Sisonke Msimang was appointed as Executive Director of OSISA in September 2008. Sisonke has extensive experience working on issues of human rights and democracy in Southern Africa.
For over fifteen years she has been actively engaged in issues of HIV and AIDS and human rights. She has worked for a range of bilateral and multilateral agencies including the Australian Agency for International Development and various United Nations Agencies. In addition she has worked in the academic arena, having done a stint at the African Gender Institute (AGI), based at the University of Cape Town. Sisonke worked for the United Nations Women's Development Fund (UNIFEM) within the Fund's Human Rights and HIV and AIDS Programme based in New York. The most recent position Sisonke held before joining OSISA was that of Gender Advisor for East and Southern Africa at the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV and AIDS.
Sisonke joined OSISA as head of the HIV and AIDS programme in 2005. She then moved into the position of Programmes Director, responsible for strategic oversight for all OSISA programmes. In September 2008, she was appointed as the Executive Director of the foundation.
Sisonke holds a Bachelors in Political Science and Communication Studies and a Masters in Social Science in Political Studies from Macalester College in the United States and from the University of Cape Town respectively. Sisonke has also published a number of articles and book chapters on gender, HIV and AIDS and human rights, including in publications such as the southern African feminist journal AGENDA, Oxfam's Gender and Development and Interfund's quarterly journal Development Update.
Grace Kaimila-Kanjo has held the Deputy Director at OSISA since 2004. She has a combination of educational qualifications in the fields of Education and Communication Studies.
Her professional experience spans over twenty years in various capacities in Southern Africa and globally. She has been a program producer with a public broadcasting institution, a school teacher, a faculty member in a university, a programme manager in the United Nations System and most recently served as Education Programme Manager for OSISA before assuming the position of Deputy Director. Grace has wide experience in management and organisational development in multicultural settings in different countries in Southern Africa spanning the areas of education, communication and human rights - including women's and child rights, advocacy and partnership building, media and public relations, sustainable livelihoods, and gender at national and regional levels. She has authored a number of articles in these fields for books, journals, magazines, newsletters and other publications.
Grace holds a Bachelors degree in Education, a Masters degree in Communication Media Studies and an Executive Masters degree in International Education Policy.
Luckson Chirwa is currently the Finance Director at the Open Society Institute of Southern Africa and has been with the organization for the past two years.
Before that, he held the position of Head of Grants at the National AIDS Commission of Malawi where he was responsible for managing HIV/AIDS related grants across the country. He has more than eighteen years experience working in finance, accounting, and internal and external auditing. His exposure extends from working in the private sector, to the public sector to non-governmental organizations.
Luckson is a Certified Management Accountant (ACMA) with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in the UK. He also possesses the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) qualification with the Institute of Internal Auditors on top of having a Bachelor of Commerce in Accountancy degree.
Nume Mashinini is the Grants Manager for the foundation. His expertise covers community development, project management, program monitoring and evaluation, and budget control.
His commitment to community development grew out of his work as a researcher, writer and facilitator for adult learners at the Wits Worker's School. Prior to his work at OSISA, Nume worked for the Ford Foundation, managing their grants portfolio in Southern Africa.
In addition, Nume has worked for a number of South African and regional organizations including the Transitional National Development Trust/ Agency (TNDT/NDA), Independent Examinations Board (IEB), Soul City, National Democratic Institute (NDI), English Literacy Project and World Wide Television News (WTN). Although focused in the development sector, Nume spends his spare time writing. His publications include a collection of short stories for children, a travel and tourism workbook and he co-authored the Making History Grade 12 textbook used in the South African school system.
Sami Modiba: Programmes Director and Human Rights and Democracy-Building Programme Manager
Sami Modiba has held the post of Programmes Director since October 2008. Sami joined OSISA in 2001 working in the Human Rights Programme.
He quickly took on a range of responsibilities and became head of the programme in 2004. He continues to lead OSISA's work on human rights, but also serves in the capacity of Programmes Director, responsible for the overall strategy development of all OSISA programme units, the coordination of monitoring and evaluation efforts, and the leadership of staff development and growth.
Sami is an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa. He has practised law for a number of years in South Africa, with a particular interest in Contract Law, Labour Law and Family Law.
Sami holds B.Proc. and LLM (Human Rights and Constitutional Practice) degrees from the University of Witwatersrand and Pretoria University respectively. He also has a Diploma in Business Management from the Damelin School of Management.
