Chaeli was born with cerebral palsy , but did not let that stop her ambitions in any way! At 28, she has an MPhil in Human Rights Law from UCT, a self-published book titled Unapologetically Able and is a ground-breaking inclusion/disability rights activist. Chaeli is not only book smart, but she is also an active adventurer and adaptive athlete, being the first female quadriplegic to summit Mt Kilimanjaro and the 1st wheelchair athlete to finish Comrades Marathon in 2016 and get back-to-back medals in 2017.

In 2004, at only 9 years old, Chaeli, her sister Erin (11), and their 3 lifelong friends – the Terry sisters (6-12) – started The Chaeli Campaign in an effort to raise funds for Chaeli’s 1st motorised wheelchair. 19 years later they continue to positively impact the lives of 9000 + people every year through the 4 programmes that they run. On 1 March 2022, Chaeli resigned from the Board and accepted the role of Manager of Relationships and Funding at The Chaeli Campaign. In her words: “It’s my job to make friends and make money”.

They then started our Pay-It-Forward Ambassadors Programme in Cape Town in 2009 to continue growing young social leaders and maintain the voice of youth leaders in our organisation. This Leadership through social entrepreneurship programme grows conversations around leadership, communication, active citizenship and social innovation/entrepreneurship with the expectation that our ambassadors (between the ages of 10 and 17) each runs his/her own social project each year, either as a group or as an individual. The 2nd ambassador group, Bloemfontein, was created in 2010 and has been hosted by St Andrew’s School since its inception. This year, they also rolled out the programme at Tswellang School for the Disabled. Please see the attached Executive Summary for more info on The Chaeli Campaign.

Chaeli’s next madcap adventure is the 7in7 Challenge: 6 x Comrades Marathon runs (starting in Jhb on Monday 5 June to finish in Pietermaritzburg) in 6 days and then finishing with the actual Comrades on Day 7: 11 June 2023. Gerry, Chaeli's friend, ran the Comrades with her in 2022 and with Bloemfontein being so special to her,  she intends on basing 2 days of the 7in7 run in and around Bloemfontein, with the hope that students, scholars and runners from all over the city will come to run with Team Beastie on 6 and 7 June. 

For more information and to find out how you can get involved and lend a helping hand where possible, visit the Chaeli Foundation website by clicking here.