The SVRI board determines the organisation’s strategic direction, manages risk and ensures the sustainability of our work.
Dr Chi-Chi Undie (Chair)
Dr Chi-Chi Undie is the Technical Director and Senior Associate at Population Council. For a decade she has coordinated and provided strategic and technical oversight for the Population Council-led Africa Regional SGBV Network – a network of partners that designs, implements and tests innovative response models to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in low-resource settings in eastern, southern, and the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region. Chi-Chi’s research centres on interventions to address to violence against women and children. Several of these interventions have been adapted and taken up in refugee and non-refugee settings to meet the needs of adult and child survivors in the region. She holds an interdisciplinary doctoral degree in Language, Literacy, and Culture from the University of Maryland, was formerly a Ford Foundation postdoctoral fellow and, later, an associate research scientist at the African Population and Health Research Center. She currently serves as chief executive officer and research director for FCDO-funded research program consortium ‘Baobab: Filling Gaps in Evidence to Enhance SRHR among Vulnerable Populations in the East and Horn of Africa’.
Craig Harding
Craig is a Chartered Accountant and co-director of Insurance Studio Consulting. His 30-year career in life and health insurance across Africa includes a long list of innovation, transformation and pioneering initiatives aimed at improving access to high quality insurance products for consumers previously excluded from participating in these products. Exclusion from financial services products comes in many forms, ranging from financial to health to geographic circumstances. Craig’s work has focussed on finding creative solutions to these challenges. In addition to holding CEO and CFO leadership roles in many of these ventures, Craig has held Board positions in companies listed on three stock exchanges. Today Insurance Studio Consulting provides deep operational involvement in financial services businesses and initiatives, and has interests across multiple African countries.
Elizabeth Dartnall
Liz is a health specialist with over 20 years’ research and policy-making experience on health systems, mental health, violence against women and children. Having worked in several countries, in both government and research positions, Liz has a deep understanding of the policy process and use or research to inform policy and practice. For example, in South Africa, Liz worked for the Department of Health at both provincial and national levels in epidemiology and health information systems. In Australia she worked in mental health for the Western Australian state government. Since 2006, Liz has managed the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), and recently with support of multiple partners, launched SVRI as an independent NGO. The SVRI, with more than 6600 members, is one of the largest networks in the field of research on violence against women and violence against children. The SVRI produces leading publications and materials; strengthens research capacity, provides research grants and technical assistance for research on violence against women in low and middle income countries; and hosts the key global biannual event in the field – the SVRI Forum. Liz is committed to research and policy-making that is women centred, ethical, equitable and partnership based. Further, through the SVRI and our partners we are reversing the global imbalance in research capacity and resources to ensure research on violence against women in low and middle income countries is led by researchers in low and middle income countries and knowledge production is driven by research priorities and needs of the global South.
Nomsa Mokhele
Nomsa Mokhele is a Chartered Accountant with over 9 years’ experience as a finance professional and is a former Non-Executive Director of the SVRI. She completed her article training at PwC in one of the financial service audit departments. Nomsa is also a former training manager at PwC’s Business School, which included involvement in corporate governance, managing a board programme that was aimed at supporting directors through the changing landscape of their challenging roles. In addition to her accounting qualifications, Nomsa also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Integrated Reporting from the University of Pretoria. Nomsa is also the Founder and Director of Molemo Business Solutions which supports organisations by creating age-and-stage appropriate solutions that address financial management, strategy development, strategy execution and governance needs of small and medium-sized businesses.
Yvonne Themba
An accomplished Human Resources & Talent Management Professional with 15 years’ Executive Management experience. Yvonne Themba is a solutions-based strategist that enjoys transforming organisations by tailoring change management programmes and continuous improvement initiatives that align with company requirements, compliance and long-term business goals. In August 2021 she took on the exciting and challenging role of Chief People Officer at McDonald’s South Africa. Prior to joining McDonald’s South Africa and having earned significant professional growth opportunities throughout her career, Yvonne was the Managing Director of her own HR consultancy, Themba Infrastructure Projects (TIP). Established in 2016, this fully women-owned and -led business has managed HR strategy development, work culture embedding, retrenchment outplacements solutions and Board management projects for Shanduka Group, Phembani Group, Pfortner Solutions and Black Umbrellas. Currently the Trustee of Mabindu Business Development Trust (MBDT) and the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation (CRF) and some its implementing entities; namely Adopt-A-School Foundation (AAS) and KTS, Yvonne understands fully the fiduciary responsibilities and compliance mandate embedded therein. She works effectively alongside Board Members and Executive Management in order to achieve the greater goal, communicating insights, decisions and challenges in a compelling manner. Yvonne is also a Board member of Pan African Resources (PAR), a sustainable, safe, high margin and long-life mid-tier Gold Producer in South Africa. She serves on the sub committees of the abovementioned Boards with a special emphasis on Chairing the Remuneration Committees (PAR & CRF) as well as being a member of the Ethics Committee (PAR) and the Finance Committee (AAS).