Shawn is a qualified architect who started his career in the development world as the Technical Coordinator of People’s Dialogue on Land and Shelter (PD) in 1993.  During this period, he accompanied numerous groups of shack dwellers on horizontal learning exchange programmes all around the world but focussed on India, Asia & Latin America.  After 5 years he left PD and founded People’s Environmental Planning (PEP).  The organisation started with a focus on the People’s Housing Process (PHP) and Shawn provided extensive socio-technical training to both communities & municipalities.  He has acquired a wealth of experience and exposure in people centred development over the past 30 years.  As the South African development context changed over the years, he has led PEP to meet these challenges and remains the Director of the organisation.

Victoria Mdzanga-Fanaphi obtained a Bachelor of Technologies in Public Management at Cape Peninsula University of Technology 10 years ago. She is the Social Facilitator for People’s Environmental Planning. She joined PEP in 2016 and previously had worked in informal housing which entailed informal settlement upgrading. Her skills and expertise on Informal Settlements projects in and around Cape Town has offered her a great opportunity to work with low income communities in incremental upgrading projects. These projects are multifaceted and range from supporting informal settlement in accessing basic amenities-water and sanitation.

After completing a master’s in human Geography at the University of Cape Town in 2011, Noah Schermbrucker entered the development field as a programme officer for Slum/Shack Dweller’s International. Over the next 5 years he supported organized community groups across Southern Africa (and further afield) as they advocated and implemented people centered development programmes. In 2016 he joined PEP and supported the organization in concluding longstanding historical projects in Ruo Emoh and Vukuzenzele. Noah’s role also includes strategic planning, fund-raising, reporting and documentation. Over the years Noah has authored several academic and popular pieces focusing on a variety of topics including gap housing, financing community driven sanitation models and new paradigms of local development practice. He remains an important and committed member of the PEP team.

Chris Palmer has an extensive history in consulting engineering (structural and industrial projects), having studied engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, and a post graduate diploma at the University of Cape Town. He headed up a consulting practice before opening a project management practice. Since retirement he has specialised in earthquake engineering under South African seismic hazards, producing self-study courses and lecturing to post-graduates and practitioners. Recently his project management experience has been applied at PEP where, as an independent consultant, he provides the following services: Project planning and management; Risk mitigation; Technical research and development and Enumeration data analysis.

Susan started her career as a junior bookkeeper for her husband’s construction company in Phalaborwa, in 1976. When she moved to Johannesburg seven years later, she worked in several positions as senior bookkeeper until she relocated to Cape Town in 1990, where she worked for a national credit bureau and collections agency as a Financial Manager.  In 1994 Susan decided to strike out on her own, offering accounting services to small businesses and single professionals.

Susan has been a registered Tax Practitioner with SARS since 2012 and is currently registered with the Institute of Accounting and Commerce.  Susan took up the part time accounting function for PEP in 2012, and is responsible for the full accounting function, all statutory returns, and financial reporting to both to the Director as well as the funders of PEP.