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Opening the Way: Progress on Tanna’s Feeder Roads

Australian support and local effort are coming together to address a practical barrier facing remote communities: the journey to essential services.

Work is underway on PBG Foundation’s Tanna Feeder Roads Access Project, supporting improvements to routes serving the Imarapu and Enkatelei communities. The project’s purpose is straightforward, to help people experiencing hardship and isolation reach the health care, education, markets and essential services on which daily life depends.

Announced in May 2026, the initiative directs PBG Foundation’s charitable funding towards the materials needed for these access improvements. As implementation continues, the focus remains on the people the works are intended to serve, not simply the road itself.

A relatively short distance can stand between a family and essential help

The project’s planned scope addresses two steep feeder-road sections, approximately 300 metres and 350 metres respectively. Together, these sections represent around 650 metres of targeted access improvements. Their significance lies not in their length, but in the difficulties they are intended to help overcome.

For remote communities, difficult terrain and unreliable access can place an additional burden on people already facing disadvantage. Children, women, older people, people with disability and low-income households are central to the project’s charitable purpose, which is directed towards relieving hardship by improving practical access to care, education, public services and livelihoods.

A road does not provide medical treatment or teach a child to read. But where access is a barrier, improving a road can help put both within reach. It can support a family’s ability to seek assistance, a grower’s opportunity to take produce to market, or an older person’s connection to services beyond their village.

This is the human purpose behind the work, helping ensure that the condition of a difficult stretch of road does not determine the choices available to the people living beyond it.

Australian support, grounded in local delivery

The project brings together PBG Foundation Limited’s Australian charitable funding and oversight with local implementation in Vanuatu. Its delivery framework assigns responsibility for charitable purpose, funding approvals and accountability to PBG Australia, with PBG Foundation Vanuatu Committee (Inc.) designated as the local partner.

For PBG, practical partnership means recognising that communities bring their own knowledge, priorities and capabilities. The role of charitable support is to help address the barriers people face, not to substitute for their agency or take ownership of their future.

We extend our appreciation to the people contributing to the project’s delivery and to the communities whose everyday needs give this work its purpose.

Progress with purpose

The project remains in progress. As work continues, PBG’s commitment is to distinguish activity from lasting impact: reporting honestly, listening to community experience and assessing how the improvements become part of everyday life. This reflects the Foundation’s wider approach to measuring outcomes through practical observation, community feedback and structured review.

The measure of success will not simply be the number of metres improved. It will be whether those improvements help people reach the services, support and opportunities they need.

The value of a road is not only where it leads. It is what it makes possible for the people who rely on it.

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Kimberly kovacs

Ambassador for Change and Good Will

Kimberly Kovacs serves as Ambassador for Change and Good Will for PBG Foundation, supporting the Foundation’s commitment to community resilience, ethical development, and long-term humanitarian stewardship.

Kim brings more than two decades of executive leadership across technology, capital markets, sustainability, and emerging growth enterprises. Her career has spanned roles as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, board member, and investor within both public and private companies operating in highly regulated and capital-intensive environments. This experience has shaped a disciplined understanding of governance, accountability, and the structural foundations required to sustain long-term value.

 

Her early executive work included serving as a founding CFO within environmental and technology ventures, where she led venture financing initiatives and navigated complex regulatory frameworks. She subsequently co-founded and led a SaaS-based equity compliance platform acquired by a global software provider, reinforcing her experience in compliance architecture and scalable systems design.

 

Over time, Kim’s leadership extended into venture capital and angel investment networks at a national level, including governance and advisory roles within innovation-driven organisations across diverse U.S. markets. Through these roles, she has supported entrepreneurs, strengthened capital formation pathways, and advanced disciplined growth strategies anchored in transparency, governance, and operational excellence.

More recently, her work has focused on sustainable materials innovation and regenerative production systems. As a leader in fibre-based biomaterials and climate-adaptive industrial hemp initiatives, she has contributed to the development of environmentally responsible alternatives to conventional pulp and single-use plastics. This work reflects a systems-level approach to sustainability: integrating agriculture, manufacturing, and supply chain resilience with measurable environmental outcomes.

Kim’s engagement with PBG Foundation arises from a shared belief that technological capability must be guided by ethical frameworks and institutional discipline. She recognises that infrastructure constraints and resource vulnerability amplify humanitarian risk, and that durable solutions require careful governance, respect for local sovereignty, and long-term stewardship.

As Ambassador, Kim represents the Foundation’s values in public forums, contributes to awareness of responsible philanthropy, and supports engagement with stakeholders who share an interest in sustainable, systems-based development. Her role is honorary, focused on advocacy and principled representation.

 

Her association with PBG Foundation reflects alignment of purpose: that resilience is built through structure, that innovation carries responsibility, and that meaningful impact requires integrity, patience, and institutional clarity.

Dr Regina Crameri

Director

Dr Regina Crameri brings decades of experience across science, government, defence, and institutional leadership to her role as Director of PBG Foundation.

With a background in biomedical science and applied research, Regina’s early career involved academic and research appointments in Australia and internationally. This foundation led into senior roles within Australia’s defence, innovation, and research ecosystems; environments characterised by public accountability, complex governance, and long-term national interest.

