Seema Sodhi-Kaempfer

Seema is British-born and raised, with an Indian heritage. She has lived in four countries and countless towns and cities (plus one village). She speaks three languages (and bits of a few others) and has an international outlook, which shapes her beliefs about the world and her desire to contribute to a more equitable future.

Growing up, Seema became aware early on that opportunity is not evenly distributed. Raised within a culture where women were often treated as second-class citizens, and coming of age at a time when the murder of Black teenager Stephen Lawrence exposed the realities of racial injustice in the UK, Seema realised young that inequality is not accidental: it is learned, transmitted between generations, and embedded in social structures. From that point, education and independence became central to her life. She recognised that education provides knowledge, opportunity, and the agency to shape one’s own thoughts, beliefs and path. Financial independence creates choice, and having witnessed too many capable women constrained by a lack of opportunity, Seema understood that education was both her route forward and her means of empowerment.

After qualifying as a solicitor in 2005, Seema entered the corporate legal world, a space still dominated by white, male leadership. Rather than diminishing her resolve, this experience deepened her understanding of how bias and exclusion operate within systems, and strengthened her determination to address inequity at its roots.

Education transformed Seema’s life, and advancing access to education for others is deeply personal. She believes that talent is universal, but opportunity is not, and that removing barriers to education - by providing access to high-quality, equitable learning - has the power to open minds, expand choices, and shift life trajectories. Seema founded Project Educate to help ensure that opportunity follows talent rather than circumstance. She believes education is not only the key to better individual outcomes, but to stronger communities, fairer systems, and a more just world.

Outside of work, Seema enjoys travelling, cooking and eating diverse food, drinking wine and spending time with family and friends. She is intensely curious about other people and cultures, and brings this curiosity into both her personal and professional life. Seema is also raising her two mixed-race, bilingual children with her German husband, an experience that continues to shape her international outlook and reinforces her commitment to building a more equitable and inclusive future.

Danielle Francis

Danielle is British-born and raised and has spent nearly 30 years in the corporate world, most recently working closely with senior leadership teams in the telecommunications sector. When she was invited to join Project Educate by Seema, she accepted without hesitation, concluding her corporate career with Vodafone UK and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. While she greatly valued her time in industry, she is now excited to begin this next chapter and, most importantly, to give something back to the world.

Danielle’s passion for helping others began at the age of ten after watching a Blue Peter appeal about the Ethiopian famine. Deeply moved, she ordered a sponsorship pack, asked family and friends to support her, and completed a 24-hour fast. That moment became a turning point in her life, shaping a lifelong commitment to volunteering and supporting local charities whenever possible.

While Danielle does not have children (not through choice), she strongly believes in creating opportunities for the next generation. After many years in a corporate environment, she is now dedicating her time and energy to Project Educate, helping children and young adults around the world access a meaningful education. She hopes these students will have the chance to flourish and enjoy opportunities similar to those she was fortunate to experience.

Outside of work, Danielle enjoys spending time with her family, travelling, and exploring new cuisines. She loves long walks with her husband and their dog in the countryside, usually followed by a well-earned pub lunch.

Joerg Kopfer

Joerg (silent J, short for George) was born and raised in Germany in a loving and stable family, in a society without war and with access to strong public education. He is acutely aware that this represents a deeply privileged starting point, one that many people never have. For him, education was always a given, and it was precisely this realisation that made him understand how powerful education becomes when it is not guaranteed.

Joerg studied Economics (BSc) and Business Administration (MSc), which included a semester in Madrid. After university, Joerg began his career in industry before becoming Managing Director of his family’s specialist transport company. Over several years, he gained hands-on experience in operations, logistics, and the day-to-day realities of running a small business.

German history, and especially the crimes committed in its name, shaped Joerg’s understanding of responsibility from an early age. As a teenager, he participated in a youth exchange with Israel and later spent a year in Jerusalem completing civilian service in a hospice that welcomed people of all backgrounds. There, he experienced what genuine kindness looks like when nationality, religion, and social status fall away: and what reconciliation can mean in practice, including through friendships with families marked by the Holocaust.

Today, Joerg’s outlook is shaped by a long-standing concern about social polarisation and the recurring re-emergence of exclusion and scapegoating, often directed at migrants and other minorities. He does not see inequality as an accident of fate, but as something embedded in structures and systems. For him, equality of opportunity is not a utopian ideal, but a practical requirement for a stable and liveable society.

Working with Project Educate allows Joerg to contribute to a mission that aligns closely with his convictions: removing concrete, everyday barriers that prevent talented and motivated people from accessing education, whether due to financial constraints, geography, race, gender, or social background. He sees this both as a matter of fairness and, candidly, as enlightened self-interest: a future with broader opportunity is a better future for everyone.

