Dr Onyi Nwaneri
Onyi is the Managing Director of Sesame Workshop International South Africa, an international not for profit company that operates in the intersection of education, media and research. Sesame Workshop’s mission is to help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger and kinder.
Prior to joining Sesame Workshop International, Onyi held many executive roles including in a well-known social enterprise – Afrika Tikkun. Onyi held the Group CEO role providing strategic direction and leadership to its primary companies – Afrika Tikkun Foundation and Afrika Tikkun Services Pty Limited. Onyi” leadership saw the company achieve an average revenue of R500 Million and reaching over 40 000 children and young people per-annum through 800 employees by implementing its Cradle-to-Career 360° model and programmes.
Onyi grew Afrika Tikkun Services the arm of Afrika Tikkun responsible for recruitment training and placement into economic opportunities to an organisation that specializes in large scale training and placements and have handled multimillion projects on behalf of blue-chip companies.
Onyi’s experience cuts across egal Practice, Business Development, Sales, and Marketing; HR; Operations; Stakeholder Management, BBBEE, Corporate Social Responsibility, SDGs and ESG.
A recipient of many awards including the recent Social Impact Leader of the year award and the Gauteng Women in Excellence Award, Onyi holds a master’s degree in human Rights and democratization in Africa from the University of Pretoria. She has also concluded a variety of certificate courses in subjects such as International Law; Election Observation; Good Governance; Development and Human Rights; Justiciability of Economic Social and Cultural Rights; NPO Management, Social & Ethics Committee and Governance and Strategic Planning. She recently completed a second master’s degree – an MBA with GIBS – University of Pretoria.
Onyi is known for being a passionate, driven, and high-energy leader experienced in leading teams to deliver value to organisations in a manner that always exceeds expectations. Her key value add to an organisation is her ability to deliver on multiple projects through leading multi-functional teams across multiple sites.