Meet our secretariat

OUR CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Lisbon Tawanda Chigwenjere

Lisbon Tawanda Chigwenjere was born a twin on the 28th of May 1993, in Harare, Zimbabwe. He is pursuing an honors degree in Politics and Public Management at the Midlands State University (MSU), in Zimbabwe. He is a former President of the MSU Political Science Students Association (PSSA). He is a former intern of the Youth Empowerment and Transformation Trust (YETT), in Zimbabwe. In 2015, Lisbon Tawanda was nominated for the Future Africa Leaders' Awards (FALA), an annual awards ceremony held to honor young Africans who are positively impacting their generation through education, youth empowerment and mentoring, and other projects aimed at building young people and preparing them for a positive future. 

Lisbon Tawanda is a 2016 alumni of the Young African Leaders Initiative Regional Leadership Center Southern Africa Programme (YALI RLC SA). He is a published poet whose works appear in different anthologies in the United States of America, including "Enter the Gateway" (2013), by the TL Publishing Group. He is a vibrant youth leader at his local church and a fellowship coordinator at the Midlands State University. His personal vision is to make Africa better than he found it.


OUR OVERALL PROGRAMMES DIRECTOR

 Mamahlape Caroline Matsoso

Mother Theresa once said, a positive dream is far more important than a thousand negative realities. In a small village of Ha-Abai was born and raised a beautiful village royal princess who lives all her days by Mother Theresa's words. Mamahlape Caroline Matsoso was born on the 15th June 1994. She is studying towards a degree in Geography and Environmental Science at the Monash University, South Africa. She is a second runner up of the Face of Lesotho 2012, and Face of Elizabeth Creations Boutique since 2012. She is Miss World Lesotho 2013. She represented Lesotho at the 63rd edition of Miss World 2013 pageant, being the third girl in her country to participate on that platform. 

Mamahlape Matsoso is the founder and president of a growing foundation, MAMAHLAPE MATSOSO FOUNDATION, an organization that secures educational funds for less privileged kids, provides school accessories, and so on. In a nutshell, the organization's goal is to ensure that more kids are put into schools. Equally important, she worked as an intern for the Africa Fashion International (AFI), at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Johannesburg 2016, under the guest relations department. Miss Matsoso is also an alumni of the Young African Leaders Initiative Regional Leadership Center Southern Africa Programme (YALI RLC SA), an initiative that was launched by President Barack Obama. She is an outgoing girl who is slow to anger, very vibrant, and forever laughing. She lives all her days like they are her last, and strives to learn like she was to live forever. Her goal is to build a better Africa for all, and to enforce the slogan "United we stand, divided we fall".


OUR MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR

Nkosikhona W. “Uzzi” Mpungose

Mr. Nkosikhona W. “Uzzi” Mpungose is an expert in adolescent sexual and reproductive health issues. He is a champion of meaningful  youth participation and inclusion, networking and alliance  building, advocacy, peace building and conflict resolution, and a trainer in peer-to-peer approaches. He is pursuing a degree in Community Development and holds a number of higher certificates in the HIV field, Leadership & Management, IT Technical support, Advocacy, and Ethics of Education for Children. 

Mr. N.W “Uzzi” Mpungose has been working with young people in various areas of Health and Leadership, and has gained over 10 years of experience in the same fields. He is serving as a youth sector leader for South Africa at the district level of EThekwini AIDS Council. He is also the founder and executive director of an organization called the Youth Inter-Active (YIA). Uzzi is skilled at resource mobilization, project management, events management and social media communication. In 2015, he was elected for the SADC Interfaith Youth Council and nominated to represent the African youth in the International Interfaith Youth Conference, which was going to take place in November 2015, in Geneva. Uzzi serves in the KwaZulu Natal Coalition of Civil Society Organization as an executive for youth organizations in the province. Mr Uzzi is also a member of the US Consulate’s “GenerationNext”, in the Durban office in which he serves as a Project Manager for the “I CAN” leadership project. He is a steering committee member of the 21st International Aids Conference Durban Youth Force that will be taking place in Durban from the 18th to the 22nd of July 2016. He is an award winner (Class 2014) of the Activate Leadership and Public Innovation organization, a national organization in South Africa. He is a 2016 alumni of the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) Regional Leadership Center South Africa Programme. Through his commitment in HIV/AIDS advocacy, Uzzi was voted a youth coordinator for the Museum for HIV Memory and Learning that will be officially launched on the 12th of July 2016 as “Africa Voices”, prior to the International AIDS Conference. Mr Uzzi was born a change agent. He is well known as “the change driver” in his community.


