Blakemore).  At least one of our trustees is preferred to be based in Kenya in order to monitor and manage activities in Kenya. Currently this position is held by Wallace Garland.



Gerald Maithya
Gerald Maithya

Gerald started his banking career at Barclays Bank UK in September 2008 where he joined as one of the members of the 2008 Global Leaders Programme. Between 2001 and 2007, Gerald worked at Cadbury in different commercial roles in South Africa, Nigeria and in the UK. After leaving Cadbury in mid 2007, he completed an Executive MBA course at the London Business School in July 2008. Prior to joining Barclays, he undertook a four month marketing consulting role at Duchy Originals, an organic and sustainable food company founded by HRH The Prince of Wales.


The loss of Gerald’s sister, Caroline Ndoti Maithya, was the inspiration behind the creation of Precious Sisters Charity in December 2005. Although Caroline passed away in 1985 at the tender age of four, Gerald has very fond and vivid memories of her beautiful smile, her chuckling and her sheer resilience and will to survive through all the constant hospital visits she had to make. Precious Sisters was founded to support girls’ education to support the path to success for many bright but poor girls towards achieving their potential in a journey Caroline had barely started.


Gerald is married to Angie Garcia-Forner who works in the recruitment industry. Gerald and Angie met at Rotterdam, The Netherlands where they both worked for AIESEC International, the world’s largest youth leadership organisation in which they had been involved in since beginning the university education in Kenya and Spain respectively. Gerald enjoys sports, politics and has a great passion and hope for Africa’s future.

 
Connie Emerson

Connie Emerson

Connie works at Cadbury leading the chocolate innovation stream for the UK business. Prior to this she worked for Cadbury in the Africa Middle East region where her love for Africa and all things African flourished.   She studied economics and social psychology at Cambridge University which is the root of her interest in people, their behaviour and different cultures. Connie has been a Precious Sisters trustee since the charity began in 2005.

"I believe that education is the key to every individual's future - it unlocks all sorts of opportunities and without it, one cannot make the best of himself.  I have been very lucky to have the gift of an excellent education, and therefore I feel it is only right that I support others in accessing the same thing.  Kenya is a place where young girls and women are in need of your help, and to be able to give these girls the gift of education through a small charity like Precious Sisters where virtually all the donations and effort ends up directly with the school is a real privilege.  To see the girls grow as they go through the school is very rewarding.  The charity has the potential to be self-sustaining in time, with the girls who have benefited becoming successful Kenyan women, who can in turn help to generate support for the young girls at school in future."

Connie lives with her husband, who is a donor to Precious Sisters, and their son Dexter. They love travelling in their spare time, and have been to many different places. They have yet to visit Kenya together but it is high on their to-do list!

 
Andrew Baker

Andrew BakerAndrew was born in Birmingham (UK), in 1959, and has worked in the food industry for almost thirty years, most recently as the CEO of Duchy Originals Limited, an organic food company founded by HRH The Prince of Wales. Previously, Andrew was Managing Director of the Africa & Middle East region of Cadbury Schweppes, in which role he first visited Kenya, in 2000. Since then, Andrew has visited Kenya more than a dozen times and has fallen in love with both the country and its people.

"I was inspired to become involved with the work of Precious Sisters by Gerald's passion for the cause and by his quiet determination to improve the lot of young women whose financial circumstances might otherwise have limited their chance of success in life. Education changes lives and creates opportunity. Precious Sisters can make that change a reality and I am very proud to be a small part of such a good and worthwhile organisation."


Andrew is married to Brigitte and they have two grown-up children, Ben and Charlie. They have lived in France for over twenty years. Andrew enjoys the theatre, social history, all forms of sport and has been a proud and passionate supporter of Aston Villa Football Club for forty years.

 
Dominic Blakemore

Dominic BlakemoreDominic is currently the Finance Director of Cadbury Europe based in Geneva having joined Cadbury (previously Cadbury Schweppes) in 2004 and having performed a number of senior finance positions. Prior to that, he was with PricewaterhouseCoopers for 11 years where he trained as an accountant and worked with many well known multi-national companies principally in the consumer products and industrial sectors. 

