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Meet the board
RAYELENE GOVENDER
CHAIRPERSON
Rayelene is a Risk, Audit and Governance Consultant who has experience in both the private and non-profit sectors. She is currently managing her own practice, Unam Solutio, that works with NPOs and private sector clients. Previously, Rayelene was the Interim Head of the International Internal Audit function for ActionAid International and worked across 45 countries, whilst based in Sweden. She is the Audit Chairperson for TIPS (Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies) and also a General Assembly member and Advisory Complaints Board member for HQAI (Humanitarian Quality Assurance Initiative) – based in Geneva, Switzerland. Rayelene is passionate about education and creativity amongst young people and is a founding member to Non-profit, People Solutions in Action (PSA). She currently holds a B. Comm (Risk Management) and a Masters in International Comparative Education from Stockholm University.
ELENA MANCEBO MASA
DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON
Elena Mancebo is an experienced consultant on planning, monitoring, evaluation, and learning. Over the past 12 years, she has worked for governments, non-profit and development aid organisations primarily in the African continent. She has recently worked in the fields of human rights education, entrepreneurship and the green economy, as well as education and youth leadership. She is a tutor on Social impact Measurement for the Social Enterprise Academy Africa. She holds a BA (Honours) of Social Science in Political Science from Madrid, where she is originally from. Sustainability and the future of African Cities is her latest passion, and in 2020, she obtained a postgraduate diploma and a master’s in philosophy in Sustainable Development Planning at Stellenbosch University. In her spare time, you will find Elena doing yoga, playing tennis, gardening or hiking mountains with her family.
Ravi Moodley
Treasurer
Ravi Moodley is the CEO of Human Capital Matters with over 25 years of experience in both the private and public sectors. He held the position of Executive Head of Strategic Management and Governance at National Parliament of South Africa for over 6 years, prior to which he was the Head of Strategy for Nedbank Corporate Banking for 8 years. He has also held Senior positions at Rand Merchant Bank, Decillion, Gensec Bank, Bond Exchange of South Africa, Development Bank of Southern Africa, Standard Bank and Risklab. He is also non-executive director on the boards of SMARTCOMMUNITIES FOUNDATION and konektd SA. He has a track record of success in turnaround, step-change in business performance and transformation in both the Private and Public Sectors. He future-proofs businesses by creating and directing a strategic roadmap of structured change. Ravi holds a BSc Honours degree in Mathematical Statistics from the University of Natal Durban as well as an EDP from the University of Stellenbosch Business School.
NOMZAMO LANDINGWE
NON-EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER
Nomzamo is a seasoned executive in the areas of Community Development, Strategy, BBBEE and Stakeholder Management. Her experience covers corporates mostly in Renewables, Mining & Construction. She attributes her solid foundation in community and leadership development to the United Nations Development Programme as well as HOPE Africa (Anglican Church’s social development programme) and for the last 6 years in the Renewable Energy Industry both in Contractor (EPC) and Owner Managed projects. She is currently an Executive: Chief Community Operations Officer at EIMS Africa which includes 11 Assets in Solar and Wind and is the current Chairperson of the SAWEA Economic Development (ED) Working Group. Nomzamo holds a Bachelor of Social Science with UCT, majoring in Government Administration and Public Policy (1996) and a Management Development Programme Certificate from University of Stellenbosch.
Clint Higgens
NON-EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER
Clint Higgins is a mentor, coach and business professional with more than 15 years’ work experience, 13 of which have been in leadership roles. He is an authentic leader, who utilises a transformational style of leadership to maximise the potential of people. His areas of expertise are economic inclusion and supply chain management. Currently, Clint is the Head of Programme Management ESD and SD at Property Point NPC Venture Capitalists. Previously he was Senior Supply Chain Advisor for the City of Cape Town. Clint has a MSc in Property Studies from UCT, Hons in Public Management, Int. Diploma in Procurement, NDip Management Business Development Programme. He is currently studying towards his Masters in Development Finance.
Nyasha Njela
NON-EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER
Nyasha Njela is currently Director Southern Africa for Revolutionise. Originally from Zimbabwe, Nyasha currently resides in South Africa with her family. She started her career as a personal banker and, using her skills in customer relationship management, transitioned to non-profit fundraising when she joined Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Southern Africa. From the moment that she started her fundraising career, she has not looked back and strongly believes in the power of communities coming together for a bigger social purpose. In her previous position as Head of Fundraising at The Feenix Trust (Feenix), she implemented Great Fundraising and achieved over 600% growth on income in four years. Nyasha is skilled in developing teams to set up fundraising strategies that include a diversified income portfolio through donor development, – acquisition, retention, relationship building, and donor loyalty. Nyasha believes in building organisational fundraising culture that encourages cross departmental collaboration to meet donor needs, which ultimately leads to serving beneficiaries and achieving its social mission.
MIGNON HARDIE
Executive Board Member
Mignon Hardie is passionate about building businesses and organisations for social good. Previously she was the director of the FunDza Literacy Trust, a nonprofit that uses technology to grow a culture of reading and writing amongst South Africa’s youth. She is also a director of independent publisher Cover2Cover Books and co-founder of Veedo, a reverse-billed video-conferencing service operated by Datafree and The Lateral Alternative. She serves on two nonprofit boards: WordWorks, focusing on the literacy development in the first eight years of a child’s life; and The Trust Connection, which develops the leadership potential of nonprofit organisations. She has a BA from UCT and an MBA from Stellenbosch University.
RYAN GEEL
Executive Board Member
Ryan holds a Diploma in Marketing from the IMM graduate school of Marketing. Ryan began his career in the FMCG sector which has allowed him the opportunity to work in a fast paced and dynamic environment and holds over 15 years’ experience in sales and marketing strategies. Ryan realized that his true passion was people and when presented with the opportunity to join Life Choices – it was not only a 360 in his career but for him as an individual, it was an opportunity to grow and to be part of something that was bigger than him. Ryan is passionate about people, innovative thinking and the desire to change the status quo by building solutions towards the challenges our society faces. Ryan is the For-Profit Managing Director at Life Choices.
INNOCENT MASAYIRA
Executive Board Member
Innocent has a Diploma in Philosophy, BA in Philosophy, Postgraduate Diploma in Reflective Social Practice and M.A Philosophy of Social Innovation. He has over 10 years in development, fundraising, communications and organisational development experience. He joined Life Choices in 2010 as a Junior Project Coordinator and was appointed as Sustainability Officer in 2013.
LEONI VAUGHAN
Executive Board Member and Secretary
Leoni Vaughan is the Health4Life Programme manager at Life Choices. She hold a BA in Health & Social Sciences with specialisation in Counselling Psychology, a PGDip in Public Health, she is pursuing her Masters in Public Health, is an Atlantic fellow at Tekano and is the Director at VAUL. She has over 14 years of work experience in community development. She is passionate about tackling inequality, and social injustices, and providing holistic, comprehensive developmental services. You will find her assisting in various community projects in her spare time as she believes that the only way to tackle inequality and injustice is through collective effort and collaboration. She enjoys spending time with fur babies, meditating, creating creative art and enjoying nature’s beauty.