ABOUT US
OUR MISSION
ALPS Resilience is committed to helping migrant and local communities in Africa overcome the challenges of forced migration by strengthening community resilience.
ALPS Resilience was founded in 2015 to serve communities negatively impacted by conflict and displacement by designing custom interventions that focus on empowering migrants, promoting integration, fostering social cohesion and preventing violence. We began by working with the Somali diaspora community in South Africa’s Western Cape, providing free English and computer classes to refugees and asylum seekers while strengthening the capacity of our community-based partner.
Today, our organisation supports a comprehensive resilience programme with projects in forced migration and violence prevention, in particular violent extremism. ALPS Resilience is currently implementing projects in Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, and Tanzania.
OUR AREAS OF FOCUS
RESEARCH
We drive innovative research initiatives, implement surveys, and conduct community assessments on migration and violence prevention in Africa.
RESILIENCE BUILDING
We partner with community-based organisations to implement programmes that emphasise beneficiary participation and partner capacity-building.
ADVOCACY
We advocate for policies and practice at the national and international level that reflect the best principles of international humanitarian and human rights law.
How do we define RESILIENCE?
Resilience refers to a community’s ability to withstand or recover from adverse situations, be it environmental disaster, conflict or radicalization. From our experience in the field, we advocate resilience as the critical lens through which to implement and measure stabilization and development projects.
OUR TEAM
Dave Bax
Dave has over thirty years of experience in crisis recovery, particularly in program development and explosives management, including in high-risk areas and ongoing conflict zones. Before founding ALPS Resilience, Dave worked extensively in field missions for the United Nations in Somalia, Israel and Gaza, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Bosnia.
Phoebe Sibomana
Phoebe provides administrative support to the ALPS team. She holds an honours in community development studies from the University of the Western Cape. She comes with years of experience in working within non-profit organisations. She hopes to use her skills and experience to further ALPS's mission.
James van der Merwe
James oversees all financial matters at ALPS and an integral member of the team. He is a qualified and experienced financial manager who offers a wealth of experience from the corporate sector, spanning almost twenty years. His knowledge and skills in NGO finance, HR management, and risk management are an asset to ALPS.
Lea Koekemoer
Lea joined ALPS in 2019 as a Programme Officer, overseeing ALPS’s forced migration projects. Her areas of expertise include gender and migration. Lea is in the process of completing her MA in International Studies from the University of Stellenbosch, for which she is conducting research on the conditions of precarity, among detained migrants in South Africa. She has a background in community building projects with the University of Stellenbosch.
Dave Bax
Founder & Director
James van der Merwe
Financial Manager
Lea Koekemoer
Programme Officer
Victor Sapong
Victor joined the ALPS team to focus on issues relating to preventing violent extremism in Africa. He recently completed his honours degree in International Studies, and is currently a Masters candidate in Security and African Studies at the Military Academy of Stellenbosch University. His research interests include the linkages between security and development, countering violent extremism, and crisis and security management.
Victor Sapong
CVE/PVE
Christopher Whakatope
As Country Manager, Chris supervises project staff in the performance of their respective duties and ensures that there are clear and concise working arrangements with local partners in Mozambique. He is also responsible for preparing progress, annual and other reports that may be required by the stakeholders in conjunction with the Head Office based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Christopher Whakatope
Country Manager
Lwando Nonkenyana
Lwando is a Finance Clerk at ALPS, responsible for all documents related to financial reporting. He prepares controls for all documentation with regards to authorisations of payments, receipts, purchase orders, and verifying other financial data. Lwando has a National Diploma in accounting from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and is in the process of completing his BTech degree in Internal Auditing.
Lwando Nonkenyana
Finance Clerk