He has twice lived and worked abroad in France and Switzerland and speaks French fluently. Dominic is highly committed to the community agenda with his work with Precious Sisters as well as the Cadbury Foundation. He has travelled frequently to Africa. Dominic is married with two young sons.
 
Norma Boultwood

Norma Boltwood with Gerald MaithyaNorma grew up on a farm in Wales before embarking on her career in the business world. She obtained an honours degree in Business Studies & French at Loughborough University in the UK and joined Cadbury Schweppes as a graduate trainee in personnel management. Her career at Cadbury Schweppes spanned 28 years during which time she worked in Human resource management within the UK manufacturing environment, followed by an international role supporting the overseas franchising and export businesses. In the latter years, Norma worked in the global headquarters of Cadbury, specialising in talent management and people development across the international business.  

She was also a Trustee of the Cadbury Schweppes Foundation, the company's charity which makes donations to projects and partner organisations in the UK and internationally (particularly Africa).

"Precious Sisters is an inspiring way of combining my passions for Africa and seeing young people realise their potential, plus supporting Gerald's vision in a very personal and practical way. Providing education and support for young girls who would otherwise not receive schooling is a privilege. Knowing that the gift of education will be life changing for those girls and their families in the future is immensely satisfying.  And with personal connections to the school and the girls in Kenya, we know that the money is used directly for the intended purpose".

Norma lives in Wales with her husband. In addition to her career at Cadbury and her work with Precious Sisters she has put her coaching and mentoring skills into practice via programmes aimed at mentoring head teachers and coaching homeless people back into work.

 
Wendy Wilson Bett

Wendy Wilson BettWendy has a broad range of knowledge and experience in Sales, Marketing, Commercial Strategy and General Management. She has been working for the last 12 months as co-founder of a brand new company, called Peter’s Yard, selling Swedish traditional bakery products. Her previous experience includes working at Cadbury Schweppes in a variety of commercial positions, including leading a major change programme for the business globally. She holds a BSc in Economics from Birmingham University, has contributed to journals and publications on change leadership, is a member of the Institute of Directors and has been selected to become a member of the Courvoisier Future 500, which recognises future business leaders. Wendy enjoys coaching young managers and it was through her connection as a coach to Gerald that she became a Precious Sisters trustee back at its very start in 2005.


"Through education and schooling, Precious Sisters helps to improve the lives of girls with so few resources yet so much potential. It has been a privilege to work with Gerald and other like-minded Board members to establish this worthwhile charity, taking it from nothing, to where it is today."


"I'm very proud of what we have created in Precious Sisters and even more proud of the girls themselves, who grasp the opportunity willingly and flourish as a consequence. Through their education, we are doing so much more than simply giving the girls support today. We are building new opportunities for them to release their potential and positively impact others, for the rest of their lives. They are our greatest legacy."


Wendy lives in Shropshire in the heart of the UK with her husband and son. She enjoys fly fishing, skiing, oil painting, and entertaining, whenever she has a chance to do so.


 
Wallace Garland

Wallace Garland

Wallace is retired and lives in Kenya. He worked for Cadbury for twenty years, and in Africa for most of that time. He was the managing director of the Cadbury businesses in Kenya, Egypt and Nigeria. He first went to Africa when he was 46 years old, and was, and still is, captivated by the opportunity that exists in Africa. He understands the frustrations and dangers, but believes these are small prices to pay for the beauty, colour, noise, vitality, and optimism that surround you in Africa. Wallace became a trustee in 2006.

"Education is the single most effective way to get a child out of poverty in Kenya, and this is even more important for girls because they often come off second best. Well educated girls have great potential for making positive change in the country."

Both the Precious Blood schools are very well run and achieve excellent results. As the administrator of the charity, it is a pleasure for me to work with the Headmistresses and staff at both schools. The appreciate what Precious Sisters is doing for some of their girls. It is hugely satisfying when one or other of the girls does well, and we all know that we have played some part in helping her to achieve that success."

Wallace lives in Nairobi with his Kenyan wife, Muthoni, who is a fiction writer and owns a publishing business. They have four grown up children.