Meet the team

Our people

Who we are

The Australian Himalayan Foundation team is dedicated to making a difference in Himalayan communities. Our HQ staff in Sydney works closely with local partners across the Himalaya to bring lasting improvements in education, health and the environment. We are supported by our passionate Board of Directors, dedicated Ambassadors and generous volunteers.

AHF Staff

  • Alicia Crosariol

    Head of Fundraising & Communications

  • Alina Clark

    Project Officer

  • Allan Delaney

    Digital Fundraising & Marketing Specialist

  • Andrew Judge

    Chief Executive Officer

  • Corinne Stroppolo

    Head of Programs

  • Sharon Johnson

    Finance Manager (part-time)

  • Shusil Joshi

    Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning Specialist

  • Yangchi Pema

    People Coordinator & Mentor (part-time)

AHF Board of Directors

  • Peter Hillary

    Founding Director

    As the son of Sir Edmund Hillary, Peter is a life-long adventurer having summited Everest twice, traversed the South Pole overland via Shackleton Glacier and managed the first high-altitude traverse of the entire Himalayan range. Peter is an expedition leader, public speaker, leader of philanthropic missions, author and photographer.

  • Garry Weare

    Founding Director

    Garry has been organising and leading treks in the Himalaya for nearly 50 years putting him in a truly unique position to offer advice on the impact of change and development in the region. Garry is a former director and now consultant to World Expeditions, an acclaimed author on the Himalaya and a recipient of a life time achievement award for his contribution to adventure travel in the Indian Himalaya.

  • Kirsten Ridley

    Director

    Kirsten has worked with numerous purpose-driven organisations in Australia and abroad including Action Against Hunger Bangladesh, the School for Social Entrepreneurs, Caritas Australia and the Kirby Institute at UNSW. Currently Kirsten works with the Daffodil Centre, where she manages an ambitious multi-year, multi-country DFAT-funded global health program; The Elimination Partnership in the Indo-Pacific for Cervical Cancer (EPICC).

  • Heath Francis OAM

    Director

    Heath is a former Paralympic Athlete who during a 12-year athletic career attained thirteen Paralympic medals at three Paralympic Games. Since retiring from athletics, he has forged a career in the Financial Services Industry, holding senior leadership roles at both Westpac and the Commonwealth Bank. Heath is a Senior Managing Consultant at Mastercard, providing strategy and transformation consulting services to Mastercard clients in the Asia Pacific region.

  • Edwin Trevor-Roberts

    Director

    Edwin has spent the last two decades exploring how people find meaning through their work.  He has advised numerous organisations on people management strategies and worked extensively with senior leadership teams, especially in the health, community services and NFP sector. He is a regular keynote speaker and author. Edwin is Chair of the Advisory board and Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Work, Organisation, and Wellbeing at Griffith University and Co-Founder of the GNH Centre of Australia. He has supported AHF for over a decade including the design and delivery of capacity building workshops for the CSO sector in Bhutan. Edwin holds a PhD from the University of Queensland.

AHF Ambassadors

  • Andrew Lock OAM

    Acclaimed as Australia’s most accomplished high-altitude mountaineer, Andrew Lock is the first Australian to climb all 14 of the world’s 8,000 metre peaks. The AHF is proud to have Andrew as its first Ambassador.

  • Gabby Kanizay

    Gabby Kanizay became the youngest female to summit Cho Oyu (8,188m) at 16 years old. In 2022, at the age of 19, she became the youngest Australian to summit Mt Everest (8,848m). The next morning Gabby summited Lhotse (8,516m), becoming one of the youngest people to summit the double.

  • George Hillary

    George is the grandson of Edmund Hillary and has always been close to the projects happening in the Himalayas. George has been an ambassador since 2015 and spent time on the AHF Financial & Governance Committee. You’ll often find George at Melbourne AHF events, indoor climbing gyms in Melbourne, and when time allows, trekking and climbing in Nepal.

  • Heather McNeice

    Heather is a long-time supporter of the AHF, with a special love of Bhutan. She is a keen hiker and photographer and has organised and led trekking trips to Bhutan annually for many years, raising funds for the AHF’s education program in Bhutan. Her adventures on the Snowman Trek are the subject of her travel memoir, Yak on Track.

  • Jackson Bursill

    Jackson joined as a Youth Ambassador following his work establishing Neverest, a fundraising event for the AHF in which over 150 people walked or ran the equivalent vertical height of Mount Everest to raise funds for the AHF. Jackson hopes to continue to work on events and programs that will raise the profile of AHF.

  • Jen Peedom

    Jen Peedom is known for her gripping, intimate portraits of people in extreme circumstances and her internationally renowned documentaries SOLO, SHERPA and MOUNTAIN. SHERPA was critically acclaimed on the international festival circuit, winning multiple awards including a BAFTA nomination in 2016. The film became the third highest grossing Australian documentary in history.

  • Joe Bonington

    Joe Bonington is the founder of Joe’s Basecamp. His passions are strength and conditioning and the great outdoors. He has trained with world leaders in fitness, strength, conditioning and holistic health. He is also a trek leader who has taken groups to the Annapurna region, Everest, Kokoda, Kilimanjaro and Bhutan. Joe has a long family history of mountaineering and adventure, and he has broken new ground himself, being part of the first ascent of Danga 2 (6200m) in Nepal.

  • Mike Dillon AM

    Michael Dillon is one of the world’s leading mountain cinematographers and documentary filmmakers with 40 films to his credit. He was Director of Photography and Member of the First Australian Everest Expedition in 1984 and is a distinguished AFI award winner.

  • Richard I'Anson

    Richard I’Anson is a freelance photographer who has built a career on his twin passions for travel and photography. Richard has published thirteen books including five editions of the best-selling Lonely Planet Guide to Travel Photography. Richard was one of five photographers selected for the first series of National Geographic Channel’s television documentary Tales by Light (now on Netflix). He is a Master of Photography and represents Canon Australia as a Canon Master Photographer.

  • Tenzin Choeygal

    Born to a nomadic family in Tibet, singer songwriter Tenzin Choegyal draws on his Tibetan roots to create original compositions which uniquely express his cultural lineage. In 1997, Tenzin Choegyal came to Australia with little more than a bag, his Dranyen and a voice full of passion for Tibet. Over the years, Tenzin has created a successful international career as a musician, playing at such prestigious events as the WOMAD festivals as well as several Concerts at Carnegie Hall, New York performing with the likes of composer, Philip Glass.

About the Australian Himalayan Foundation

AHF was founded by a group of mountaineers who saw firsthand that while the Himalaya is a place of breathtaking beauty, it is also a place of extreme disadvantage, poverty and hardship for many. We have been working for the last 22 years to deliver long-term, sustainable change to the most vulnerable communities.