Thomas Bjelkeman-Pettersson, founder, managing director and acting chief technical officer

Thomas founded Akvo with the mission to inspire a global open source knowledge and collaboration platform for the water sector. A serial entrepreneur, Thomas is a computer software and environmental scientist who began developing software ventures in the UK and California in the mid-1990s. Thomas is acting chief technology officer and steers the team to harness the maximum potential from open source methods. He refines our methodologies and tools to meet the needs of financiers, field-based NGOs and global development institutions. Follow Thomas on Twitter @bjelkeman.

Paul Burt, programmer

Paul writes code for the back-end of the Akvo system - the software that affects how things work, as opposed to how they look. He worked in systems admin and customer support roles before moving a few years ago into Django and Python-based web development. Paul helps out with Akvo server infrastructure and has been working on our PayPal donation engine that takes and processes project donations through the site. Paul has worked in engineering and support roles for Adobe, Autodesk, the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology and the Information Security Group. He has a BA in Dutch from University College London. You can find Paul on Twitter @schlagerlout.

Oliver Galloway-Lunn, developer

Oliver builds the automated testing and release management tools that help the Akvo team maintain its software release schedule, so we can add new features to the system on a very frequent basis. Oliver has worked as a senior analyst developer in several major financial services firms, including BlueCrest Capital Management and Morgan Stanley, where he helped teams develop software that was more agile, higher quality and cheaper to implement. Recently he's also developed a number of iPhone apps. Oliver graduated in computer science and psychology at the University of Witwatersrand and has worked since as helpdesk manager, software developer and analyst. He is based in London. You can find him on Twitter at: @olixx

Gabriel von Heijne, co-founder and lead developer

Gabriel has been an independent software developer for 13 years. He works primarily in Python, the programming language upon which Akvo RSR is built, along with the website framework Django. Gabriel also leads the development and management of Akvo's web servers based on Linux/Apache and MySQL. He has been involved in a number of advanced software projects using emerging programming languages. He worked from 1999 to 2003 alongside Akvo founder Thomas Bjelkeman to build Zezame, an early AJAX-based application for web-based annotations. He has developed web applications for SEB, one of Sweden's largest banks, for Microsoft Sweden and for Gambro, a medical equipment manufacturer. Gabriel studied maths and programming at Stockholm University and physics at Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). You can find Gabriel on Twitter at: @gabrie1

Daniel Karlsson, web developer

Daniel takes designs from Gino and creates live, dazzling web pages for the Akvo system, using HTML and Django. He joined the Akvo team in late 2008. Daniel has been coding websites since the age of 13 and started his own company Fraction 4 straight from university. A skilled Cocoa and PHP programmer, his goal has been to build "exuberant and easy to use Mac and iPhone applications". He studied software engineering at Lunds University and has an MSc in International Project Management from Chalmers University of technology and Northumbria University. He lives in Gothenburg, Sweden. Follow him on Twitter @kardan.

Gino Lee, co-founder and user interface designer

The creative eye behind Akvo's user interface design, Gino is one of Silicon Valley's first wave of pioneers in marketplace-oriented web design. His finely tuned skills in branding, look and feel shape all aspects of Akvo online. Gino's the "ino" in "Zapfino", having spent his early career in printing and typography, working with some of its biggest names to create fonts such as this now famous Mac OS X system font. In 1994, he entered the nascent e-commerce industry and created websites, content structures and user interface elements for clients including W3C, HP, Sony, Women.com, Office Depot, Motorola, Netaid, Ingram Micro and Verizon. Gino achieved startling success at Viaweb, a pioneering e-commerce software company he co-founded in 1994, which sold four years later to Yahoo! His reputation was confirmed when he co-authored "Creating Killer Websites", Amazon's top-selling book in 1996. Gino has a BA in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University. He is based in San Francisco.

