Vanessa MPATLANYANE, from South Africa, is a researcher and volunteer pursuing a PhD in Sociology at the University of Cape Town. Her research explores relations in black middle-class families. Through dynamic family narratives, her work showcases facets of African womanhood across generations. It shows how women and girls negotiate their own lives, make choices, explore opportunities, and deal with setbacks. By zooming in on the place of women and children in families and—more broadly—society, the aspects necessary to improve the lives of both come to the surface.
Vanessa is co-founder of the Mammie Connect Initiative, which supports new mothers and children through dialogue and community. Additionally, she serves as a co-director and volunteer researcher for Ubusha Bami, a non-profit focused on creating educational entertainment on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) for 8–18-year-olds. Through this work, she creates SRH content that is youth-friendly, age-appropriate, and evidence-based. She is also in the South African Association of Women Graduates network, which supports young graduate women through various initiatives. She is a mentor and academic coach for the Aphrodite Global Initiative, which supports girls in rural Venda and actively fights gender-based violence. This work complements her role as part-time program lead at a technology incubator, Disruptors In Digital Spaces, which supports grassroots innovators, many of whom are women, mothers, and youth. In this position, she also helps hire more women, thereby increasing women’s visibility and presence in tech.
