The Ashanti Development Organisation is a 100% volunteer force. 100% of all monies raised go directly into development programs for Ashanti villages.

MARTHA BOADU (co-founder) came to London in 1984. She is the daughter of Prophetess Rose Fosu Adwoa Boahemaa and inherited the position of Leader of the Church of Grace International on Prophetess Fosu’s death in 2000. The Church now has forty congregations in Ghana and the UK. In Ghana, it has built and staffed three primary schools and supports many schools and orphanages. Martha works as a childminder for the London Borough of Camden. Her deep understanding of the region’s cultural, social, economic and political issues is crucial to the success of all the programmes we undertake.

DAVID WILLIAMSON (co-founder) has over 40 years experience in water supply design, operation and management and has worked with organisations including Save the Children, Unicef, Oxfam, MSF, ODA and UNHCR in many countries. He is now an Engineering Advisor for WaterAid, specialising in water supply, management and development, sanitation and hygiene education, and emergency relief operations. David is a Chartered Engineer and former member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and Institution of Water and Environmental Management. Publications include Water Supply and Sanitation - simple methods for rural areas (1973) with HL Mann. Water is the starting point of every programme in the Ashanti villages we help, and David's unsurpassed expertise in water supply and management underpins the success of everything we do.

PENNY DAVID (co-founder) Prior to establishing Ashanti Development, Penny was a director of Strategy for Success, a consultancy working to develop corporate strategies and efficient management systems. The company specialised in working within the supply chains of major clients in the retail, automotive and engineering sectors. Penny, whose early career was as a journalist and industrial researcher, has also worked at a senior level with the Cabinet Office and as Industrial Adviser in the National Economic Development Office. In 2000, her partner was diagnosed with terminal cancer and she retired to become a full-time carer. For Ashanti Development, Penny negotiates contracts, raises money, managing projects and acts as main point of contact.

In February 2007, four new trustees joined Ashanti Development.

• Davan Holt, lawyer
• Jonathan Reid, banker
• Dr Ashkan Khalili, University College London Hospital
• Dr Claire Walford, University College London Hospital