Operational Team
Neville Gabriel Chief Executive Officer
Neville was the founding executive director of the Southern Africa Trust, an independent regional funding agency that supports policy engagement between governments and non-state actors to overcome poverty in Southern Africa. He is a member of Global Citizen’s global policy committee, a member of the Africa policy advisory board of Bono’s ONE campaign, a senior fellow of the Synergos Institute, and the chairperson of a few community shareholding trusts linked to solar and wind renewable energy plants in South Africa. He was a member of the founding steering committee of the African Grantmakers’ Network (AGN), the chairperson of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), the chairperson of the Open Society Foundations’ Africa advisory committee, a trustee of the International NGO Training and Research Centre (INTRAC), and previously worked at Oxfam in media and advocacy and at the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) coordinating social and economic justice programs.
Michelle Adams Finance Manager
Michelle joins our team from the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) where she was a management accountant. She previously worked as an accountant for several private companies. She completed her SAIPA professional evaluation examination to be certified as a professional accountant, after completing a Bachelor of Commerce degree in financial accounting at Stellenbosch University.
Teboho Klaas Religion Officer
Teboho is an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, working with a congregation in Vosloorus, Johannesburg. He has a long history of involvement in ecumenical church leadership and social justice activism. After working at the Institute for Contextual Theology, he became the national health director of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) and also served as the executive assistant to the general secretary of the SACC. Teboho also worked as the national coordinator of the Jubilee 2000 debt cancellation campaign in South Africa. He holds a Bachelor of Theology (Honours) degree.
Bokang Maroba Office Administrator
Bokang is trained in business management and has been involved in the Matrix Support Group in Lesotho for many years, serving as its youth, arts, and advocacy programme manager and as its treasurer. Most recently, Bokang worked as a finance administrator at Iranti-org.
Sophia Masina Office Keeper
Sophia joins our team from Shamrock Prints in Benoni South Africa, where she worked as a printer for ten years, and previously worked in several informal jobs. Sophia maintains a pleasant and welcoming environment for our team and all visitors to our foundation, and provides support during our events and gatherings.
Shekeshe Mokgosi Head of Operations
Shekeshe previously held the position of the Other Foundation’s public engagement manager. He previously worked as executive assistant for special projects and campaigns at the Southern Africa Trust, as an events manager in a project management agency, a training coordinator at the University of the Witwatersrand, and on project management in agencies of the South African government. Shekeshe has completed an advanced management programme at Wits University’s business school and has completed several other programmes in financial management and auditing, event management and change management.
Thandeka Mukuku Programme Support Officer
Thandeka is a social entrepreneur who founded the queer activist group Thanda Afrika which promotes human rights awareness through the performing arts. She previously worked as TrustAfrica’s convenings associate for the Zimbabwe Alliance and as an assistant gender programme officer at Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ). Thandeka has volunteered at several international events and processes including the 2016 International AIDS Conference and as a peer reviewer in the Other Foundation’s grant making process.
Thapelo Sekoma Personal Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer
Thapelo has several years’ experience working as an executive assistant in the philanthropy sector. He previously volunteered as an assistant librarian in the Nokeng tsa Taemane Municipal Library before working for several years at a private executive travel company. He has an NQF4 certificate from the Academy of Business and Computer Studies in South Africa, an IT diploma from PC Training and Business College, and speaks seven South African languages.
Samuel Shapiro Programmes Process Officer
Samuel is the former national organizer of Equal Education, the social justice campaign for equitable and good quality education in South Africa. He was previously Equal Education’s senior researcher. Samuel has worked across all parts of South Africa to establish community structures and train activists for campaigning, backed by a strong focus on building a body of data and evidence.
Kutlwano Magashula Executive Officer for Programmes
Kutlwano was previously the southern Africa regional programmes coordinator of the Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL), was a prosecutions counsel in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions of Botswana, and was a co-founder and lead researcher of Black Queer DocX. They are formerly the deputy chairperson of Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO). Kutlwano holds a Masters in Law in Sexual and Reproductive Rights from the University of Pretoria (Centre for Human Rights).
Ayanda Msiza Grantmaking Administrator
Ayanda was a volunteer at the Other Foundation for several years, supporting the Foundation’s grantmaking administration and assisting in flagship projects such as kopano gatherings. They were previously the media and documentations officer at Iranti and are the co-founder of the LGBTI community organization, Uthingo the rainbow. Ayanda has studied marketing, management, and graduated in film and television production from AFDA Film School, and has worked as a film director at the production company, Black Eye Visuals.
Jane Rossouw Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Officer
Jane has worked on several research projects for the Female Dignity Initiative, UNAIDS, the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), Reygan Consult, and Wits University, and has supported the Global Interfaith Network as a rapporteur. She has a Masters degree in critical diversity studies from Wits University and is reading for a PhD in educational psychology at the University of Johannesburg. Jane also teaches and supervises research at the South African College of Applied Psychology (SACAP).
Obakeng Pholo Business and Media Officer
Obakeng was the syndication manager at The South African, an online media agency, and the editor in chief of Opera News in South Africa. Prior to that, he worked at Proctor and Gamble as a media practitioner, where he was an active member of its GABLE LGBTI affinity group. He has a diploma in media practices from Boston Media House, specializing in marketing, and is qualified as a media manager through AAA School of Advertising. Obakeng has a particular passion for media digitalization and tech-driven media solutions.
Caio de Araújo Research Officer
Caio is a post-doctoral research fellow at Wits university’s Institute for Social and Economic Research (WiSER). He was the lead investigator for the GALA Queer Archive’s oral histories research projects in both Mozambique and Angola between 2019 and 2023, run in partnership with LAMBDA and the Angolan Indentity Archive. Caio holds a PhD in international history from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, and a Masters degree in sociology and social anthropology from the Central European University in Budapest.
Ricki Kgositau Regional Manager, Global Equality Caucus
Ricki was an executive coordinator of the African Queer Youth Initiative. She was previously the executive director of Accountability International and of Gender Dynamix. Ricki worked at the Botswana Society of the Arts and at the Rainbow Identity Association. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from Monash University and is reading for a Bachelor of Theology degree through the Theological Education by Extension College (TEEC). She is widely recognized for a landmark constitutional case in the Botswana High Court that won legal gender recognition of trans diverse people in Botswana.
