Lipalesa Morake is the director of Africa youth development at Global Citizen. She is responsible for managing youth activities that provide direct services and complement the organisation’s goal to double down on Africa building on what has been achieved in South Africa with Mandela 100; Nigeria with Global Citizen Live; and last year in Ghana with the Global Citizen Festival.
Lipalesa says the courage of young people keeps her going to help them realise their potential. The main areas in which she has contributed in her field have been in advocating for policies and practices that support youth development. She has led efforts to raise awareness and mobilise support and through mentorship has fostered fresh talent and built collaborative networks.
Lipalesa focuses on creating programmes and initiatives that drive societal change and make a difference in the lives of today’s youth. One of the programmes is the BeyGOOD x Global Citizen Fellowship programme in Johannesburg, which enabled 50 young people to serve a paid, year-long fellowship with Global Citizen. The aim was to immerse them in the use of digital technology for social change and storytelling tactics that shift attitudes.
Lipalesa hopes her legacy will be a continent of empowered youth doing amazing things for themselves and their communities.
The name of the organisation at which you work
Global Citizen
Your educational background, listing your qualifications and institutions, if any:
- Master’s degree in Strategic Management, Wits Business School
- Certificate in Customer Experience Management, IQ Business
- National Diploma in Marketing Management, Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Your greatest achievement
Lipalesa says she is most proud of having offered critical support during the recent Kenyan protest crisis.
A culminating achievement that took a lot of focus and dedication was successfully scaling an existing programme from a local level to expansion into other key markets and innovating youth programming during the pandemic through the inclusion of mental health initiatives and honing in on entrepreneurship.