Lucy Hobgood-Brown spends more time in the air or in dugout canoes than she does in her adopted Australian home.  After careers as both a journalist and university educator, her interests evolved into community development work where she’s currently using more than 25 years of communication management skills to foster capacity-building projects in China and the Democratic Republic of Congo (where she grew up).

“My network of women friends has been a huge help to me,” she says, “sharing their skills and resources to support the efforts of marginalized women.  This support from sisters they have never met is so heartening to Congolese women.”  The globetrotter’s projects involve occasional Congo Canoe Challenges on behalf of HandUp Congo, the non-profit she co-founded with sister Anne Zolnor and Betsy Brill (see profile). Betsy is another Director of HandUp Congo who isn’t daunted by much of anything. Their non-profit serves as a liaison between local Congolese communities and grassroots NGOs in the DRC, linking them with outside donors and/or partners.  For details see www.handupcongo.org.

Now you might think dugout canoes are a challenging way to travel in a country involved in ongoing civil conflicts, but Lucy claims it’s not dangerous — just hot, muggy and buggy. When she’s not involved in poverty alleviation projects in developing countries, she lives in Sydney, Australia where she enjoys hiking with her husband and golden retriever on her kangaroo-filled country property, camping in Australia’s national parks and sampling the country’s multi-cultural cuisine. An Australian-American dual citizen, Lucy has Masters degrees in International Communication and International Social Development.