Meet ALI South Africa’s new Executive Director.
We are excited to announce that Lynette Chen, Class IX Tariro Fellow, will take the reins as Executive Director of ALI South Africa. Her unwavering commitment to this country and continent, combined with her track record of actively and successfully driving social and economic transformation in private sector-led initiatives, makes her the ideal candidate to lead ALISA.
During her tenure at Hewlett-Packard South Africa, Lynette made significant contributions to initiatives such as the ICT BEE Charter and the Presidential International Advisory Council on ICT in South Africa. Her dedication to Africa’s development led her to assume the role of CEO at the NEPAD Business Foundation (NBF), where she successfully mobilised private sector support and collaboration with the public sector and civil society to implement the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) objectives. Under her leadership, the NBF expanded from a team of 2 to a dynamic group of 20, operating across eight programmatic areas in Africa and establishing additional offices in Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, and Ethiopia.
Lynette was often invited by multilateral and regional organisations such as the United Nations, African Union Commission, UNECA, and the African Development Bank to provide private sector input and insight into developing African and regional integration strategies.
Lynette also served on the Board of Directors of FANRPAN, a continental organisation focusing on impacting policies in the agriculture sector, and Enablis, which focused on developing and financing entrepreneurs in South Africa.
Lynette’s qualifications and commitment to continuous learning are impressive. She holds Communications, Public Relations, and Business Management degrees and completed the NEPAD African Leadership Programme from Wits Business School in South Africa in 2007. Her dedication to leadership development was further recognised when she became a Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Africa Leadership Initiative in 2015.
