Sonwabise Mzinyathi

My 15 years career has led me to various leadership roles in highly regulated industries such as the Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT), Diplomacy, Public Sector and Consulting Industries overseeing policy making, risk mitigation, crisis communication, regulation strategy, fundraising and government relations in Africa.

My experience in public policy, government relations, regulatory strategy, advocacy, research and data analysis set its foundation as a Political Secretary Diplomat based at the South African High Commission in New Delhi, India and subsequently working for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation. It has continued throughout my career into my current position as the Head of Global Policy and Government Affairs at Global Citizen where I lead on public policy, government affairs strategy, advocacy work and fundraising, public affairs and stakeholder relations for the organisation’s Southern and East Africa region and the African Union.

I have vast public affairs experience that includes heading up the Africa public affairs divisions for global fintech company Refinitiv – a London Stock Exchange business and tech giant, Cisco Systems where I was also a Board Director and currently a Board Trustees for the Cisco Charitable Foundation Trust in South Africa. I also have public affairs consulting experience working for Magna Carta Consultancy and Positive Dialogue Communications, respectively, as the divisional leader managing advocacy, government and stakeholder engagements, and public relations for blue-chip public listed companies.

I am extremely passionate about Africa and her growth and work on a number of voluntary programmes to support my passion; the most recent being as a Policy and Advocacy Co-Chair on the South Africa leg of the African Coalition on Menstrual Health Management. I was nominated to become part of the 2021 Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) Cohort. I also mentor young adults as part of the African Leadership Initiative (ALI) in my spare time.

In South Africa, I serve as the Deputy Chair and Councillor heading up EXCO and policy transformation on the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment ICT Sector Council appointed by the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Ms Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams in February 2020 to drive diversity and inclusion in the ICT sector. In addition, in 2019, I was nominated by industry peers to be the Chair of the Board of Directors for the South African Women in ICT Forum, a Forum founded by the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies to encourage the participation of women-owned businesses in the digital economy. As such, I have contributed to many policy papers including the country’s 4IR Strategy, Digital Economy Masterplan and the ICT Sector Codes.

I hold a Postgraduate Diploma in International Affairs and Diplomacy from the University of South Africa and Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Relations and Political Science from the University of the Witwatersrand in addition to various internationally recognised certificates. I am currently a MBA candidate and I have chosen to pursue it with the African Leadership University School of Business.