Who We Are

Read more about our team and about our advisers in the U.S.A. and Africa:

David Murphy
David Murphy most recently served as Government Affairs Manager at the Valley Industry & Commerce Association (VICA), a nonprofit heralded in the media as "the most powerful business group north of Mulholland," that advocates on behalf of such companies as NBC Universal and Boeing. He also is Director of Political Affairs for the 501(c)(3) Society of Young Philanthropists in Beverly Hills, where he helped organize an annual gala bringing together 600 guests to raise $60,000 for Darfur victims. David previously supported CEO and board searches for Fortune 500 companies while at executive search firm Spencer Stuart, worked in Claremont McKenna College's Annual Giving Office, and helped Space Adventures during its unprecedented growth into the world's leading space tourism firm. Murphy previously maintained an office in the U.S. Capitol at the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Rules under Chairman David Dreier, and worked at the Kiev, Ukraine, office of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

David graduated with a B.A. with Honors in Government from Claremont McKenna College, where he hosted or otherwise assisted with more than 50 Athenaeum dinner & lecture series speakers, including Newt Gingrich, Jeane Kirkpatrick, and Anthony Lake. He is currently finishing a book profiling leaders who give back to society, featuring interviews with the heads of Southwest Airlines, Cushman & Wakefield, the Iraq Study Group, and others. A native of the Washington, D.C., area, Murphy as a high school student co-founded Hotline Communications, an internet startup that grew to employ more than forty people and was praised as "one of the best kept secrets on the internet" by the Los Angeles Times. Murphy has lived in Sofia, Bulgaria; Kiev, Ukraine; and Nairobi, Kenya; and traveled extensively in Europe, Africa, and Asia, where he met with business leaders and government officials on an Avery Foundation Fellowship.

Click here for contact information for David Murphy.


Robert Carpenter
Robert Carpenter served as the special assistant to the president of Teach For America, where he was responsible for the implementation of 3 national programs. Prior to this, he served as an assistant to Karl Rove in the White House Office of Political Affairs, as a research assistant at the American Enterprise Institute, and as the national youth chairman for former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Carpenter was the national research director at Students for Saving Social Security, directing research at more than 300 colleges and universities throughout America.
In 2003, he co-managed a California statewide GOP convention for Arnold Schwarzenegger, making California history by delivering the largest-ever political literature drop. In 2004, Carpenter became one of the youngest delegates in Republican National Convention history. In 2004, he also garnered international and national media attention for the Claremont Colleges by co-organizing a 3,000 person anti-hate and unity rally in 24 hours. Carpenter has managed numerous organizations and more than 10,000 volunteers. He has received awards from the Phillips International Foundation, California State Legislature, California Department of Education, and the U.S. Navy, Army, and Marine Corps, among others. Carpenter received his B.A. from Claremont McKenna College.

Click here for contact information for Robert Carpenter.


US-Based Advisers
Darrell G. Smith
VP Community Development & Marketing, The Africa Channel
The African Channel is an international cable and satellite channel based in Burbank, California, available on such carriers as Comcast, Cox, and on Sky Digital in the UK.

Before joining The Africa Channel, Darrell Smith served as Executive Director for Save Africa's Children, which has reached over 90,000 AIDS-affected children in Sub-Saharan Africa, providing them with shelter, education, health care and the promise of a brighter future. Save Africa’s Children was founded by Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr. in Los Angeles, and received $1 million in 2006 from Denzel Washington.

Terry Von Guilleaume
Owner, Destination Southern Africa Inc.
Destination Southern Africa is a leading provider of both independent and group travel to Southern Africa, with offices in Arizona and California in the USA, and in South Africa. Terry, a native South African, counts rugby among his side interests – indeed, he used to coach rugby at the Claremont Colleges in California.

South Africa-Based Advisers

We are privileged to have some very high-level advisers in South Africa, whom we will be announcing publicly soon.

Click here for our honor roll of donors.