WHO WE ARE
Meet The Board
Chairperson - Loréa Rassool
Loréa Rassool, our founding member, is a practising midwife in Seychelles. Mother to a teenager and two young children, she is very passionate about reproductive health and ensuring that women and girls have the tools and knowledge to protect themselves.
Loréa has lived in many countries across Africa and through this experience has been exposed to the many challenges people across the continent face through a lack of access to contraception and education about health and reproduction. She is determined to support the population of Seychelles to improve their knowledge and understanding on reproductive issues and in particular tackle the increasing number of teenage pregnancies in Seychelles.
Loréa obtained her qualifications in France and returned to her homeland of Seychelles in 2011. Through her role as a midwife, she has first-hand experience of some of the challenges that women in Seychelles are facing on a daily basis including unwanted pregnancies, risks associated with unprotected sex and the resulting socio-economic problems. She has fought hard and campaigned on issues relating to family planning including a change in the law regarding access to contraception to minors, the availability of a wider choice of contraceptive methods and raise awareness on these concerns.
Loréa’s drive and determination and the people she has met on her journey inspired her to create her own organisation, the Elles Foundation, to tackle the many issues we are facing on our islands regarding reproductive health and the resulting consequences. In particular, Loréa is committed to empowering the youth of Seychelles through increasing their awareness, supporting them to make safe and informed decisions.
Her message is ‘Together we will build a better tomorrow!’.
Vice Chairperson - Raisa Saley
Raisa Saley is a barrister who specialises in Family Law. Born and raised in the UK to Seychellois parents, she recently relocated to the Seychelles with her husband and two children aged 10 and 8.
With a particular expertise in Child Protection Law, Raisa has extensive experience of the impact of socio-economic issues including poverty, neglect and abuse on families and in particular, children. Prior to becoming an advocate, Raisa volunteered with a charitable organisation in the UK supporting victims of domestic violence and through this experience developed her desire to represent vulnerable clients and support them to navigate their way through the legal system.
Raisa was involved in setting up a pilot project called ‘Stay & Play’, a weekly playgroup for teenage mothers and their children. Through this project, Raisa supported the young mothers to bond with their children and improve their confidence as parents. Raisa met Loréa through the Stay & Play Project and was inspired to get involved with the Elles Foundation.
Secretary - Jonas Dewals
Jonas Dewals is an entrepreneur with a particular specialism in Revenue Management. He is of Seychellois origin but grew up in Africa and obtained his degree in France.
As the younger brother of our founding member, Jonas was encouraged to get involved with the Elles Foundation. He was concerned to learn about Loréa’s experiences as a midwife in Seychelles and was inspired to support the organisation.
As our only Seychellois male executive board member, he is ensuring the male perspective on issues surrounding sexual and reproductive health and rights is taken into consideration.
Treasurer - Sarah Loyd
Sarah Lloyd is a banker and risk specialist with experience in economics. She obtained both her degrees in London, UK and currently resides in Zambia.
Sarah firmly believes that education and awareness are key to helping children, youth and adults make smart and informed decisions.
Volunteers
We rely on the support of a core group of volunteers to deliver our projects in Seychelles.
They play a very important role in supporting the work of Elles Foundation including supporting us with fundraising and donations, delivering talks and workshops, organising key events and upholding our values. Our volunteers are passionate about helping others. We are incredibly grateful to each and every volunteer for giving up their time and supporting our cause.