OUR FUNDRAISING DIRECTOR

Kgothatso Marwala

An engineer by choice, and a social change driver by accident, Kgothatso Marwala was born and raised in the Limpopo province of South Africa. As part of the Society of Automotive Engineering's yearly competition, Kgothatso, with a group of engineering students, designed and manufactured a small all-terrain vehicle which made it into the second position of the endurance race. He is an alumni of the International Citizen Service. He is an ambassador of the "My Hands and Heart" initiative, a volunteer project that has partnered with the National Youth Development Agency to connect young people with volunteering opportunities that are offered by credible organisations. 

He is the founder and executive administrator of the ReAct Youth Foundation which is a participatory development non-profit organisation focusing on enabling young people to identify issues in their communities and develop campaigns to tackle them. He is also a social change driver at Activate! Leadership, which is a network of over 1500 young South Africans committed to positive change. Kgothatso is a 2016 alumni of the Young African Leaders Initiative Regional Leadership Center Southern Africa Programme (YALI RLC SA).



OUR COUNTRY COORDINATORS

MALAWI CHAPTER

Chisomo Orchestral Chona

Chisomo Orchestral Chona, born on the 9th of October 1992, is a young woman committed to upholding the rights of children and young people in Malawi. Chisomo has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and Technology from the University of Malawi, the Polytechnic. She has three years experience working in the non-profit sector where her work has focused on promoting youth empowerment, girls education, sexual and reproductive health of young people, and working towards the eradication of child labor. 

Chisomo is a former board member of the National Youth Council of Malawi. Her aspiration is to see her fellow young women happy, healthy and secure. She believes this can only be achieved if young women are given opportunities to nurture and empower themselves - opportunities which DOSA seeks to provide.


SWAZILAND CHAPTER

Tibuyile Khanyisile Dlamini

Ms Tibuyile Khanyisile Dlamini is a member of management at the Ezulwini Municipality in Swaziland, and the head of the AMICAALL Department. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Sciences with majors in Public Administration and Geography, Environmental Science and Planning obtained from the University of Swaziland. She also studied Management of HIV/AIDS Projects. She started working for AMICAALL in 2006. AMICAALL is an acronym for Alliance of Mayors Initiative For Community Action on AIDS at the Local Level. It works in a public-private partnership with Local Governments in Africa. Tibuyile provides leadership in the implementation of HIV Prevention and Impact Mitigation programs that seek to address social ills in the communities. 

She has worked in municipalities since 2006, doing community work. Tibuyile currently supervises a team of 40 program volunteers who do work in home-based care, PMTCT, child protection and early childhood care & development and the feeding program for orphaned and vulnerable children. She is passionate about helping OVCs access their right to education through provision of sponsorship by local businesses. Tibuyile has experience in community engagement and was trained in Community Capacity Enhancement through Community Conversations (CCE/CC). Tibuyile is also passionate about mentoring women to save money and also start up small businesses. Women who have been mentored have participated in business competitions that empower them with skills and start up capital. Being part and parcel of DOSA will definitely give her an opportunity to be innovative in addressing problems faced by women, girls and children and to further equip them with skills to effect change in Africa.


SOUTH AFRICA CHAPTER

Kedibone Jennifer Ndweni was born on the 16th of June 1994 in Free State, South Africa. She is pursuing a degree in Education at the University of the Free State and holds a number of certificates in Leadership. In 2013, Kedibone won the Miss Legatum pageant, a pageant where beauty is not measured in any normal way, but rather solely on the woman's personality and inner beauty. The panel of judges was made up of visually impaired students of the university's unit of students with disabilities. Kedibone participated as a Student Volunteer for the UFS Mass Assistance to gain leadership experience through serving. 

