Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA)

OSISA's Executive Director, Sisonke Msimang, has been named a 2012 Yale World Fellow - joining just 16 others who were selected from a pool of around 2,500 applicants.

A South African national, Sisonke is responsible for defining and driving the strategic direction of OSISA, which works across ten southern African countries to promote human rights, transparency, good governance and accountability as well as overseeing projects on education, gender and women’s rights, HIV and AIDS, and democracy building.

Previously, Sisonke had worked for various UN agencies, including UNAIDS, UNDP, and UNICEF, on issues related to addressing gender inequality and sexual and reproductive health and rights. A prominent voice for women’s rights, she is also the Chair of Sonke Gender Justice and a member of the Board of the Health-E News Service.

The Yale World Fellows Program is the University’s signature global leadership development initiative and each year, the University invites a group of exemplary mid-career professionals from a wide range of fields and countries for an intensive four-month period of academic enrichment and leadership training.

Previous Yale World Fellows from South Africa include Marianne Camerer, International Director of Global Integrity; Siobhan Cleary, Director of Strategy and Public Policy, Johannesburg Stock Exchange; Vusi Gumede, Associate Professor, University of Johannesburg; Raenette Taljaard, former MP and former Director of the Helen Suzman Foundation; and Thembi Xulu, Clinical Director, Right to Care (2010).

“We are thrilled once again to welcome an outstanding group of World Fellows to Yale,” said Program Director Michael Cappello, M.D., professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine. “The 2012 Fellows were selected from a global pool representing thousands of innovative difference makers. We are proud to offer them this unique opportunity to develop their leadership skills while enriching the Yale community through active participation in campus life.”