Meet the team

Lesley Harris, Managing Director

Lesley fell in love with Uganda in the mid-1990s when working as a volunteer on a large international development project. During this time, she became friends with fellow director Byaruhanga Michael.

Aside from managing Venture Uganda, Lesley’s expertise lies in designing and delivering unique field courses for postgraduate students. She enjoys working with local people immensely and often encourages them to develop tourism initiatives that generate additional income for their families. You’ll find Lesley enjoying the rich nature, birding and conservation experiences Uganda offers when she’s not working.

Byaruhanga Michael, Logistics Director

Michael, or ‘Silverback’ as he is fondly known as by industry colleagues, is our Logistics Director and Head Guide. Native to Uganda, he draws on his extensive knowledge to give guests a rich insight into his homeland.

From an operations perspective, his amazing network of contacts and experience working in transportation, tourism and the armed forces allows him to meticulously plan and deliver varied safaris throughout Uganda.

Clients love Michael’s warmth, enthusiasm and vast knowledge of nature and wildlife. His ability to track wildlife is uncanny. You’ll immediately know who Michael is when you meet the team. He’s the one with binoculars!

Philo, Travel Consultant (Sales)

Philo is our travel consultant and has plenty of experience looking after our clients and partner tour operators.

She enjoys talking to guests, attentively listening to their interests and expectations so that she can create bespoke tour itineraries that are perfectly tailored to delivering our guest’s must-have experiences.

Incredibly reliable, Philo has no hesitation in going the extra mile to make everyone happy.

She is in her element designing wildlife and birding safaris as a self-confessed nature lover.

Joel, Travel Consultant (Operations)

If anyone loves tourism, it’s Joel – Venture’s Travel Consultant working on Operations.

Taking every opportunity to get out and explore nature and culture, Joel loves to learn and try his hand at new things. There is surely no one more enthusiastic about tourism than Joel!

He has great relationships with all our suppliers and makes sure they know what we require to give our clients that special touch.

He also works closely with our guides to ensure everything is in place for them to deliver a seamless holiday experience.

Outside of work, Joel is close to his family and keen to develop new skills from photography to technology. Oh and he likes fish – a lot!

Edith, Accountant

Edith is our lovely accountant and continues to study for higher international accountancy qualifications.

A whizz with numbers, Edith is a capable lady who has implemented some robust processes to ensure things are done correctly.

And someone who could be seen to have a serious demeanour, is in fact, quite bonkers.

She is absolutely in love with Ugandan food, dances a lot and has a keen eye for local art and fashion.

We can safely say that Edith is not definitely a boring accountant…which is just the way we like it.

Lydia, Executive PA

Officially, Lydia’s role at Venture Uganda is Executive Assistant to the Directors.

Aside from keeping our two directors in order, Lydia also contributes hugely to creating our educational courses, working closely with school and university staff and local partners.

She is very attentive and considerate to students’ learning needs, becoming a bridge between partner organisations, local community hosts, and students.

A leader in her own right, she is very popular and well-liked by everyone.

Despite her many talents, Lydia is humble and quiet but filled with an immense desire to help others.