Meet your People & Culture team!
Carel Bothma - Chief People Officer
Carel has served as the Chief Human Resources Officer for MAFI (operations) since 2022. He started his 40-year HR career in the chemical indutry and then worked in consumer goos and health care before occupying senior HR roles and serving as Interim CEO of The Salvation Army Aged Care. Originally from South Africa, Carel is married to Helen and is based in Australia. They have three grown-up children and 10 grandchildren!
The Chief People Officer will develop and implement MAF International's global people strategy, including building a healthy organisational culture, championing our Christian identity, recruiting talent, workforce planning, people care, HR systems and compliance.
Angela Harding - Head of People Care
Angela began her career as a High Court barrister before she and her husband Bill joined MAF in 1994. They served in Tanzania, Kenya, England and Australia before returning to New Zealand in 2021. During her time with MAF, Angela has supported Bill, together raised four children, and worked in a range of roles including legal work, communications, and organising and leading prayer retreats.
Outside MAF, Angela founded Cairns Street Chaplains in 2013 and worked as its executive officer. This government-funded organisation cares for people affected by drug and alcohol intoxication in Cairns’ nightclub district. She has also worked for The Salvation Army supporting people in the community and in prison who were struggling with addiction.
Since 2023, Angela has been the People Care Manager for MAF International, leading a team made up of staff from programmes, support offices, and engagement units. She loves being part of MAF and values its commitment to caring for the wellbeing of staff and families. As Head of People Care she will develop the function, ensuring that all people in MAF International have the wellbeing resources they need to be effective in fulfilling their mission task, and that this effective service is sustainable in the long term.
Angela volunteers as a hospital chaplain and is completing a Masters in Chaplaincy. Her thesis focuses on “Trauma-informed Critical Incident Stress Management in a Christian mission context.” She enjoys kayaking and fishing with Bill and playing with her three grandsons.
Lezann Louw - Head of Learning & Organisational Development
Lezann joined MAF International in August 2025 as Learning & Organisational Development Manager. She is passionate about helping our organisation build leaders, strengthen culture, and create an environment where people can thrive while delivering meaningful mission impact.
She is passionate that we move beyond seeing learning as “training delivery” and instead position people development as a strategic enabler of mission, operational effectiveness, and long-term sustainability. Much of her current work centres on helping leaders lead through uncertainty, strengthening cross-cultural collaboration, building future leadership pipelines, and creating practical frameworks that connect people strategy to operational reality.
Before joining MAF International, Lezann worked across Healthcare, Defense and Fire & Rescue environments, supporting leadership and workforce development in operationally demanding settings where trust, resilience, adaptability, and sound decision-making were critical. Those experiences shaped her practical approach to leadership and organisational development, balancing strategic thinking with operational realities while keeping people at the centre of change. She lives in Kent with her husband and two children.
Johnathan Fell - Head of People & Culture Partnering
Johnathan was appointed as Director of People & Culture for MAF UK in 2024 and has over 12 years’ experience as a senior HR professional, working on change management programmes in both the third and private sectors, with a particular passion for seeing strategic HR business partnering act as a vehicle to support and equip colleagues to succeed and thrive. His faith developed from an early age and prior to joining MAF his heart for overseas mission took him to South-East Asia and the Middle East.
He is based in the Folkestone office and lives in Dorset in the South West of England with his wife Rebecca (a charity CEO supporting refugees and vulnerable migrants) and their two children, where he currently serves as part of the children’s ministry in their local church. When not working he can be found trail running or sea rowing.
The Head of People & Culture Partnering will now oversee P&C managers, working with managers aligning their people strategy with organisational goals across the new organisation.
Christina Eugster-Leu - Head of People Operations & Strategic Projects
Christina joined MAF International in Switzerland in February 2025 as Chief of Staff, overseeing Human Resources, Finances, and the Swiss Programme. She also had the privilege of being part of the Integration People Workstream. Prior to this, she was a Head of Human Resources at an IT company in Switzerland. Earlier in her career, she worked in development cooperation in Namibia for a Swiss NGO, supporting the Ministry of Education in the newly established Kavango-West Region in her capacity as Management Advisor.
Christina holds a Master of Arts in Political Science and Management, as well as Certificates of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Personnel development and Risk Assessment and Management. She is married and has one son; she lives with her family in Bern, Switzerland. Christina is an outdoor and mountain enthusiast with a passion for international cuisine.
The Head of People Operations & Strategic Projects will lead the HR Services team, HR management systems, rewards management and oversee the delivery of strategic improvement projects.