Khanyisa Manzini

Khanyisa Manzini is a passionate professional with a wealth of experience across non-profits, foundations, and higher education. She started her career in the private sector, working with Woolworths and Shell South Africa, before moving into public health and community development with organizations like HOPE worldwide, Management Sciences for Health and the Fred Hollows Foundation South Africa. Her diverse roles have included freelance research consulting and project management positions with firms like Dimension Data, Southern Hemisphere and InsideOut Research.

As Community Liaison and Marketing Manager for Nelson Mandela University, she has spent the past decade in community liaison and stakeholder management roles, advancing the university’s strategic engagement initiatives. She has developed expertise in program management, resource mobilization, strategy development, and partnership building.

Khanyisa is a 2025 Fellow in the Master's in Education (Community Engagement) program at Merrimack College, Massachusetts, and Princeton University’s Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES). Her academic journey focuses on deepening her understanding of community engagement and community-based research, which aligns with her practical work in organizational analysis and capacity building. Khanyisa's commitment to social responsibility, community development, and activism continues to guide her work as she leverages her skills to make impactful contributions across sectors.