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Sem Mandela Uutoni is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the One Economy Foundation and a Deputy Director in the Office of the First Lady, Republic of Namibia. In this role, he is responsible for spearheading the implementation of strategic objectives, leading fundraising initiatives, acting as the Foundation's spokesperson, company secretarial duties, financial management and managing the design, development, implementation and evaluation of programmes.
In his preceding role, Sem worked as a National Development Advisor (United Nations) in the Office of the President stationed at the National Planning Commission Secretariat. He was responsible for working with the UN Country Office in Namibia to ensure that their interventions, programs and funding are aligned to Namibia’s Developmental priorities. Furthermore, his role included identifying and establishing synergies and collaboration between the national goals and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Sem also worked as the Special Assistant to the Chairperson’s Advisor on Regional Integration at the African Union Commission (AUC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Working at the AUC, particularly in the eminent Office of the Chairperson provided him with firsthand and extensive experience on integral issues pertaining to continental development and integration.
Through several senior-ranking roles, Sem has worked at the highest levels of public policy, development and governance in Africa and Namibia. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Regional and Rural Development and a Master's Degree in Regional Development and Environmental Economics (Summa Cum Laude). He graduated top of his class and as one of the best graduates in the university.
Sem is the Founder and Executive Director of the African Pathfinder Leaders Initiative (APLI). In November 2016, he received an Excellence Award from the Central Bank of Hungary in recognition of his outstanding academic achievements and extramural activities. In November 2017, Sem was named as one the top 50 Emerging Leaders from the Atlantic Basin by the Policy Center for the New South (Morocco). In the same year, he also coauthored his debut book titled The Extraordinary Aftermath, which was a national bestseller.
Sem is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow; UNESCO-APCEIU GCED Leader (2016); Fellow with Aspire Academy (2016) and a Fellow with the Preparing Global Leaders Institute (2016). In 2011 he was part of the Third Session of the Namibian Children’s Parliament and he founded the Oshakati Junior Town Council the same year.
Sem’s professional experiences include diplomacy, policy formulation and review, youth development, partnership development, entrepreneurship, enterprise development, regional development, community engagement, nonprofit management and international relations. He is passionate about developing the next generation of African leaders and enabling them to contribute substantially towards The Africa We Want.
