Agenda Sessions Speakers AGAG Fellow
MEET OUR SPEAKERS
We are calling this diverse group of practitioners our speakers, but don’t expect presentations: expect conversations that resonate, engage, and inspire!
Featured Speaker
Sibongile Mhabela
Barloworld Empowerment Foundation
Sibongile “Bongi” Mkhabela is Chief Executive Director of Barloworld Empowerment Foundation which is dedicated to improving the lives of Black women, youth, and people with disabilities. A well-known national and international figure, she was formerly Chief Executive Officer of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital Trust a modern research, training and pediatric hospital and serves as a trustee for both organizations.
Ms. Mkhabela serves on various boards including the Firelight Foundation, the Global Philanthropy Alliance, and Black Sash. She received The Order of Luthuli (Silver) from President Ramaphosa for her fight against apartheid. Her social justice activism began at a young age when she was part of South Africa’s 1976 student revolt. She is a trained social worker and passionate advocate for social justice. She has vast experience in public policy, community and institution building, philanthropy, fundraising, and developmental grantmaking.
Briggs Bomba
TrustAfrica
Briggs Bomba is the Program Director for TrustAfrica. As part of TrustAfrica's senior management team, Briggs provides strategic leadership to the programs team and oversees a diverse portfolio of programs and initiatives. They span several African countries with a wide array of themes. These themes include natural resource governance and economic transformation, taxation and illicit financial flows and climate justice and food sovereignty. Additional themes include citizenship, rights and civic engagement, gender and women’s rights, youth, education and the future of work and African philanthropy.
Ellen Dorsey
Wallace Global Fund
Ellen Dorsey is the Executive Director of the Wallace Global Fund (WGF), a private foundation recognized for its creative philanthropic strategies and mission-related investing to address climate change, advance human rights, and hold corporations accountable to the public good. She is an activist and partner to movements advancing economic, environmental, racial, and gender justice. Under her leadership, WGF helped seed and grow the global fossil-fuel divestment movement and launch Divest-Invest Philanthropy and received the 2016 inaugural Nelson Mandela – Graca Machel Brave Philanthropy Award.
She has served on the boards of Greenpeace USA, the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the United States Human Rights Network, and Amnesty International USA. She holds a doctorate in political science from the University of Pittsburgh. Ellen has taught university courses in human rights and environmental sustainability and written extensively on effective strategies of non-governmental organizations, the power of social movements, and critical trends in philanthropy. Dorsey is co-author, with Paul J. Nelson, of “New Rights Advocacy: Changing Strategies of Development and Human Rights NGOs,” Georgetown University Press.
Jonathan Gunthrop
SRHR Africa Trust
Jonathan Gunthorp is Executive Director at SRHR Africa Trust (SAT) - this organization works in gender equality, SRHR (sexual reproductive health and rights), adolescent, health, and HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa. He manages SAT’s strategy for gender equality and youth health, focusing on increasing a protective environment, access, and participation for adolescents. For the past 13 years he has been leading and consulting on programs in health, HIV and SRHR. He has worked in 13 African countries and cities from Cape Town to Asmara. Jonathan grew up in the anti-apartheid movement and never got over being an activist.
Jeremy Maarman
Initiative for Community Advancement
Jeremy Maarman is the Executive Director for the Initiative for Community Advancement. He has over 18 years of experience in community development. As the founding Director of the Initiative for Community Advancement in Piketberg, Western Cape, South Africa, he's grown the organization from a national youth network into a vibrant community foundation. He’s been instrumental in securing licenses for innovative international development models, such as YouthBank and the MyMachine program. He's also a contributing author to the book "What Is Your Dream Machine? How Children Change Education Worldwide."
Mmabatho Maboya
Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation
Mmabatho Maboya is the Chief Executive Officer of the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation. Mmabatho joined the Foundation in 2015 as its Strategy and Partnerships Executive. Mmabatho is an experienced strategy, communications and stakeholder relations professional with strong capabilities to link research, strategy and technical expertise to reputation management.
Prior to joining the CR Foundation, she worked for Shanduka Group, Eskom Holdings SOC and in local government in South Africa. She serves on the boards of Adopt-a-School Foundation, Black Umbrellas, KST as well as Chairperson for the Independent Philanthropy Association of South Africa (IPASA). Mmabatho is passionate about issues relating to access to quality education, children's rights, entrepreneurship, environmental sustainability and good governance. She holds a BSc (Statistics and Geography) from the University of the Free State; BSc Honours (Geography) from the University of South Africa; and an MBA from the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science.
Halima Mahomed
TrustAfrica
Halima Mahomed is an independent researcher and consultant working to strengthen the narratives, practice, and impact of philanthropy in Africa. She is a TrustAfrica Senior Fellow on African Philanthropy and an Associate Researcher at CAPSI. Halima also serves as a member of the PSJP management team, Alliance Magazine Editorial Board, and ICNL Advisory Council. Halima has worked for and with a range of African and international philanthropic and philanthropy support organizations. She has written extensively on philanthropy, with a strong focus on linking philanthropy to local agency, power and organizing. Halima has a Master’s in Development Studies from the University of Witwatersrand.
Mamotshidisi Mohapi
C. S. Mott Foundation
Mamotshidisi “Mamo” Mohapi is a Program Officer responsible for grantmaking in the C.S Mott Foundation Enhancing Community Philanthropy program. She served as an associate program officer until 2016, when she was promoted to her current position managing the Foundation’s South Africa philanthropy development portfolio. Before joining Mott in 2011, Mohapi worked as the business development manager for the Charities Aid Foundation Southern Africa and managed a portfolio of corporate social involvement programs for several businesses.