Louise Olivier is the Law Programme Manager responsible for rule of law and access to justice programmes in the region.
Prior to joining OSISA, Louise worked as a consultant who travelled extensively across Africa for various non-governmental organisations, including the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA). Before that Louise worked for the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa where she observed the 2004 South African elections as well as the 2006 elections in the DRC. Her publications include Constitutional Review and Reform: and the Adherence to Democratic Principles in Constitutions in Southern African Countries, and International Election Voting and Counting for International IDEA, the UNDP and EISA (available on www.aceproject.org).
Louise has an LLB from the University of Natal, Durban.
Leopoldo de Amaral: Human Rights and Democracy-Building Assistant Programme Manager
Leopoldo de Amaral, is a Mozambican human rights lawyer. Leopoldo joined OSISA in 2006 as an Assistant Programme Manager in the Human Rights and Democracy Building programme.
Prior to joining OSISA he taught international public law and human rights in Mozambique and worked as a consultant in governance and justice sector issues. He holds a Master's degree in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa and is fluent in Portuguese and speaks English and French.
Sherri Le Mottee is presently employed as the Education Programme Manager for OSISA. She is responsible for the formulation, implementation and overall management of the foundation's programme interventions in Southern Africa.
Prior to joining OSISA Sherri managed the formal education programme of EISA, a Southern African non-governmental organisation engaged in the promotion of good governance, electoral management and democratic consolidation in the sub-region. Sherri started her work in the education sector teaching in Soweto and Tembisa in the 1980s. She has been active in the transformation of the education sector in South Africa, particularly with regard to curriculum policy where she served on the ministerial commission which oversaw the integration and infusion of the values of human rights and democracy into curriculum policy. In addition, she chaired the South African civil society movement for democracy, human rights and peace in education as well as the South African Quality Assurance Standards Generating Body for democracy, human rights, peace and elections. Sherri has published a number of articles, text books and facilitators/learners guides on education particularly in relation to human rights in education. She has developed programmes, facilitated processes and convened conferences engaging key issues of concern for the education sector and the achievement of education for all across the sub region. Her work at OSISA includes; engagement with international education policy frameworks, national policy development and evaluation, support to civil society movements and actors engaged in education advocacy and delivery, as well as engagement at state level with issues of education through capacity building, knowledge creation and generation and grant making. Sherri holds a Bachelor of Primary Education, a Bachelor of Education and is in the process of completing a Master of Education from University of the Witswatersrand.
Wongani Grace Nkhoma Taulo has more than nine years of experience of social development work in Southern Africa, working primarily on issues of education policy.
She has worked extensively with civil society organisations at both local and international levels in advocating for the right to quality education for every child. Ms Nkhoma has worked with a number of reputable international non-governmental organisations - most recently ActionAid - and has experience in a number of sectors including democracy and good governance, women's rights and gender, justice and peace building and livelihoods.
Ms Nkhoma holds a Bachelor of Arts Humanities Degree from the University of Malawi and post graduate certificates in Micro Credit and Peacebuilding from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA.
Alice Kanangoni: Communications and Gender Programme Manager
Alice Kanengoni has over 10 years experience advocating for, conducting and managing research, writing and editing on gender and women's rights issues in Southern Africa.
Alice began her career as a Senior Researcher, before deputizing the Head of the Women in Development Southern Africa Awareness (WIDSAA) programme at the Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC) in Harare, where her work included facilitating the research, editing and production of the Beyond Inequalities: Women in Southern Africa series, profiling the situation of women in 13 SADC countries. Alice moved to Johannesburg and joined Gender Links as Senior Researcher, co-ordinating the region-wide gender and media baseline study. She later joined the Johannesburg-based Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) as Assistant Programme Manager in the Human Rights and Democracy Building Unit, before taking on her current responsibility as Gender Programme Advisor and Communications Manager. Alice is the Editor of OSISA's flagship OPENSPACE, a quarterly publication that provides space for dialogue on key governance and development issues in the region. She holds an M.Phil in Media and Communications from the University of Oslo, a post-Graduate Diploma in the same field, and a Bachelor of Arts in Literature from the University of Zimbabwe.
Professor Lazarus Miti: Language Rights Programme Manager
Professor Lazarus Miti is a Language Rights Fellow at the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) in Johannesburg, South Africa.
