Meet Our staff

United States

Phil Lilienthal, Founder & President

Philip Lilienthal founded Global Camps Africa in 2004. He was a Reston attorney Phillip Lilienthal, who, for 30 years, was the owner and director of Camp Winnebago in Maine. Mr. Lilienthal, who joined the Peace Corps following law school, started Ethiopia’s first residential summer camps in 1967 and 1968. Phil and his wife, Lynn, were Peace Corps volunteers in Ethiopia. Phil later became an Attorney-Advisor in the Peace Corps General Counsel's office, Regional Director for Mindanao in the Philippines, and Deputy Peace Corps Director in Thailand.

Emily Crowder, Executive Director

Emily Crowder joined Global Camps Africa (GCA) in 2010 to continue her work supporting children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. In her role as Executive Director at GCA, she is responsible for organizational and Board development, operational management, and the planning and coordination of fundraising and communications activities. Emily also works with the Board of Directors and GCA's partner in South Africa to set the strategy for Global Camps Africa and manage the implementation of its portfolio of programs, which includes residential camp and year-round Youth Clubs that impact more than 8,000 orphans and vulnerable children each year.

Prior to joining GCA, Emily served as the Executive Team Lead at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, where she helped facilitate the organization’s global strategic planning efforts, co-produced a documentary film about the Foundation’s work, and managed the Executive Office of the President and CEO. She received her graduate degree in global health policy in 2011. Emily serves on a number of Boards of Directors, including as President of the Board of Camp Kum-Ba-Yah in Lynchburg, Virginia.

mary giglio, OPERATIONS AND GRANTS MANAGER

Mary Giglio joined Global Camps Africa in May 2022. She is a recent graduate of the University of Maine in Orono, where she earned master's degrees in Global Policy and Business Administration. Before joining Global Camps Africa — first as a Communications intern, then as Office Manager — she worked at the U.S. House of Representatives, the Office of the Maine Attorney General, the Maine International Trade Center (MITC), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

SOUTH AFRICA

neo nkosi, Country Executive

Neo Nkosi is Program Director at Camp Sizanani in South Africa. He is responsible for curriculum development, camp, club, and internship program implementation, and life skills training. Before joining Sizanani, Neo was a program coordinator and head tutor at Phakamani Young Minds. His passion for solving issues related to disadvantaged learners led him to be recognized as LeadSA, Primedia, Radio 702 and CapeTalk hero for January 2017 and ultimately Hero of the Year for Gauteng (a province in South Africa). Mr. Nkosi is a prize-winning researcher on the topic of decolonization of Social Science in South African Schools. Neo holds a degree in Education from the University of South Africa and is an active alumni of the Young African Leaders Initiative Southern Africa founded by former President Barack Obama.

Kabelo Malefane, Camp manager

Kabelo Malefane has been part of the NGO world since resigning from his job as a diamond polisher in April of 2007. He went on to become a volunteer for the Elton John Masibambisane Centre for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children in Eldorado Park. It catered to children from Kliptown and Eldorado Park and ever since then, his passion for working, designing and implementing child and youth care programmes has grown. He was introduced to Camp Sizanani through Youth Clubs and he attended his first camp in March/April of 2008. He has been actively involved with camp since then. He has held several roles including a Team Leader at Youth Clubs and member of the Training Team at camp. He has also worked at camp in the United States as part of an exchange program facilitated by Global Camps Africa. In 2014, Kabelo participated in the Sidney J. Parnes Global Fellowship program, which helps emerging community leaders develop as creative thinkers and innovators, while tackling major challenges to advance the common good and improve lives in their communities.

DITLHARE MOKHEMA, SENIOR SOCIAL WORKER

Ditlhare Mokhema leads the social work team at Camp Sizanani Life Skills, overseeing the portfolio of social work cases, managing social work student interns, and implementing the organization’s health and wellness curriculum. She supports both the children and the staff at Camp Sizanani, and is responsible for the referral and follow-up of all program beneficiaries’ social work cases. Ms. Mokhema holds a diploma in Import & Export Management (Cum Laude), BTech Business Administration Technikon Free State (CUT), Bachelor of Social work (UP) and Masters in Social Work Social Development and Policy (UP).

NOMPUMELELO MDKHAWNAZI, PROGRAMS MANAGER

Nompumelelo Mkhwanazi is responsible for the development and oversight of all of Camp Sizanani’s year-round programs for orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa, including Youth Clubs, Young Women’s Empowerment (Imbokodo), Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship (FLEP), Youth Club Innovation Space, and Young Learners (Asikhulisane). Nompumelelo holds a Bachelor of Arts in School Subject Areas.

CLAIRE MORRISON, FUNDRAISING COORDINATOR

Claire Morrison is responsible for fundraising and marketing for Camp Sizanani. Before joining the CSLS team, she worked as a monitor for the Parliamentary Monitoring Group and as a writer for Analyze Consulting. She received a master's degree in Political Science from the University of Stellenbosch in 2021. Claire is a contributing author for Meer Journal.

HAPPINESS MDINYANE, PROGRAMS COORDINATOR

Happiness is responsible for the management of the Camp Sizanani office and the effective coordination of all program implementation. She has been a critical part of the Camp Sizanani team for more than a decade. Happiness is a Qualified Facilitator and Moderator and has completed studies in Auxiliary Social Work.

EMMANUEL tshabalala, monitoring and evaluation coordinator

Emmanuel (Manu) joined the Camp Sizanani team full-time in 2023. He is responsible for developing and leading Camp Sizanani’s monitoring and evaluation program. Manu holds a Higher Certificate in Archives and Records Management.