In line with good corporate governance and its Culture Fund succession planning, highly regarded Delta Corporation Supply Chain Director, Cynthia Malaba, was recently appointed Culture Fund Board of Trustees Chairperson. An accountant by profession, Cynthia Malaba has vast corporate sector experience. She previously served as Culture Fund Deputy Chairperson to Gift Sibanda who is retiring after a full five year term on the Board. He was Chairman in the last three years. Gift Sibanda’s legal expertise on the Board team will be filled by newly appointed trustee; Scanlen and Holderness Partner and lawyer, Nellie Tiyago-Jinjika. The other Board members are Dr Allen Chiura, Phathisa Nyathi, Stanford Chabaya, Titus Moetsabi, Priscilla Sadomba, Abigail Mawocha and Farai Mpfunya as Executive Director.
The Culture Fund’s Board succession planning ensures staggered retirement of Trustees and replacement to maintain a balance of expertise, gender, experience and social standing. Previously, Culture Fund Trustees served a maximum of two, two year terms. Now they serve two, three year terms. Two other Trustees, Dr Allen Chiura and Pathisa Nyathi, are due to retire in 2019. The search for suitable replacements has already begun.
Gift Sibanda, who served as Director-General of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) from 2005 to 2012 and continues to sit on a number of Boards, is a retired technocrat and diplomat. He led the Culture Board in asserting the new strategic focus; infusing Culture in development strategies and initiatives to maximise impacts. During his tenure, the Fund successfully partnered the PEPFAR (USA) in the DREAMS Innovation Challenge programme aimed at reducing HIV/Aids among adolescent girls and young women; the Swedish government in the CultureACTIONs programme that seeks to reduce gender based violence, child marriages and effects of climate change in targeted communities and the European Union in Culture at Work Africa programme that promotes intercultural dialogue and social cohesion in fifteen African countries. The Culture Fund also maintained its role as peace-builder in the Government of Zimbabwe – UNDP Deepening Foundations of Peace and Social Cohesion in Zimbabwe programme. By harnessing the transformative power of the creative arts in development programmes, the Culture Fund aims to improve its impacts capacity.
The Culture Fund envisions a world in which Culture and the Arts, imbued with Africaness, thrive and are sustainable; contributing to wealth creation for African communities. The Fund’s purpose is to connect African communities with financial and technical resources; to lead African Thought research and discourse and to harness the power of the creative arts to help positively change the lives of ordinary people.
