MEET OUR TEAMS
MANAGEMENT TEAM
CEO & FOUNDER | Liana is founder, CEO and hands-on surgeon. A rare combination of dreamer and doer, she started Project Flamingo in 2010 after being deeply moved by the desperate need in the public health sector. Her idea captured the hearts of friends and colleagues and soon she had a trusted team to help her make quality and compassionate cancer care available to all. She went on to become a specialist surgeon (with an FCS (SA) and MMed (Surgery) Cum Laude from the University of Cape Town); achieve numerous research awards; and was named one of the Top 10 Health Care Innovators of 2014 by the UCT Graduate School of Business. She currently has a thriving private surgical practice, works at the Groote Schuur Breast and Endocrine Unit, and heads up Project Flamingo with vision and passion.
DR LIANA ROODT | CEO
COO & BOARD MEMBER | Lou came to the nonprofit sector in 2023 after 15+ years in the for-profit digital strategy world, most recently as Head of Strategy at a digital agency. She holds an EMBA from Quantic School of Business and Technology. In 2023, after losing her father to cancer, Lou-Ann decided to pivot, bringing her strategic and operational experience to a cause that had become deeply personal. At Project Flamingo, she has applied that background to building the partnerships between public hospitals, healthcare professionals, corporate donors, and volunteers that make campaigns possible, from care-bridging programs to large-scale catch-up surgery drives. She is passionate about driving impactful change and ensuring that the most vulnerable patients receive humanised care, and believes deeply in the good intentions of everyday South Africans to keep driving that change forward.
LOU STONE | COO
FUNDRAISING COORDINATOR | Nikki taught senior school English for over 18 years and raised three children before turning her energy toward Project Flamingo. Her involvement grew as she came to understand how much life-saving work depends on sustainable funding, a truth made deeply personal by her own family's experience of losing her mother to cancer. Nikki now brings her passion for people and communication to fundraising, helping ensure Project Flamingo can keep making room for her.
NIKKI GRIEVE
ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR
LOUISE VOLSTEEDT
HOSPITAL TEAMS
Meet our core volunteer teams at each hospital:
Western Cape
Tygerberg Hospital
George Provincial Hospital
Eastern Cape
Northern Cape
Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital
Gauteng
Flaminglet Student Representatives
Groote Schuur Hospital / University of Cape Town: Christina Brazier
Tygerberg Hospital / University of Stellenbosch: Nihaal Noordien
Logistics
Driver - Francois van Wyk
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD
Michelle Rennie
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | Michelle is a passionate ambassador and brand champion for Project Flamingo and has been part of the Project Flamingo journey from its inception in 2010. Michelle is the administrative backbone of the project that ensures that a plethora of details are taken care of. As a breast cancer survivor herself, she joined the amaBele Belles Breast Cancer Survivor Dragon Boat Team after her recovery. Whilst participating in an International BC Dragon Boat Regatta event, the amaBele team decided to sell their African team gear and happily painted faces in return for donations to be used for a breast cancer cause once home. On return to Cape Town, Michelle and the team serendipitously met Liana. They were so inspired by the passion and purpose of Project Flamingo, that they made the very first donation to the Project with the money raised in Canada on a live Cape Talk radio show. Michelle has been intimately involved with Project Flamingo since that very first donation.
Farzana Araie
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | Besides her role as non-executive director, Farzana regularly volunteers as an anaesthetist on Project Flamingo lists for patients who require vital Catch-up Surgeries. She first volunteered with Project Flamingo in 2011 when she was a medical officer in anaesthesia at GF Jooste hospital, and became very inspired to help patients who would otherwise wait for months before finally having their surgery. She and Liana were in specialist training together at Groote Schuur hospital in 2012, which further cemented their friendship and Farzana’s role in the project. In addition to her love of adventure and thrills (like horror films), Farzana generously gives of her time whenever her schedule as a private anaesthetist in Cape Town permits.
Dr Robin Dyers
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | Robin is a Public Health Specialist working in government administration.
Dr Robin Dyers is a public health medicine specialist in the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness, an Extraordinary Senior Lecturer at Stellenbosch University, and an Honorary Research Associate at the WHO-FIC Collaborating Centre, South African Medical Research Council. Robin completed a PhD applying Design Science Research to user experience in health data visualisation. He has published on DSR in digital health innovation and quality improvement, and teaches DSR and health informatics at the postgraduate level at Stellenbosch University. He has led the development of AI policy for the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness. He is co-ordinating the implementation of 7 new clinical coding systems across South Africa with the National Department of Health. His broader interests include health professions education, health policy analysis, geographic information systems, clinical governance, and decision support.
Marlene Strauss
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | Marlene’s sound legal mind has been a tremendous asset to Project Flamingo. Marlene met Liana at a cooking class she arranged in Barberton. They remained close friends. Years later she was inspired by her own mother’s journey with breast cancer to become involved with Project Flamingo. While initially supporting from the sidelines, she officially came on board as a director in 2017. Marlene describes herself as “an Attorney and Conveyancer by day and a Flamingo the rest of the time.” She deeply believes in the goodness of people and the capacity of each person to make the world a little better every day.
Philippa Hurley
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | Philippa is an Admitted Attorney (non-practising). She spent many years working in media and entertainment law but now consults mainly for NGOs. Her non-profit clients range from public benefit organisations to social enterprises to homeowners and professional associations. Philippa advises on starting up / restructuring, governance, compliance, grant agreements, intellectual property, fundraising strategies, B-BBEE, NPO registration, and various forms of tax exemption. She also consults with government agencies and statutory bodies.
Malerato Goba
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | Malerato Goba is a qualified and registered Chartered Accountant (CA(SA)) since 2011. With an International Executive MBA and currently operating in Financial services at executive level. Over 16 years of post-articles corporate and commercial finance experience, including 8 years supporting C-Suite executives include international markets. Previously headed group commercial finance at the JSE, providing strategic support to the group CFO and CEO's office for financial results reporting to markets and shareholders. Prior roles include a role in the CFO's office at Old Mutual Insurance. She holds intense competency in capital allocation, investment optimisation, economics, strategic planning, implementation & reporting, capital raising, M&As, advanced valuations, FSCA compliance, and cross-border deal structuring across financial services, energy sector, transportation, and FMCG. Playing an effective role in sustainable growth and effective influence in everything she does, remains at the core of how telling stories and building dreams through numbers and effective control, brings her great fulfilment.