Team SafeDrop
John Lawler
Founder and Trustee
John spent his gap year teaching in Ghana, living in a remote village in the Volta Region where he worked to build and improve education in the community. Due to his extensive work in developing this community, the village made John a Chief of Development . On returning from his gap year in 1998, John set up the MAD Foundation. John has a BEng in Environmental and Ecological Engineering from Newcastle University and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Natalia Borys
Director (Ukraine)
Natalia has a degree in International Relations from Lviv National University. She has spent the last decade specialising in international insurance based between Lviv and Kyiv. As a Lviv native, she supports all administrative issues for MAD Foundation and is the Director of our Ukrainian Foundation. Natalia speaks fluent Ukrainian, Polish, Russian and English.
Maksim Yashchenko
Driver
Maksim studied at Taras Shevchenko Chernihiv National Pedagogical University. He has a diploma in ecology. After graduation, he worked for a year in the Mezin National Nature Park in the field of environmental education. Maksim lived in Chernihiv until the start of the war. After getting his family to safety, he has been volunteering as a driver delivering aid and extracting families in Chernihiv and across Ukraine.
Roman Sylenko
Driver
Roman was born and raised in Chernihiv, Ukraine. He studied at the Forestry College and became a forestry technician. He also worked in the construction industry, building complex facilities in Ukraine and abroad. After the outbreak of the war, he sent his wife and young son abroad and became a volunteer delivering aid and extracting families in Chernihiv and across Ukraine.
Karl Lowther
Driver
Karl served in the British Army for 15 years, and has been a volunteer helping military veterans, (SSAFA, Walking with the Wounded) mentoring young offenders (National Probation Service) and most recently volunteering with Shelter to help in the prevention of homelessness. Karl joined the SafeDrop team in September 2022 full time as a driver.
James Hewitt
Driver and Trustee
James served for 17 years in the British Army, including as a Challenger Tank Squadron Commander in the Gulf War. Retiring from the Army as a Major. James is also a writer, traveller and keen amateur sportsman. James joined the SafeDrop team in August 2022.
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Nancy Milesis Romano
Patron
Nancy is a musician graduated in piano and voice. Founder and Director of the Choir of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italy.
Nancy studied orchestral conducting in Kiev and is the Founder and Director of the “Kiev Baroque Consort” and Artistic Director of the “Italia Festival Barocco”, both in Ukraine.
For professional reasons, and then following her husband, who is the former Ambassador of Italy to Ukraine, she also studied and worked USA, Mexico, Argentina, Germany, Georgia, Ukraine and presently in Malta.