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The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation announced that Tendisai Chigwedere will join the foundation as a program officer in its Gender Equity and Governance Program. Tendisai will support the Inclusive Governance portfolio of grants to ensure governments are responsive to their people’s needs and aspirations.
Tendisai is excited to support the work of Hewlett’s Inclusive Governance partners and allies. These efforts resonate deeply with her longstanding commitment to helping citizens use their agency and power to hold governments to account.
Tendisai has more than two decades of experience spanning community organizing and advocacy, public sector innovation, and philanthropy. Her geographic scope has also ranged widely, including work in Honduras, Mexico, Senegal, the United States, and Zimbabwe. She comes to Hewlett from TrustAfrica, where she played a pivotal role in supporting intersectional social movements across the African continent. She also co-designed and hosted TrustAfrica’s African Social Movement Barazas, and directly managed the organization’s grantmaking in Zimbabwe.
Previously, Tendisai served for four years as a diplomat with the Zimbabwe Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she led the Ministry’s African Union portfolio. She has also worked as a community organizer in both Mexico and Honduras. In Mexico, as a coordinator with Transformación Urbana Internacional, she helped communities self-identify needs and launch multiple initiatives including a women’s empowerment and psycho-social support process, a community health initiative, and a youth program.
Tendisai has a master’s degree in international development from Eastern University in Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from California State University. Tendisai and her family will be relocating from Zimbabwe to the Bay Area.