Over time, Regina’s work expanded from research into the design and stewardship of large, multi-stakeholder programs. She has worked closely with government, industry, universities, and international partners in areas including health, critical technologies, and capability development, where alignment between policy intent, organisational structure, and delivery is essential.

Regina has also held numerous board and advisory positions, contributing to governance, risk management, and institutional resilience across public, not-for-profit, and sector-based organisations. Her leadership style is grounded in realism: an understanding of how institutions function in practice, where misalignment erodes outcomes, and how long-term value is sustained through disciplined oversight.

As Director of PBG Foundation, Regina oversees operational delivery, strategic development, and program integrity. She ensures the Foundation’s humanitarian work is not only compassionate, but effective; guided by evidence, accountability, and a clear understanding of how complex systems behave over time.

Her role is central to translating PBG Foundation’s values into action: ensuring that ambition is matched with capability, and that every initiative is delivered with care, credibility, and respect for the communities it serves.

Aruba de Groot-Cham

Co-Founder, Chairwoman & Director

Aruba de Groot-Cham’s work is grounded in the long-term stewardship of institutions operating where law, science, governance, and human consequence converge. Her leadership reflects a commitment to building structures that endure ethically, legally, and culturally, beyond the immediacy of individual projects or personalities.

Her professional background spans advanced legal training, biomedical research, and senior oversight roles across philanthropic, advisory, fiduciary, and civil society contexts. With postgraduate qualifications in law and medical science, Aruba has worked extensively in environments where regulatory integrity, scientific discipline, and human outcomes must be held together under sustained pressure. This multidisciplinary foundation has shaped a leadership style defined by rigour, clarity, and respect for consequence.

Aruba’s early professional formation took place within biomedical research, contributing to internationally peer-reviewed work in oncology, lipid science, and infectious disease treatment. This grounding instilled a deep respect for evidence, systems behaviour, and the risks inherent in poorly designed intervention. Her subsequent legal training, including specialist focus in international war crimes, extended this perspective into questions of governance, accountability, and the protection of rights within complex civil and criminal frameworks.

 

In her role as Director and Chairwoman of PBG Foundation, Aruba provides strategic oversight and guardianship of institutional integrity, ensuring that the Foundation’s charitable activities are conducted lawfully, transparently, and in alignment with Australian regulatory standards. Her focus is on governance architecture, compliance discipline, and long-term defensibility, ensuring that PBG Foundation remains resilient, credible, and respectful of local sovereignty and dignity in all jurisdictions in which it operates.

Alongside her philanthropic governance work, Aruba holds leadership roles in national sporting institutions in Vanuatu, including serving as President of the Vanuatu Archery Federation. Through these roles, she supports youth development, cultural continuity, gender equity, and international representation, using sport as a vehicle for discipline, confidence, and community cohesion.

Aruba has lived and worked in the Pacific region for over two decades and is a naturalised citizen of Vanuatu. Her leadership is informed by direct engagement in communities where governance decisions carry immediate and tangible consequences. Accustomed to cross-cultural and multi-jurisdictional environments, she operates with composure across legal systems, institutional cultures, and geopolitical boundaries.

Above all professional roles and institutional appointments, Aruba’s greatest responsibility and source of perspective is her role as a mother to five children: Zsa Zsa, Zelda, Zeus, Zahira, and Zlatan. This lived experience grounds her understanding of stewardship not as an abstract principle, but as an obligation to future generations.

As Chairwoman, Aruba’s contribution to PBG Foundation is defined by attentiveness to what institutions often avoid: time, consequence, and responsibility. Her leadership is anchored in the belief that trust is not asserted, but cultivated; through patient governance, disciplined care, and an unwavering commitment to the long horizon.

Peter Bowman

Co-Founder, Director & Secretary

Peter Bowman is the Founder and Ambassador of PBG Foundation, established to support long-term, community-led development across the Pacific region through the application of Australian standards of governance, accountability, and practical capability.

The Foundation was born from Peter’s conviction that meaningful and lasting change depends on strong systems, ethical frameworks, and respect for local context. Drawing on decades of professional experience across finance, governance, and complex environments, he envisioned an organisation that would prioritise dignity, safety, and resilience over short-term intervention or symbolic aid.

Peter began his career in financial services in 1998 within funds management and institutional finance, working across private banking and advisory settings during periods of significant economic and structural change. Over time, he developed a deep appreciation for the role that sound governance, transparency, and disciplined decision-making play in achieving sustainable outcomes, particularly where resources are scarce and the consequences of failure are felt most acutely.

 

These insights shaped the founding ethos of PBG Foundation. As Director, Peter contributes by articulating the Foundation’s mission, championing ethical and well-governed philanthropy, and supporting constructive engagement with partners, communities, and stakeholders. His role is focused on stewardship of values, long-term vision, and the responsible application of expertise in service of the Foundation’s charitable purpose.

Peter is also recognised internationally as a peace envoy and humanitarian diplomat, and is a holder of a laissez-passer issued by the International Commission for the Protection of Civilians (ICPC). These roles reflect a broader commitment to civilian protection, stability, and principled engagement in complex environments, and align closely with the humanitarian objectives of PBG Foundation.


Through his association with PBG Foundation, Peter seeks to contribute to institutions and initiatives that leave communities stronger than they were found. His work reflects a belief that progress; whether social, institutional, or humanitarian, is built through integrity, restraint, and a willingness to invest in outcomes that endure.