Dr. Jaco Prinsloo
Our founding trustee is a psychiatrist who has been serving the community in private clinical practice for longer than twenty years.
He holds that growth requires the identification and development of those promising individuals who face own and societal problems and the challenges striving for monetary independence persistently, and believes that our country’s growth also requires utilizing the benefits of prosperity directly for funding the cultivation of able citizens.
He has been involving himself with the development of projects for struggling crafters, textile workers and artists in a committed way since 2001, and works alongside the other trustees to provide proper nutrition, shelter, education, development of market-oriented skills and products for, and to foster discipline and a solid work ethic within individuals from the communities the trust serves.
“We have to develop sustainable income-generating businesses and industries within currently disadvantaged communities.”
“We should all be serious about taking care and custody of life and lives, and take hands in our strivings to build healthy communities.”
Edwin Smith
Edwin left South Africa for exile in the mid-1980s where he studied and worked in various countries in Africa and abroad. After graduating from the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College (SOMAFCO), the ANC school in Morogoro, Tanzania in 1989, Smith served as personal assistant to Dr.Seretse Choabi, the then Director of the ANC’s Department of Education in Lusaka, Zambia.
Edwin left Zambia for the USA where he read psychology, economics and writing at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. During his nine years in the United States, he studied and later worked at Rutgers University in various capacities of which the last was as Director of Rutgers University’s Council for Southern Africa.
In 1999 Edwin returned to South Africa to serve as the Spokesperson for the Minister of Trade and Industry and as Director: Media Liaison. In September 2002 he joined the University of Pretoria as Director: Marketing and Communications. Following the incorporation of the Mamelodi Campus of Vista University in 2004, Edwin is now the Director of the Mamelodi Campus of the University of Pretoria. Since 2007, Smith is also the first live-in head of residence at Tuksdorp, the University of Pretoria’s largest postgraduate and international students’ residence. Since returning to South Africa, Edwin has served on various boards. He is a past Director and Member of the Board for the Soccajasco Kids Project. From 2005 to 2006, he served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for Blink Lifestyle Magazine and became the Chairman of the Board and Publisher of Blink Lifestyle Magazine in 2006. He was also a member of the Advisory Board of Molato, the then Department of Minerals and Energy magazine 2000 to 2002. As part of his responsibilities as a senior manager, Edwin serves on many University of Pretoria institutional committees.
Nthabiseng Lichaba (Daka)
Nthabiseng Lichaba (Daka) is a public affairs and brand communications strategist specializing in brand development and internationalization. Her primary role has focused on delivering strategic value and consultation in aligning business strategy with the corporate brand as well as other activities that fall within the communication mix. Nthabiseng has twelve years marketing and communications experience in the financial services, media, broadcast, entertainment and public sector industries.
Coupled with strong brand communications solutions, project management and marketing capabilities, Nthabiseng also has nine years of consulting experience in the management of large scale change programmes to support the strategic repositioning and stakeholder management of organisations. Nthabiseng holds a Goldman Sachs 10000 Women Entrepreneurship Certificate from the Gordon Institute of Business School.
She has worked extensively on a variety of strategic transformation and system implementation projects in the Financial Services and Manufacturing industries, as well as the Public Sector. She has also served as a Non-Executive Director on the board of the French South Africa Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She is also currently running an investment firm which has interests in the energy, property, manufacturing, niche technology engineering environments (rail, mining, information security, and telecommunications.