About

I am a climate justice activist/scholar. My Honours dissertation, entitled How Anti-mining Activists Experience Violence in Xolobeni was awarded a Distinction. I have extensive experience as a facilitator,administrator ,writer, and research assistant, working within and across national and global networks.  

Skills

  • Administration
  • Human Resources
  • Management
  • Office management
  • Procurement
  • Recruiting
  • research and analysis
  • Research Writing

Experience

Orthalia kunene

Work experience
  • January, 2023 - December, 2023
  • Fulltime
  • I worked with Dr. Healy Hali and assisted in the development and implementation of the indigenous mapping project in Xolobeni, South Africa (Maps Are Now Our Spears). My work encompassed contributing to the project design, facilitating mapping workshops, writing minutes, contributing to the report summary analysis, interpreting (from IsiMpondo to English), and transcribing audio recordings from IsiMpondo to English. Another project we worked on was Commoning in South Africa, where my work encompassed facilitating and writing minutes during a SERI commoning workshop and converting the data gained for integration into the mapping project. I also contributed to the preparation of research protocols and study designs, while also translating questionnaires and interview guides into IsiMpondo. Additionally, I contributed to the Xolobeni Writers Collective, where my work encompassed establishing and managing a comprehensive data archive and organizing articles, statements, and journal articles about Xolobeni's historical resistance.

Orthalia kunene

Education
  • February, 2022 - December, 2023
  • Fulltime
  • The course examines the foundations of social research, its underlying assumptions, and methodologies, and will combine theoretical discussions with the practical application of research tools. My Honours dissertation, entitled “How Anti-mining Activists Experience Violence in Xolobeni” was awarded a Distinction.

Orthalia kunene

Work experience
  • January, 2021 - January, 2024
  • Fulltime
  • My work at Extinction Rebellion Global Support encompassed developing and implementing a recruitment site, establishing a Global Support podcast team, and holding a budget holder position for Onboarding. In this role, I contributed to finance policies and served as an onboarding link in the finance team, contributing to finance decisions, drafting onboarding finance policies, managing logistics, equipment purchasing/reconciliations and grant applications. I also managed the onboarding internal volunteer communications platform, managed and updated roles, circles, and modifications within Glass-Frog, conducted recruitment activities, managed Global Support's LinkedIn platform, conducted screenings and interviews for volunteers, and aligned them with suitable roles. Additionally, I facilitated the integration of new members into Global Support communication platforms such as Basecamp, Signal, Matter-Most, and WhatsApp groups, maintained up-to-date internal documents related to onboarding and volunteer contact information, ensured that new volunteers enrolled in Global Support training programs, oversaw the dissemination of information concerning recruitment and onboarding processes, developed proposals for onboarding policies, collaborated on projects with Global Support working groups and regional teams, scheduled and chaired onboarding meetings, documented meeting minutes, and generated reports, and managed the offboarding process for volunteers who did not fulfil their role mandates.

Orthalia kunene

Education
  • January, 2020 - January, 2021
  • Fulltime
  • Activities and strategies employed by managers to achieve organizational goals and improve performance.

Orthalia kunene

Work experience
  • January, 2014 - January, 2018
  • Fulltime
  • My work at the Right to Know Campaign involved serving as the Gauteng Financial Administrator and as a Gauteng Working Group member. I contributed to the decision-making processes of campaigns and led the establishment of a feminist working group within the campaign. Additionally, I facilitated workshops and contributed to and led the Right to Protest workshops, protests, and pickets. I also coordinated transportation and accommodation arrangements for staff, guests and volunteers , planned and executed organizational events and workshops, ensured smooth logistics, managed procurement of office stationery to support daily operations, handled correspondence, complaints, and queries promptly and professionally, prepared letters, presentations, and reports to facilitate communication within the organization, supervised and monitored the work of volunteers, providing guidance and support as needed, processed invoices and managed office budgets to maintain financial stability, implemented and maintained procedures and office administrative systems for optimal efficiency, conducted induction programs for new volunteers to facilitate smooth integration into the organization, participated in meetings with senior management to provide administrative insights and support, assisted the national office's HR and finance functions by maintaining personnel records and updating financial documents, managed petty cash, overseeing the financial transactions of the Gauteng office, reconciled and processed reimbursements, purchase orders, and other financial transactions accurately, and created financial and inventory reports to provide insights for decision-making processes.