“I learned through working with the UN that the greatest return on investment comes not from ‘fixing’ a problem but from shaping new mindsets amongst youth, .... I wanted to help forge mindsets that are not limited by current circumstances, but can re-imagine and re-create new possibilities.”
- Anne Githuku-Shongwe is the newly-appointed Representative for UN Women's South Africa Multi-Country Office (SAMCO), which is responsible for women's empowerment and gender equality in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia, as well as South Africa, where the office is based. Anne is an award-winning social entrepreneur and founder of youth-development digital innovation organization Afroes Transformational Games. She has a Masters’ degree in International Development from The American University; a postgraduate certificate in Social Innovation from the University of Cape Town, Graduate School of Business, and a certificate in The Art of Large Scale Systems Change for Social Entrepreneurship from Harvard University. Anne also brings to her role 20 years of experience as a senior international development professional with the United Nations Development Programme, during which she pioneered innovative and successful approaches to combating HIV and AIDS, as well as Public Sector Capacity Development.