Beth Whiteside, quality assurance manager

Beth leads Akvo's quality testing process. This involves test planning, design, development and execution across all aspects of Akvopedia, Akvo Direct and RSR, along with support to create appropriate documentation. Beth began developing test schedules for document systems vendor Interleaf almost twenty years ago and has since led a wide variety of software quality assurance programmes for firms in California and Massachusetts. She worked with Akvo engineers Thomas Bjelkeman and Gabriel von Heijne at Zezame, where she managed a cross-function team of three testers and contributed to product design and specification, especially usability and testing. She also runs her own knitting instruction and design company, "seejaneknit". You can find Beth on Twitter at: @bethwaaa

Partnerships

Peter van der Linde, co-founder and partnership director

Peter is a co-founder of Akvo and has directed partner relationships since autumn 2006. Combining considerable field experience with a large contact network, he is a 'connector' between governmental organisations, corporates, NGOs and knowledge institutes. Peter leads Akvo's funding and implementation deals with international development institutions, banks, companies, implementation NGOs and other investors. He ensures that Akvo's first tools meet the needs of our initial investor and implementation NGO partners. Previously a programme manager at the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP), he combines technical knowledge of water management with the ability to mobilise an extensive, high level network of water and sanitation changemakers across the world. He has an MSc in integrated water management and disaster studies from Wageningen University. Follow Peter on Twitter @petervdl.

Kathelyne van den Berg, partner and projects officer

Kathelyne coordinates activity with support, field and funding partners. She helps Akvo scale its partner relationships smoothly, expanding the number and quality of projects in the system and helping partners understand what is possible. She has a background in the supervision and auditing of water management programmes. Before joining Akvo, Kathelyne was an inspector and auditor at the Inspectorate Transport and Water Management (IVW) where she analysed results and informed and advised policymakers and adminstrators in central government. She has an MSc and BSc in International Land and Water Management from Wageningen University and has worked on awareness-raising around irrigation and watershed management in field situations in Peru, Bangladesh and Jordan. You can find her on Twitter @kathelyne and she's based in our Hague office.

Luuk Diphoorn, project coordinator

Luuk coordinates Akvo's project activities with our NGO partners across the world. This includes identifying appropriate projects to upload to the Akvo system, gathering the relevant content from each organisation and sharing regular updates. Luuk also helps Akvo identify collaboration opportunities with other programmes being managed by the Netherlands Water Partnership, where he is based in The Hague. Luuk graduated in 2007 with an MA in International Development Studies from the University of Utrecht. Having grown up in Burundi, Burkina Faso, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, he has worked on several international development programmes including the World Water Dome in Johannesburg (2002) and a project to assess environmental impact at the IWMI in Colombo in Sri Lanka (06/07). For more insight on Luuk and his work, check out this recent video interview. You can find Luuk on Twitter at: @luukdiphoorn

Mark Tiele Westra, Akvopedia editor

Mark maintains the high quality standards of Akvopedia and organises the online community which feeds it, adding and improving content and helping others do the same. He combines technical knowledge on sustainable, simple water technology with broad technical editorial experience. Studying physics and philosophy of technology at Technical University of Twente, he holds a PhD in physics from the Eindhoven Technical University. Previously head of communciation of a Dutch scientific institute working on nuclear fusion, he also led communications for the European Fusion programme and international fusion experiment, ITER. On the Working Group on Development Techniques (WOT), at University of Twente, he develops and disseminates knowledge of simple technology for using wind, water and solar power in developing countries. He has conducted technical training on rope pumps in Nicaragua and Tanzania. He joined Akvo at the end of 2008. Mark talks more about his role in this video interview. Follow him on Twitter @mtwestra.

Mark Charmer, co-founder and communications director

Mark joined Akvo in Autumn 2006 and directs its communications. Akvo has a unique opportunity to talk more openly and directly than previous development sector projects. He ensures we tell the Akvo story in a discoverable way, inspiring audiences while managing expectations. He also improves how we describe ourselves to key groups. Mark has a Masters degree in Design from Central St Martins College and a BSc in Management Studies from Aston University. He brings 15 years experience running international communications for companies such as HP, Compaq, Dell and Apple and has been a senior advisor to world top 3 PR agency Hill & Knowlton for eight years. He is managing director of The Movement Design Bureau, an international think tank that researches advanced design related to cities, mobility, development and collaboration. He is based in London. Follow Mark on Twitter @charmermark.