He joined OSISA in 2005 after serving as Associate Professor and Head of Linguistics at the University of Venda. He has also taught at the University of Zambia from 1979 to 1990 and at the University of Swaziland from 1990 to 1996. Professor Miti holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of London, M.A. from the University of York-UK and a B.A. from the University of Zambia. He is author of Comparative Bantu Phonology and Morphology (CASAS 2006), Aspects of CiNsenga Tonology (CASAS 2002), A Linguistic Analysis of CiNsenga (CASAS 2001), The Prodigal Husband (Kwela Books 1999), Hope Box (Vivlia Publishers 2007), The Father (Kenneth Kaunda Foundation, 1989) and The Boy with a Suitcase from the Rubbish Pit (Kalahari Production 2006). He has also published chapters in Linguistics books and seven interdisciplinary monographs in CiNsenga. His research interests include phonology, comparative linguistics and the development of African languages.
Deprose Muchena is the Economic Justice Programme Manager.
Deprose leads the Foundation's programme approach, overall management, its response and technical support to the work of partners in programme areas that include economic governance, engagement with public policy, economic policy and budget advocacy, basic rights and poverty reduction programmes, anti-corruption, debt, trade and aid programmes, grant making, capacity development and networking within the economic justice movement. Muchena's academic and professional interests are in the fields of international political economy, public finance, governance and economic development, poverty and inequality where he has written papers and published articles. He is a graduate of the University of Zimbabwe, holds BA Hons and MA degrees with specialization in economic history and economics, and Diploma in Business Leadership (DBL) from the Zimbabwe Institute of Management.
Claude Kabemba: Southern Africa Resource Watch Director
Claude Kabemba is the Director of the Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW). He holds an MA in International Relations at the University of the Witwatersrand and he is a PhD candidate in International Relations at the same university.
Before joining SARW in November 2006, he worked at the Human Sciences Research Council and the Electoral institute of Southern Africa as a Chief Research Manager and Research Manager respectively. He has also worked at the Centre for Policy Studies as a researcher.
Claude's main areas of research interest include: Political economy of Sub Saharan Africa with focus on Southern and Central Africa looking specifically on issues of democratization and governance, natural resources governance, Election politics, Citizen Participation, Conflicts, media, political parties, civil society and social policies. He has consulted for international organizations such Oxfam, UNHCR, The Norwegian People's Aid and the African Union. He has undertaken various evaluations related to the work of Electoral Commissions and civil society groups intervention in the electoral process in many African countries.
Claude is regularly approached by both local and international media for comments on political and social issues on the continent. His publication record spans book chapters, journal articles, monographs, research reports, and newspaper articles.
Hubert Tshiswaka is a prominent human rights advocate from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and active member of various social movements in the DRC and in the Congolese community in South Africa.
Between 1996 - 2004, Hubert served as a representative of Assocation Africaine de defense des Droits humains (ASADHO) in Katanga province in the DRC. He then moved to the NGO Action Against Impunity for Human Rights ( ACIDH) where he was the Executive Director from 2004-2006. He has served on the board of the UK'based NGO Rights and Accountability In Development ( RAID) and is a board member of Congolese Forum in South Africa (FOCAS).
Hubert has a Diploma in Business and Management (Sciences commercial, Efobanc 1989); Honours degree in Public Law from the University of Lubumbashi (Licence en Droit Public, Unilu 2001); Diploma in Human Rights from the University of Geneva (2002); Diploma in Human Rights from Colombia University, New York (2005).
Muzi Masuku is a graduate of the University of Swaziland's Law School. Muzi started his career as a prosecutor in his native Swaziland.
He then joined the Council of Swaziland Churches where he ran a legal aid clinic catering for the need of mainly indigent clientele. Running concurrently with that programme Muzi spearheaded efforts by civil society organisations to engage with the constitution making process in the country. As Swaziland Manager, Muzi is responsible for the development of strategic initiatives aimed at addressing the political crisis the country finds itself in. He has played a pivotal role in highlighting issues of corruption and mismanagement within the state, and has supported civic organisations that have sought to confront issues such as the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
Isabella Matambanadzo: Zimbabwe Country Programme Manager
Isabella Matambanadzo is the Zimbabwe Country Programme Manager. She serves in a voluntary capacity on the Board of Trustees of Radio Voice of the People, where she holds the office of Chairperson of the Board of Trustees.
