Nozipho January-Bardill
Biography
Ambassador Nozipho January-Bardill is a pan-African and global social justice and human rights advocate and has had a distinguished career in formulating and implementing institutional policies, practices, and programmes to promote and transform race and gender justice and different forms of dignity harms, such as gender-based violence, in private and public institutions in South Africa and abroad.
Her own organisation, Bardill & Associates, offers consultancy services on good, responsible, and ethical leadership and governance; changing systemic structural and cultural inequalities in the workplace; designing people practices for sustainable development, such as integrating the UN Sustainable Development Goals into organisational strategies; and supporting women and other socially vulnerable groups in their pursuit of equality of opportunity in their work environments.
Nozipho is a patron of Women in Successful Careers (WISCAR) in Lagos, Nigeria. She mentors and encourages women to write their own stories to document their lived experiences, as well as challenge dominant narratives and stereotypes that harm the dignity of women and diminish their contribution to society. She has edited and self- published a book of 55 African women writers across the continent, and written articles on racial and gender justice, human rights, and the provision of services to people living with HIV and AIDS.
She serves as an independent non-executive director on the boards of the MTN Foundation and the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Response Fund in South Africa. She is a trustee of the UN Voluntary Fund for Technical Assistance and the Implementation of the Universal Periodic Report in the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. She recently completed eight years of serving as chairperson of the Nelson Mandela University Council.
She was South Africa’s ambassador to Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Holy See as well as deputy director general in the South African Department of Foreign Affairs. She was the chief of staff and special adviser to UN Women in New York and South Africa, served as a member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva, and was chairperson of the UN Global Compact in South Africa. She also served on the Council of the University of Cape Town and was chairperson of the university’s African Gender Institute.
Other private-sector experiences include serving as an independent non-executive director on the boards of large, listed companies such as Mercedes-Benz South Africa, AngloGold Ashanti, and some MTN boards in West and East Africa, and as executive director of corporate affairs and spokesperson of the MTN Group in Johannesburg.
Nozipho holds a bachelor’s degree in English and philosophy and a certificate in education from the University of Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland; a master’s degree in applied linguistics from the University of Essex, UK; a diploma in human resource management; and an honorary degree of doctor of laws from Glasgow Caledonian University in recognition of her service to society.