Joerg lives in Germany with his wife and three children. Becoming a parent has deepened his sense of responsibility for the world his children will inherit, and his desire to be a credible example of someone who uses their own privilege to advocate for, and genuinely support, others. Outside of work, he enjoys exploring new places by bike, cooking and eating good food, and starting Sundays with a quiet coffee in bed.

Lorraine Smith-van Lin

Lorraine is an international human rights lawyer with more than 30 years of experience advancing justice, supporting survivors, championing the rights of women, and creating opportunities for young people. Originally from Jamaica and now based in Germany, she has served as both a Prosecutor and Parish Court Judge in Jamaica, dedicating her career to developing solutions that transform the lives of survivors and marginalized communities.

In 2008, Lorraine moved to The Hague, the Netherlands (often referred to as the City of Peace and Justice) to pursue a career in international law. Since then, she has held a number of senior leadership roles, including Director of the International Bar Association’s Hague Office and Legal Advisor at REDRESS. A passionate advocate for mentoring and investing in women and youth, Lorraine also served as Head of Fellowships at the Clooney Foundation for Justice, where she supported the professional development of early-career African women lawyers across seven countries.

Inspired by the resilience of survivors of Northern Uganda’s decades-long conflict, Lorraine founded Tallawah Justice for Women, a non-profit organisation that supports women, youth survivor leaders, and grassroots communities. Through this work, she has championed individuals whose opportunities have been limited by conflict, poverty, and exclusion. Lorraine has been featured by ATLAS Women, a network of leading women in international law, and in 2022 was appointed as a Patron of The Enforcement of the Right to Peace Global Advocacy Programme. In May 2026, she was invited to speak about investing in the next generation of women leaders on the International Association of Women Judges’ Justice Beyond the Bench podcast.

As Director of Programmes at Project Educate, Lorraine continues her lifelong commitment to justice and human rights. She believes that access to quality education is a powerful pathway to reparative justice, social mobility, and long-term opportunity for survivors and at-risk young people. She is dedicated to ensuring that the most marginalized and vulnerable children and young people have the support they need to learn, thrive, and build brighter futures. Lorraine is also committed to advocating for policies, pathways, and practices that address systemic inequalities and barriers within education.

Outside of her professional work, Lorraine is a mother of two. She enjoys playing Rummikub with her husband and children, taking long walks in nature, and baking her signature apple crumble cake. She draws inspiration from her mother, Lucille, whose resilience and determination shaped Lorraine’s own outlook on life after raising her and her sister as a single parent following the untimely passing of their father during Lorraine’s final year of law school.

Emma Ponsonby

Emma’s work is shaped by a long-standing interest in the intersection between human experience and the transformative potential of travel. Through Satopia, a company co-founded by Emma and which offers high end, purpose driven travel designed for meaningful impact, she creates journeys designed not only to broaden perspectives, but to foster meaningful connection and contribute directly to local communities, grassroots organisations, and individuals working to drive change.

She is also the founder of Elkemist, an annual philanthropy gathering that brings together foundations and donors to connect, collaborate, and support impactful initiatives around the world.

Emma brings over 23 years of experience across global e-commerce, retail, and entrepreneurship. Her career has taken her to major cities including London, New York, Dubai, Amsterdam, and Paris, where she has built and scaled ventures, developed strategic partnerships, and translated ideas into commercially viable, high-quality experiences.

Originally from a remote farm in New Zealand’s South Island, Emma developed an early curiosity about the wider world. This perspective, combined with her international career and entrepreneurial experience, ultimately led to the creation of Satopia. She believes that education plays a fundamental role in expanding opportunity and perspective, and is a key enabler in helping individuals and communities shape their own futures. Through her involvement with Project Educate as a Trustee, she hopes to continue and deepen this impact by supporting greater access to education and opportunity for the next generation.

Hans-Christian Kaempfer

Hans-Christian is a German-born business leader with an international outlook and a strong belief in the transformative power of education. He is particularly committed to expanding access to learning opportunities for marginalised communities, with a focus on refugees and migrants in Germany.

He brings extensive experience in business management, corporate finance, and strategic development. Over the course of his career, Hans-Christian has worked as a consultant, managing director, CFO, CEO and operating partner, contributing to the growth and development of small and medium-sized enterprises through buy-and-build investment strategies. His expertise spans strategy, business development, finance, HR, and organisational development. Since 2015, Hans-Christian has also been active as an angel investor, supporting early-stage ventures. Earlier in his career, he worked as a management consultant at PwC and held senior roles at Siemens, including leading Transaction Support for North America in New York.

Hans-Christian comes from an international family: his wife is British-born of Indian heritage, and together they are raising children in a multicultural environment. This personal perspective further informs his commitment to inclusion and opportunity. In his free time, he enjoys great food and drink and values spending time with family and friends. He is motivated to apply his professional experience and use his privilege to support organisations that widen access to education globally and create meaningful opportunities for underserved communities.