In 2005 Matambanadzo was at the forefront of the advocacy and legal campaign to fight charges leveled against the staff and trustees of the radio station that they owned and were operating illegal broadcasting equipment.
Isabella began her career in journalism at the Southern African Development Community Press Trust, publishers of the Southern African Economist, a regional magazine specializing in economic development issues in SADC. She then worked as a reporter for the third world news agency, Inter Press Service (IPS) at the Africa Regional Headquarters in Harare and for the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation's Radio One. She lived in Nairobi, Kenya where she was Senior Producer at Africa Journal, a weekly news features programme of Reuters' East Africa Bureau.
In 2002, Isabella was appointed the Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre and Network, one of the foremost women's human rights organizations in Zimbabwe. She is a former Spokesperson of Crisis in Zimbabwe, a Coalition of some 350 civil society groups in Zimbabwe, and former Secretary General of Transparency International's Zimbabwe Chapter.
In 2005, Isabella joined OSISA in her present capacity. She is responsible for grant-making, advocacy and strategy development for OSISA's work in Zimbabwe.
Isabella is the co-author of Beyond Beijing Strategies and Visions towards women's equality (1995); Beyond Inequalities, Women in Zimbabwe (2005) and In My Own Words-Zimbabwean Women's encounters with Operation Murambatsvina (2007).
She is a Dean's List and Summa Cum Laude graduate of Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa.
Itai Zimunya is the Zimbabwe Programme Officer. He has wide-ranging experience in the civil society sector in Zimbabwe having worked for 11 years as a student and community leader.
Itai worked with the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) where he served as the National Students union Vice President, Midlands State University Students Union President , Midlands State University Senate and Council member. Due to his human rights activism, Zimunya wrote his final year examinations in November 2001 from Gweru Central Police station. He later worked with the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition as an Advocacy Officer and Programes Manager respectively before joining OSISA in June 2007. In 2006, he published a book on the role of the student's movement in the struggle for Zimbabwe. He has also published several articles on socio-economic rights and governance in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa.
Itai holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting (Honours) degree from the University of Zimbabwe and is currently studying for a Masters in Public and Development Management at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He is currently engaged as the Zimbabwe Programme Officer and serves on the Board of the Students Solidarity Trust as the Secretary.
Thandikile Mbvundula is the ICT Programme Manager for OSISA.
An experienced manager with practical entrepreneurial experience in the private sector, she has been a keen advocate for the development of ICT and Internet policy and governance solutions and working with governments, regional and international development agencies and civil society organisations to establish conducive policy and regulatory environments for ICT implementation in the private, public, development and non-governmental sectors at national, regional and international levels.. During the course of her career, she has served as an ICT Advisor at vice-presidential level, for government policy makers, regulators, regional, continent-wide and international organisations and civil society organisations. She worked as an IT Consultant with one of the "Big Five" international auditing firms, as a senior systems support representative with a global solution provider, Managing Director of an ISP and ICT solution provider firm she established and Executive Manager for an African Union program on ICTs before assuming her current position as ICT Programme Manager for OSISA. Some of her key achievements include the establishment of the first commercial email service in a virgin market, reaching out to the community and developing new and unexploited segments of the marketplace in 13 of Malawi's 24 districts in 1995-96 and playing a key role in the subsequent liberalization of the internet sector in the country. She established a non-governmental organisation to support the professional development of women and has served on numerous national and international boards in varying capacities and been appointed as a mentor for a number of youth programmes at national and regional level.
Thandi holds a Bachelors of Science in Technology degree in Control Systems and Computing Sciences, a Diploma in Accounting and Finance for Non-Financial Managers and is currently studying for her Masters degree in Information Systems Management.
Roshnee Narrandes is the Policy and Advocacy Manager at the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA).
Prior to her role as Policy and Advocacy Manager, she was the Assistant Programme Manager for the Economic Justice Programme. In addition she has had extensive experience in elections on the African continent having working for the Electoral Institute for Southern Africa (EISA).
She holds a Master's degree in Public and Development Management and an undergraduate degree in English and Communications.
Dr. Sam Phiri has been the Media Programme Manager since 2003.
He previously worked for the Nordic-SADC Journalism Centre (NSJ Centre) in Maputo, Mozambique as the Director of its training programme; and before that, the Times of Zambia newspaper in Lusaka. His professional and research interests include the role of the media in development, in particular, how traditional African communication systems contribute to social change. He holds Doctor's, Master's and Bachelor's degrees in Communication from the universities of South Africa (UNISA), Leicester in the United Kingdom and, Zambia (UNZA) respectively.
