Vuyiswa Sidzumo
Director, Southern Africa
Vuyiswa Sidzumo is the director of the foundation’s office in Southern Africa. After years working in the office as a senior program officer, she oversees all of the foundation’s grantmaking in the region and leads the team to promote the growth of philanthropy in Southern Africa and support the work of our grantees.
Prior to joining the foundation in October 2017, she spent 12 years at the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation serving as an associate program officer and program officer before becoming the country director for South Africa in 2009. Vuyiswa oversaw evaluations of the country program and strategy development within the office and positioned the office for a pan-African focus. She also designed programs to strengthen the capacity and sustainability of organizations supported and played a key role in building relationships between government, philanthropy, and civil society as well as social movements.
Vuyiswa worked within government as director of donor relations in the then Department of Provincial and Local Government in South Africa where she focused on donor monitoring and evaluation. Prior to that, she was a program officer within the United Nations Development Program and for the Sedibeng Centre for Organizational Effectiveness. She has also worked as a consultant on organizational effectiveness and impact assessments. Vuyiswa has pioneered work in local philanthropy in South Africa and in the U.S. and currently serves as chair of the steering committee of the Africa Grantmakers’ Affinity Group. She also serves on the editorial board of the Annual Review of South African Philanthropy, an initiative of the Independent Philanthropy Association South Africa.
Vuyiswa is a scientist by training, with an MSc in biochemistry from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.