Lisa Lovatt-Smith has spent her professional career as a journalist and author. She was editor of the British and Spanish editions of Vogue and Architectural Digest between 1985 and 2002. Contributing author to such prestigious newspapers as The Times, the Independent or El País and has published thirteen books about photography and design.
After a trip to Ghana in 2002 to volunteering at an orphanage in the country, she decided to take a significant turn in her life. She was so moved by the experience of living with the orphans that decided to help in a more sustained and substantial way, leaving her glamorous lifestyle, and moving permanently to Africa where she founded the NGO Orphanage Africa (today OrphanAid Africa).
In its early years, OrphanAid Africa developed programs under the name ""Orphanage Africa"" for the purpose of assisting children's homes to be healthier and happier places for growing children, avoiding, if possible, the institutionalization of orphans and abandoned children.
In 2007 she began a partnership with the Department of Social Welfare of Ghana and UNICEF. Together they developed the Initiative for Reform of Care, a program with a duration of five years that has changed the way to assist orphans and vulnerable children in Ghana.
Consistent with the new policy they adopted, that placed the emphasis and resources on family and community care, avoiding as far as possible the orphanages, in 2007 they changed the name of the NGO to OrphanAid Africa.
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