Dr Vicci Tallis is the programme manager of the HIV and AIDS Unit. She has been involved in HIV and AIDS in Southern Africa since the mid 80's.
She has worked on a range of consultancies at international level, and served on the staff and boards of several NGOs. She was a founder member of Gender AIDS, before which she worked at Project Empower. Vicci also worked for the Association of Women's rights in Development national and international consultancies, gender advisor to government and the establishment of various HIV and AIDS NGO's. She is the author of various publications especially around feminist understandings of HIV and AIDS.
Delme Cupido: HIV and AIDS Assistant Programme Manager
Delme Cupido is the Assistant Programme Manager in the HIV and AIDS Program of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), focusing on issues at the intersection of HIV, law, and human rights.
Delme is a human rights lawyer who, prior to joining OSISA, was the coordinator of the AIDS Law Unit of the Legal Assistance Centre in Namibia, where he coordinated a team that provided direct legal services to clients and communities affected by HIV, conducted national, regional and international advocacy related to , in particular, access to treatment for PLWHA, and developed national and sectoral policies on HIV and AIDS. Delme is a founder member of the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA), the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) and the Pan African Treatment Access Movement (PATAM).
Delme obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Arts from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and his LLB at the University of the Western Cape.
Ian Swartz has wide-ranging experience in the HIV and education sectors with particular expertise in issues of sexuality.
In 1990, he joined the Ministry of Education in the newly independent Namibia as a Life Skills Counsellor. At the Ministry, he was involved in rewriting the curriculum for Life Science for grades 8 to 12 and campaigned for the abolishment of corporal punishment in schools. In 1997 he cofounded The Rainbow Project, the national Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender organisation in Namibia. In 1999 he became the director of the organisation, where he made a significant contribution towards making the The Rainbow Project the reputable organisation that it is today. He became a leader in civil society in Namibia and in the region, known for his outspokenness on the rights of LGBT and other sexual minorities. While challenging homophobia within the Namibian government, he gained wider respect for defending the rights of women, people with disability and people living with HIV/Aids. In 2009 Ian joined OSISA as the Sexual Minorities Coordinator within the HIV Unit.
Thokozile Budaza is a youth, gender, and HIV/AIDS specialist and has been active on issues of gender-based violence for the last five years.
She has worked for a number of international organizations, including the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, CIVICUS, Action Aid, and EngenderHealth. She is the recipient of the White Ribbon Award for outstanding work in the area of violence against women and children, and in 2009, Thoko was selected as part of the Mail & Guardian's 300 Young South Africans You Must Take to Lunch supplement in the Civil Society category.
Thokozile holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the Western Cape and is studying towards a Masters Degree in Demography at the University of Witswatersrand in Johannesburg.
Elias Isaac has over 18 years of experience working in humanitarian projects and management of development programmes in the areas of democracy, governance and human rights in Angola.
Elias started in 1991 as the Director for Administration in the Department of Humanitarian Assistance, Social Studies and Projects of the Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola; then moved on to become a Programme Officer for the International Republican Institute (IRI) in charge of all official translations and development of projects for political party training and development. He then joined the Mississippi Consortium for International Development (MCID) as the Deputy Director for Programmes with the responsibility of developing and implementing projects to promote community civic education, conflict resolution and peace building, citizens' participation in community development and training of local governments. Following this, Elias worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as Senior Democracy and Governance Specialist. Here he served as a senior advisor and resource person in the areas of civil society and political party development, media development, elections, rule of law, governance and ant-corruption activities. In 2004 he became the Team Leader for the USAID Democracy and Governance unit in Angola with the overall responsibility of managing the portfolio in designing projects and managing grants from inception, implementation, closeout and evaluation.
In 2005 joined the Open Society Foundation-Angola Office as the Country Programme Manager with the responsibility of providing management and programmatic leadership. Elias holds a Masters Degree in Theology (major in Social Ethics) with honours: Magna Cum Laude from the Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana-USA, Diploma in Theology from Makerere University, Kampala-Uganda; Certificate in Theology from the United Church of Zambia Theological College, Kitwe-Zambia, and Certificate in Administration and Organization, Lisbon-Portugal.
