Advisory Council

Bonnie Pfeifer Evans

Bonnie is an entrepreneur, fashion model and philanthropist, as well as an award-winning associate real estate broker for the Corcoran Real Estate Group. Her passion for Africa stems from travel to 19 countries in Africa for modeling, vacation and philanthropy. Bonnie was born in Maryland, the second of seven children. She was “discovered” in high school by the Washington Post and was a finalist in the nationally televised “Model of the Year” contest, launching her modeling career. Bonnie was the Founding Director of the industry’s first non-profit organization, the “DISHES Project for Pediatric AIDS”. For ten years, she worked to generate funding and awareness for direct care supporting children and families impacted by HIV/AIDS. In 1998 DISHES merged with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the nation’s leading industry-related AIDS organization. Bonnie launched their Children & Families Initiative, still a successful part of the Broadway Cares National Grants Program.

Winifred (Wini) Kinney

Wini earned her BA at Dartmouth College, an MBA at Stanford University. Currently a retired
mother of six grown young men, Wini’s prior career included work in finance, operations, and
marketing for both global and closely held businesses. She has served on corporate as well as
non-profit boards. Wini has lived in New York City, Palo Alto, Dallas, Miami and Madrid and
she enjoys immersing herself in new cultures and outdoor experiences.

Wini and her husband’s philanthropic efforts have shifted from education to small community
assistance. They recently helped build a new EMT/Fire station in rural New Hampshire and
expanded its reach significantly through improved communications technology. They have
funded a small community’s ice rink. Wini volunteers at the DHMC addiction treatment center.
Wini has visited eight African countries and is particularly drawn to Empowers Africa’s human
empowerment endeavors in leadership, community and public health. A recent trip to Southern
Africa engendered a strong desire to conserve and protect its wild life and its habitat.

Dana Macy

Dana Macy resides in New Jersey and Wyoming and was raised in Mendham, NJ and Northern Wisconsin. Dana’s husband, Eric and her three children share her passion for Africa. Over the past two years they have traveled to Uganda, Tanzania, Namibia, Egypt, South Africa and Climbed Kilimanjaro. Dana recently visited Mozambique with Empowers Africa in addition to her heartfelt involvement with an orphanage in Uganda.

Dana is a graduate from Denison University where she continues on the Denison Alumni Recruit Team. After college, Dana worked for Senator Timothy Wirth (D-Colorado) in Washington, D.C., then F. Eberstadt Investment Banking NYC for 2 years in Institutional Equity Sales, then joining Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Investment Banking Firm as VP Institutional Equity Sales where she worked for 15 years.

Her athletic interests include being an avid hiker, heli-skiing, ice hockey, running the NY City Marathon, trekking in Bhutan, Photography and most recently, twelve months traveling around the world with her husband and three children.

Frances Schultz

Journalist, tastemaker, television personality, world traveler, hostess, cook, Southerner, Sunday painter, fledgling gardener and outdoors lover, Frances Schultz is an enthusiast on a variety of topics–decoration and design, food and entertaining, culture and style. She is author and co-author of several books, including A House in the South, and was for six years on-air host of the award-winning cable television show Southern Living Presents. A contributing editor to House Beautiful magazine and former editor-at-large for Veranda, she contributes also to the prestigious travel website Indagare and has written for numerous others, including Town & Country and the New York Social Diary. Frances has appeared on such programs as The Today Show, CNN’s Open House, The Christopher Lowell Show, The Nate Berkus Show and Turner South’s Home Plate. She also maintains a very active blog www.francesschultz.com. Civic-minded and community-involved, Frances serves on the boards of the Horticultural Society of New York, and the North Carolina Society of New York. Schultz is a former trustee of Africa Foundation(USA). Born and raised in the small town of Tarboro, North Carolina, Frances graduated from St. Mary’s School with honors and from the University of Virginia with distinction. She lives in Manhattan and East Hampton, with frequent visits to the Santa Ynez Valley of California. Frances has a real passion for Africa – she has traveled extensively in southern Africa, including pre and post-Apartheid South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.

Nicci Young Wiese

Advisory Council Emeritus

With over 20 years experience in luxury and responsible eco-tourism, Nicci is currently President of Young Safaris, focusing on authentic travel to Africa. Nicci grew up in South Africa and France and obtained a BA from Tufts University and a Masters from The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy in Economic Development and International Environmental Policy. In 1992 she joined andBeyond (previously CCAfrica) to establish the Africa Foundation as its corporate social responsibility program and thereafter as an independent foundation which continues to serve as a model for conservation-based community development. As CCAfrica grew, Nicci joined the Corporate Development team managing new projects for conservation and lodge development. In 1998 Nicci established and managed the Getty Africa Trust working between South Africa and London. From 2002 through 2006, Nicci was Executive Director of The Explorers Club, a centennial international organization promoting scientific exploration and field research, headquartered in New York. Following years of informally advising on travel to Africa, Nicci formed Young Safaris in 2007. Nicci served for several years on the South Africa and UK boards for the Africa Foundation and more recently on the US advisory committee. She has worked with and/or visited most of the current projects that Empowers Africa is supporting. She is based in Connecticut with her husband Richard Wiese (producer and host of the TV series Born to Explore on ABC) and three children and remains passionate about the African continent, its people and the wilderness.

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