Thapelo Mohapi
Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) Movement, South Africa
Thapelo Mohapi is General Secretary of the Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) Movement in South Africa that fights for land, housing, and the dignity of the poor. He was the chairperson of the AbM Briardene branch in Durban and served as the Provincial Secretary of KwaZulu Natal. Under his leadership, over eight years the AbM membership grew from 13,000 to 120,000 members. As a result of this growth, Thapelo has faced many attacks from the ruling party. He was forced into hiding and is currently in a safe house because of recent threat and assassinations including three killings in the commune at eKhenana, Durban. He also worked for Ndifuna Ukwazi, an NGO that campaigns to advance urban land justice in Cape Town. He believes two things can change the lives of South Africans: when people are democratically organized from grass roots the political frame of the country will change and South Africa needs selfless leaders in order to change the status quo of corruption.
Teboho Mohloai
SRHR Africa Trust
Teboho Mohloai is a Regional Program Officer for SRHR Africa Trust (SAT). She is a leader and an advocate for sexual reproductive health and rights, HIV/AIDS, and gender equality. Teboho has a special interest in adolescents and youth health and development. She has been an activist for many years, collaborating with other youth activists across Africa. She holds several voluntary leadership positions, including the Vice-Chair Youth Initiative Committee at the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS), and outgoing Secretary-General of the African Youth and Adolescents Network on Population and Development (AFRIYAN ESA).
Poloko Mosesi
Calling Education NPC
Poloko Mosesi is the Growth and Relations Officer for Calling Education NPC. She is a Mandela Rhodes Scholar and an alumna of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. Over the past five years, Poloko has championed education, working diligently to facilitate access to quality education for young people from marginalized backgrounds. In partnership with Calling Education NPC, Poloko co-founded Calling Academy Kroonstad. She holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences and a Masters' degree in Sociology, with a focus on Industrial and Economic Sociology.
Niamani Mutima
Africa Grantmakers’ Affinity Group
Niamani Mutima is the Executive Director of the Africa Grantmakers' Affinity Group (AGAG). Since joining AGAG in 2001, she has shaped its work and guided its evolution as a funder network working at the intersection of philanthropy and Africa. Before joining AGAG Niamani worked with the African-American Institute (AAI) where she served in the Corporate Secretary and Conference Program Office. She served as Director of Field Services for the USAID African Leadership and Advanced Skills (ATLAS) project where she managed a grants program for African-based organizations and organized conferences across Africa to connect African professionals working in similar sectors. Central to her work is a commitment to connecting people and ideas. Niamani has a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Princeton University and a master’s degree in Philanthropic Studies from Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
Gugulethu Ndebele
Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy
Gugulethu “Gugu” Ndebele is the Executive Director of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG). Prior to joining OWLAG, she was CEO of Save the Children South Africa and Deputy Director-General of the Department of Basic Education where she was primarily responsible for Social Mobilization and Support Services. Gugu was one of the pioneers of South Africa’s largest Adult Literacy Campaign (Kha ri Gude), the Recapitalization of Vocational Colleges and the National School Nutrition Program. In 2016 she was appointed Vice - Chair of the UNESCO Bureau of the Global Alliance for Literacy. In 2017 the Minister of Basic Education appointed her as the Literacy Ambassador for the Read to Lead Campaign. She was a member of the Advisory Committee of the South African Human Rights Commission; Deputy Chairperson of the Rhodes University Council; Chair of the Board of Directors of the SRHR Africa Trust, and one of the Directors of the Global Organization 4 Brighter Youth (GOBY) Foundation.
Bobby Peek
Groundwork Trust, South Africa
Bobby Peek is Director of The GroundWork Trust, South Africa. He grew up on the fence line of South Durban’s Engen oil refinery, co-founded the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, was the National Campaigns Coordinator for the Environmental Justice Networking Forum, and in 1998 received the Goldman Environmental Prize for Africa. Bobby served on South Africa’s first National Environmental Advisory Committee to the South African Minister of Environment. From 2008 to 2012 he was a member of the International Executive Committee of Friends of the Earth International, the world’s largest federation of grassroots organizations fighting for environmental and social justice. Currently, Bobby serves as a commissioner on South Africa’s Presidential Climate Commission. He also advises on various national and international environmental justice strategies. He has received an honorary PhD from the Durban University of Technology.
Vuyiswa Sidzumo
Ford Foundation
Vuyiswa Sidzumo is the Regional Director of Ford Foundation’s Office of Southern Africa. Before joining Ford, she served as the Director of the Mott Foundation Office in South Africa. Her prior positions include serving as a director at the then National Department of Provincial and Local Government (now Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs). Between 1995 and 2002, she worked at the Sedibeng Centre for Organizational Effectiveness and the United Nations Development Programme. She currently serves as the Chair of AGAG’s Steering Committee and serves on the board of the Independent Philanthropy Association of South Africa (IPASA).
Olwethu Sizani
Ford Foundation
Olwethu Sizani is a Program Associate at the Ford Foundation. She previously served as Head of Operations for SGS Consulting and as the Fund Administrator for the Constitutionalism Fund. With a decade of experience across various capacities in the social justice and philanthropy sector, she identifies as a development generalist. Her passion lies in driving systemic change, reducing inequalities and advocating for and supporting people-centered initiatives. Olwethu has provided monitoring and evaluation, strategy development, project management and organization operational services to a range of organizations, with a special emphasis on educational programs.
ADDING VALUE TO PHILANTHROPY TO AFRICA
Why the Africa Grantmakers’ Affinity Group?
We believe that a strong network of informed and connected funders is a necessary ingredient for robust, effective and responsive philanthropy to benefit African communities.