By Saúl Interiano Ramirez, Rise Up Leader since 2013 and Founder and Director of COINCIDIR in Guatemala In this series of stories celebrating 10 years of rising up for global impact, Rise Up Leaders discuss Rise Up’s role in their personal journeys as advocates for the rights of girls, youth, and women. I was raised to be “macho” the way … Read More
Strength in this Time of Crisis: Our Response to COVID-19
By Denise Raquel Dunning, Founder + Executive Director | April 6, 2020 It is still hard to comprehend the magnitude of change, disruption, and illness that the world has experienced since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. At Rise Up, we are all trying to navigate through these enormous challenges in the best way we can – taking care of ourselves, … Read More
A Powerful Force for Gender Equity in South Africa
By Lindelwe Mapurisa, Rise Up Project Coordinator, South Africa Rise Up Project Coordinator Lindelwe Mapurisa reflects on the Advocacy and Accelerator workshop for the first cohort of Rise Up Leaders from South Africa. In February, Rise Up launched our first Gender Equity Initiative in South Africa with a week-long Advocacy and Leadership Accelerator workshop in Pretoria. We selected twenty-two local … Read More
Avril Campher
Corporate Responsibility Manager and Project Manager for TEC South Africa, Cummins Africa Middle-East Avril works to improve the quality of educational systems to ensure that the students of today are ready for the workforce of tomorrow, and that Cummins operations lead to a cleaner, healthier, and safer environment as well as increase opportunity and equity for those most in need. … Read More
Vusi Godfrey Ndukuya
Founder of Junior Citizens Southern Africa Vusi founded Junior Citizens South Africa to build the knowledge and capacity of local communities to actively participate in democratic and governance processes related to gender issues, including empowering victims of human trafficking and advocacy around social determinants of gender inequality such as climate and sustainability. He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management. … Read More
Unathi Mahlati
Program Officer, Just Detention International-South Africa (JDI-SA) Unathi is passionate about protecting and advancing the rights of marginalized and vulnerable populations, particularly incarcerated women and girls. She is equally passionate about storytelling and using theatre as a tool for reflection, healing, and shining a spotlight on contested issues. She conducts research, provides technical support to the Department of Correctional Services’ … Read More
Soretha Venter
Human Rights Project Specialist, CALIBRICS Soretha designs and implements projects centered around human rights, public administration, and gender equity initiatives. She is passionate about realizing and advancing the rights of girls and women in Africa and South Africa, and has a special interest in effective leadership. Soretha has a master’s degree in law and is currently working toward obtaining her … Read More
Rethabile Mosese
Legal and State Actor Engagement Program Manager, Lawyers against Abuse (LvA) Rethabile provides holistic legal and psychosocial support to victims of gender-based violence in Diepsloot. Before joining Lawyers against Abuse (LvA), Rethabile served her articles of clerkship at the University of Pretoria Law Clinic. Her area of interest lies in constitutional and human rights and she is a passionate advocate … Read More
René du Plessis
Senior Human Resources Generalist, Cummins Africa Middle-East René supports human resources activities for the Corporate Functions within Cummins AME. Her career spans over 30 years in related administrative roles for large corporations. She also led the Cummins Magwa Community Involvement Team committee, ensuring corporate sustainability projects and initiatives were executed in line with Cummins’ Corporate Responsibility Strategy. Recently, she joined … Read More
Ntuthu Mbiko-Motshegoa
National Chairperson, African Farmers Association of South Africa – Women’s Desk Ntuthu is a beef cattle farmer and agripreneur (agricultural entrepreneur) known as the “Offal Queen.” She champions active participation and sustainable programs for women in agribusiness and the biodiversity economy. Ntuthu monitors, assesses, and influences the implementation of policies that affect women’s participation in agribusiness. She also develops and … Read More
