MEET THE MANAGEMENT TEAM
DR LIANA ROODT.
FOUNDER | Liana is founder, director 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.
Michelle Rennie
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.
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COO | In 2023, Lou joined the Flamingo team after losing her father to cancer. This personal journey revealed the many obstacles patients face in receiving compassionate and understanding care, inspiring Lou to pivot from her role as Head of Strategy in the Digital Agency environment to overseeing Project Flamingo's operations. She is passionate about driving impactful change and ensuring that the most vulnerable patients receive humanized care. She is driven by collaboration and believes in the passion and good intentions of everyday South Africans to keep driving change.
Lou Stone
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.
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. 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.
Heidi Geisler-Steyn
Heidi helps with whatever needs doing at Project Flamingo, mostly focusing on the admin aspects, and keeping the website up to date. She heard about Project Flamingo from family and friends during Covid, and decided to help out where she could.
HOSPITAL TEAMS
Meet our core volunteer teams at each hospital: