Global Health LeadCrown Family Philanthropies
Thomas Cole has spent more than 25 years in regenerative agriculture, livelihoods and humanitarian aid work, with extensive field experience across Sub-Saharan Africa- particularly in Mozambique, Uganda and Ethiopia. His focal areas are food production system design, post-conflict recovery, agricultural extension, natural resource management and food security. He spends much of his spare time in these countries researching succulent plants, primarily aloe, euphorbia and sansevieria.
Currently he works as the Global Health Lead for Crown Family Philanthropies, guiding their strategic approach to health systems strengthening. He also works as an agroecology and resilience design advisor for global USAID food security programs and provides technical agricultural support for numerous communities recovering from conflict and disaster. He previously worked as the Africa Region Food Security Advisor for Save the Children and is a co-founder and technical advisor for African Women Rising, a community-based organization empowering thousands of women in post-war Uganda.
He has formally described several new species of aloe and sansevieria and is the co-author of the Field Guide to the Aloes of Uganda. He holds a Masters degree in Humanitarian Assistance from the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University.