D4D Team

Sam Thomson

Dairy for Development Programme Officer

D4D Programme Officer Sam Thomson has over five years’ experience in international development. He joined the RJAHS in March 2020, to support the Society’s growing portfolio of Dairy for Development projects in the areas of monitoring, evaluation and reporting, and project design.

Prior to joining the Society, Sam spent four years in international development consultancy, working in business development, project management and monitoring and evaluation. He has experience with public and privately-funded projects in a range of sectors and has led research and evaluation studies for agricultural projects in northern Uganda and Rakhine State, Myanmar. He has also conducted project work and research in Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia and Ethiopia.

David ‘Dai’ Harvey

Technical Adviser

David ‘Dai’ Harvey is a dairy and market development specialist with 40 years’ experience working across Africa. Dai provides technical expertise and management support to the RJA&HS Dairy for Development portfolio across the region. He is also the current Vice President for Africa for the World Jersey Cattle Bureau.

Formally the Global Technical Director with Land O’ Lakes Venture 37, he provided management and technical oversite for multimillion dollar investments in numerous market systems and countries in Africa and globally, working with private, public and development sector actors. Much of this work has focused on integrating smallholder farmers into formal market systems. Dai is still actively involved in his home farm in northern Zambia where his herd of Jerseys supplies the local district’s towns. While based in Zambia, he was the chairperson of the Herdbook Society of Zambia and had great success breeding Dairy Championship winning Jerseys.

Sam Houiellebecq

Dairy for Development Programme Officer

Sam joined the RJA&HS in the Dairy for Development team as a D4D Programme Officer in March 2023 following the completion of his Programme Associate year with Jersey Overseas Aid and Ripple Effect (formerly Send a Cow). He spent time with Ripple Effect working in Rwanda, Kenya and the UK, in both office and project-based tasks. Sam has previously spent time living, working and volunteering in Africa, including in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and South Africa.

Lindsay Ellis

Dairy for Development Programmes Enhancement Officer

Lindsay Ellis has over nine years of experience in project management, having previously held roles across government, academia and the international development sector. She joined the RJA&HS in April 2025 to support the delivery and external engagement of Dairy for Development projects, and to coordinate cross-cutting initiatives such as the Africa Jersey Forum, which promotes knowledge exchange and networking among dairy farmers across the continent.

Prior to joining the Society, Lindsay led and supported multi-million-dollar projects in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and North America. Her experience spans large-scale education and agriculture programmes, as well as operational improvements in public services and higher education institutions.

David Hambrook

Head of International Dairy for Development & Advisor to the RJA&HS Livestock Services team

David spent his formative Jersey breed years on the family’s dairy farm in Sussex, England. Initially coming to work in Jersey in 1983 with the renowned Blanc Pignon herd, followed by five years as the National Field Officer for the UK Jersey Cattle Society between 1995 and 2000, David returned to the Island and has since been with the Society for over twenty-five years.

Bringing his expertise of the global Jersey breed scene to the role, David re-positioned to a workplace setting that sees him spending the majority of his time managing the Society’s Jersey Overseas Aid-funded Dairy for Development programmes since 2017.

When supporting the Society's livestock services, David covers a number of dairy-focussed roles. He acts as General Manager of Jersey Island Genetics Ltd, with the company facilitating and managing the majority of on-island dairy farm user technical services, whilst the company is also directly involved in the export of cattle genetics.