About Us

Steve Killelea A.M is a global philanthropist focused on peace and sustainable development, with a long, successful career in high technology, international business development and philanthropy. Steve was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his service to the community through the global peace movement and the provision of humanitarian aid to the developing world. Steve’s deep commitment to peace has also earned him four Nobel Peace Prize nominations along with a long list of awards and prizes recognizing the significant contributions to peace he has made through his work, including the Phelophepa Peace Price in 2008, the Luxembourg Peace Prize in 2016 and Rotary International’s Award of Honor in 2018.
He is the founder of the independent think tank the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) and the Global Peace Index (GPI), the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness. IEP is a highly impactful non-profit and non-partisan research institute known for innovative analysis on the relationship between business, peace and economic development, used by many international organisations including the United Nations and the World Bank. Steve’s donation towards establishing IEP was recognized as one of Australia’s 50 most influential gifts of all time in 2013.
Steve has previously served on the President’s Circle for Club de Madrid, the largest forum of former world leaders working to strengthen democracy and is also a former honorary president of Religions for Peace, the world’s largest organisation working on inter-religious challenges. in 2023 University of Bradford bestowed an Honorary Doctorate to Steve in recognition of his significant impact as a humanitarian-philanthropist and commitment to positive peace and sustainable development.

Peter Dougan joined the TCF board in November 2023 bringing a strong background in agricultural livelihoods development.

Peter founded FarmPro Unipessoal Lda, an inclusive agriculture business in Timor-Leste which today partners with over 1,000 smallholder farmers and exports specialty coffee to the USA, Australia and Japan. Prior to this, he operated a rural business consultancy as well as working with Aboriginal enterprises and land managers in rural and remote areas of Australia.

Jennayah Patenall is a dedicated social worker and business owner. She worked in the disability and mental health field for more than a decade and most recently with children with intellectual disabilities and their carers. This included working as a Play Therapist at TCF's sister organisation, the Be Centre.

Jennayah earned a degree in Social Work from the University of Sydney, has undertaken additional studies in holistic counselling through the Hammond Institute, and has a postgraduate Diploma in Play Therapy.

Deborah Killelea co-founded TCF in 2001 to formalize the family's philanthropy. Deborah's passion has always been helping children. Her entire professional career has been devoted to working with aboriginal children, children with physical disabilities and behavioral problems. In 2008 Deborah set up the Be Centre, which is a leading mental health charity providing Play Therapy for children aged 3-12 years of age. It is dedicated to early intervention, stopping cycles of harm and helping children heal from difficulties and trauma, so that they can thrive.

Deborah is actively involved in both the Be Centre and many other TCF projects.

Peder has since 2008 overseen all aspects of TCF operations and he travels frequently to TCF project sites for hands-on monitoring and support.

Peder hails from Denmark where he obtained a Masters in Agriculture from the Royal Veterinary and Agriculture University in Copenhagen and was an Officer in the Danish Army Reserve. Peder had a diverse career in peacekeeping (in the Former Yugoslavia), work for UN Missions in Iraq, Bosnia and East Timor and global development before he relocated to Sydney Australia with his family in 2007.