Kedibone also participated as a Student Volunteer at the Schools Partnership Program (1G) which is a program initiated by the University of the Free State`s Vice Chancellor and Rector Professor Jonathan Jansen. This program allows high school learners from underdeveloped schools to attend winter classes conducted by university lecturers, and career-based programs that are arranged by student volunteers. From 2014 to 2015, Kedibone served in her Residence Committee as the Finance Officer responsible for general financial oversight, managing the Residence funds, raising funds for the Residence, financial planning and budgeting, financial reporting, and financial book keeping and banking. At the end of her term, she took 5th position in the University of the Free State (UFS)'s Best Managed Residence Awards. Kedibone also participated in the Global Business Round Table (GBR) University Debate Tournament which was hosted at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in 2015. Kedibone got a certificate of recognition at the University of the Free State (UFS) Associations awards ceremony, for being a mentor for the Kovsie Succession Program, a program that allows senior first generation students to mentor first year first generation students and assist them in their adjustment to university life. Kedibone is currently serving as an Executive Committee member for the Student Representative Council (SRC) office of the Treasurer. She is also working for the UFS Gateway Program which aims to help first year students to bridge the gap between high school and university. She is a 2016 alumni of the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) Regional Leadership Center Southern Africa Programme, which was initiated by the U.S. President Barack Obama to develop African leaders. Kedibone’s favorite quote is from Barack Obama, and it says, “Greatness is never given, it must be earned.” She is also inspired by the Sesotho proverb “Motho Ke Motho ka Batho ba bang”, which means, we coexist, and we are interdependent.


MAURITIUS CHAPTER

Miss Jenny Botte is a young passionate lover of social work and Africa. She has worked for the SOS Children’s Village in Mauritius for more than 4 years now. SOS Children’s Village is an international NGO that provides a loving home to abandoned children, educating them, providing psychological support for abused children, and promoting community development. She acts as the front office secretary at one of the two SOS villages. She has a hidden passion for mixed farming at work. She is very passionate about law. She is pursuing a degree in management with law. Since 2010, she has been a volunteer social activist. She is also a scout leader of Scout First Black River District and she spends most of her Saturdays building up pre-youth and youth characters from the age of 7 yrs old to 20 yrs old. 

Her main duties are to work on the overall programme activities with other section leaders. She is a social change agent by soul; she has the conviction and is very determined to make a change in her community. Change is her vision, and to make it possible is her mission. She pursues her dreams with an indeterminable conviction. She is inspired by Nelson Mandela's quote, ‘’ A winner is a dreamer who never give up."


NAMIBIA CHAPTER

Ester Magano Hango was born in a small village of Enkavu in Oshana region, Namibia. Ms. Hango holds a national diploma in Agriculture (2007) from the Ogongo Agricultural College. In 2010, she obtained a bachelor’s degree of Technology in Agriculture Management with the Polytechnic of Namibia. Recently. She obtained a certificate in Civic Leadership with the Young African Leadership Initiatives Regional Leadership Center Southern Africa Programme (YALI RLC SA), hosted by the University of South Africa (UNISA). She is currently working full time as an Environmental Youth Officer for the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Services at Eenhana Youth Centre, Ohangwena Region, Namibia. Ms. Hango volunteered, and is still volunteering her time,
knowledge and skills to contribute towards youth development in Oshana and Ohangwena region, in these different ways:

• Founder and part-time project coordinator of Okatyali Youth Project since 2009, a project that deals with HIV/AIDS Education for young people between the ages of 10 and 19 years, agricultural activities (gardening) for out-of-school youth, and child development (kindergarten)
• Committee member of Okatyali Constituency Development Committee (CDC) since 2009, representing the youth
• Founder of Ohangwena Environmental Youth Club in 2013, this group focus more on climate change education and awareness
• Committee member of My Namibia, My Country, My Pride regional campaign for Oshana Region since October 2015
• Regional Representative for the Namibian Environmental Education Network (NEEN) Ohangwena Region since 2014
• A member of the recently established Cuvelai-Etosha Basin Environmental Working Group (CEB-EWG). Ester is responsible for environmental coordination activities for the youth in Oshana and Ohangwena region.

After completing the YALI program Ms. Hango recently established a youth foundation called Okatyali-Ohangwena Youth Foundation that will adjoin the existing youth group’s activities to ensure better management and sustainability. Her biggest motive is to ensure all Namibian youth, elderly people, and children from marginalized backgrounds have a better living standard, easy access to quality education, and living in good health.‘’