Meet our Team
& Partners

Max is passionate about market based solutions to Africa’s problems and developing High Impact, High Growth businesses. He graduated from the University of Cape Town with a BCom Finance, Economics degree before moving to London. Max spent over 5 years in Corporate, Business and Investment Banking, starting his career as a Business Consultant at Lloyds TSB and ending up as an analyst at Schroders Asset Management.

In 2006, Max returned to South Africa seeking a more purpose driven career, and went on co-founding Africa’s first social enterprise incubator alongside setting up an innovation hub for small businesses. He was also responsible for establishing the South African ANDE (Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs) Chapter, part of the Aspen Institute in Washington DC. ANDE is a global network of organizations that invest money and expertise to propel entrepreneurship in emerging markets.

Olusiji Aina, is a Development Economists and an Enterprise Development Expert. He is a strategist with professional competency in building high impact market relevant skills for economic development, creating employment and promoting economic growth in Africa. Prior to joining Cognity Advisory as Director, Partnership & Technical Services, Olusiji was the Technical Lead & Program Director, Income Generation and Livelihood for United States Aid for International Development (USAID) funded Feed the Future Nigeria Livelihoods Project in Nigeria. He was the Head of Operations for CBN-NESI Multi-Billion-naira power sector stabilization fund established by GoN.

Olusiji has over 20 years’ extensive professional work experience spanning financial inclusion, renewable energy, project management, agribusiness, enterprise development, human capital development, and 10 years of extensive banking experience in Institutional and Commercial Banking.

Olusiji is a graduate of Statistics and holds a Certificate in Enterprise Development through Value Chains and Market Systems from International Training Center of Turin, Italy. He obtained a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Development Finance from the University of Stellenbosch Business School South Africa, and EMP from Lagos Business School. He is a Chartered Development Finance Analyst (CDFA), Chartered Global Investment Analysts (CGIA), Associate, Chartered Institute of Economist of Nigeria (ICEN).

Olusiji joins Impact Amplifier as the Country Partner/Director responsible for Business Development, Stakeholder Engagement, and Project Management for the Nigeria Office.

Tanner has been working in the field of Social Innovation for the last 20 years assisting private, public and not-for-profit organisations to build a more environmentally conscious, socially just and abundant world.

In Los Angeles, California Tanner served as Managing Partner in Phillips & Associates a management consulting practice and the Executive Director of LA Works, a volunteer action centre, which develops and implements community service projects. Upon arriving in Cape Town, in 1998, Tanner became the Director of Source Consulting, a management consulting firm whose clients included the Independent Development Trust, Paraffin Safety Association, Cape Metropolitan Council, and the Jazzart Dance Company to name a few.

In 2008, he formed Earth Capital a consulting and asset management firm focused on: assisting the private sector transition toward a more sustainable approach to business; incubating impact businesses; and managing a portfolio of impact investments. His clients and assets under management have included: Spier, Nando’s, Africa Centre, iShack, Biolytixs, African Roots, Biogreen, and Greencabs, Presently, he is both a Director in Earth Capital and a Partner in Impact Amplifier. He currently sits on several boards including: African Roots, Biolytix, GreenCabs and the Africa Centre. Tanner achieved a Bachelor of Arts degree at Vassar College in New York and a Masters of Business Administration from the Drucker School at the Claremont Graduate University, in California.

My passions are in finding sustainable solutions to environmental and socio-economic issues whilst enabling economic growth, supporting societal development and improving livelihoods as a whole. I have an academic background in environmental and geographical studies from the University of Cape Town and my interests in current societal and global issues led me to further pursue a Masters degree specialising in Climate Change and Sustainable Development from the same institution.

I am interested in efforts towards transitioning to a greener, circular economy as well as establishing sustainable and ethical supply chains and networks particularly in the global South.

Originally from the DR of Congo, Papy studied Mechanical Engineering at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Papy worked for Lufthansa In Touch as well as MindPearl for the airline department for 3 years before joining Impact Amplifier in May 2018. At Impact Amplifier, Papy aims to shift from pure corporate work to more socially conscious work across a range of social enterprises.

Priscilla has more than 20 years’ experience, manages various administrative duties for Impact Amplifier together with all financial and operational support processes within the company ensuring a seamless and high quality of work.

Zuzana thrives on building cross-sectoral collaborations aiming to develop innovative and commercially viable solutions which advance our progression towards an environmentally and socially sustainable world.

Zuzana gained broad financial services experience at Leaf Capital, a corporate finance advisory and fund management specialist. She was instrumental in the strategy execution of its R4.5b commercial property fund and its sale in 2015. In 2016, Zuzana founded Danubia HI, focused on the conceptualization, development and hands-on support of high impact investment projects.

Zuzana led the development of the TWAMISA Industry Waste Tyre Management Plan, a first-of-its-kind nationwide strategy for the management of mining tyre waste for the Department of Environmental Affairs and the mining sector, including the application of innovative impact finance models and inclusion of the mining communities in sustainable economic activity. Zuzana has worked with a range of stakeholders in both the public and private sectors. She graduated from the University of Cape Town and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2009.

Nnamdi is an entrepreneur and investment professional with a Bachelors of Engineering degree in Civil Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration from IE Business School, Madrid. Over the past three years, he has actively worked with start-ups towards building MVPs, fundraising and early stage business development; ranging from a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) distribution venture that provides clean energy to homes, to a mobile based microfinance platform for SMEs and, most recently, a robo-advisory to enable young Africans invest in local and foreign bonds.

Sandra has an in-depth understanding of challenges faced by entrepreneurs and SMMEs given her extensive experience in Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment “B-BBEE” and Corporate Social Investment “CSI” consulting. She engaged with entrepreneurs/SMMEs, evaluated various SMME programmes, and advised clients on how best to grow and develop their beneficiaries. As part of her MBA programme, Sandra did a consultancy project whereby she helped devise an appropriate strategy for a UK firm seeking to support SMMEs in South Africa. She is also currently enrolled in the final level of the CFA programme (i.e. level 3 CFA candidate) and looking to facilitate impactful SMME investments and support by leveraging learnings from her consulting and academic experiences; particularly critical, technical, and economic thinking in a way that adds value to entrepreneurs & SMMEs.

Lorryn has been working in the social science research field for the past 7 years.  Her previous research  experience lies in the higher education sector, financial  services sector as well  as the South African non-profit sector. She has conducted institutional  transformation research at  Stellenbosch  University related to promoting a healthy institutional culture and the promotion of gender equality in the career progress of female staff. In 2017 she started her career as a research analyst in the financial services sector  where she worked as part of an in-house research team at  MMI Holdings (MomentumMetropolitan) studying financial advisor productivity, conducting product  landing evaluations and competitor research. She is currently conducting a doctoral research study on the emergence of the social  enterprise model in South  Africa with a strong focus on impact measurement for social  enterprises. She has a burning passion for the non-profit sector and  has been voluntarily serving  on the management committee of George Child and Family Welfare for the past  two years. Lorryn is a very  curious researcher who has accrued experience in a variety of research methods including both qualitative and quantitative analysis.  She also enjoys teaching social theory to university students who  are interested in pursuing a career in the social  sciences. She currently holds a MA (Sociology) from Stellenbosch  University.