Mrs S Gono
Director
Designate Officer; Association of African Universities Southern Africa Regional Office (AAU SARO) & Board Member Mrs Gono holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Practice in Change Leadership with the University of the West England (UWE), 2022, and a Master of Business Administration degree with Africa University (AU), 1999, Mutare, Zimbabwe, and a Higher National Diploma in Business Administration with Masvingo Technical College, 1995. Mrs Gono has been the Director for International Programme and Global Initiatives since December 2023, a portfolio for internationalizing the university in terms of curriculum, teaching, research, student and staff exchange programmes, and partnerships, with a bid to produce a global graduate. She has increased partnerships with international universities and organisations. She has made inroads in physical penetration of the university in countries like Malawi. Mrs Gono is also the Designate Officer for the Association of African Universities Southern Africa Regional Office (AAU SARO), currently hosted by the Women’s University in /Africa since September 2023. The Association of African Universities (AAU), is the voice of higher education in Africa and the implementing agent of the African Union on higher education issues. The AAU has established regional offices to widen its reach and enhance its impact across Africa. Mrs Gono has spearheaded the establishment of the governance structures for the AAU SARO Office to be all-inclusive in tackling regional higher education issues. She provides secretariat services to the AAU SARO Board. Mrs Gono was the Director for Marketing, Communications & Public Relations of the University from June 2017 to November 2023. She was the custodian of the WUA Brand. Her roles included media liaison, marketing, events management and coordination, exhibitions, publications and digital marketing. She also coordinated Alumni activities and Community Engagement. The tasks which enhanced the university brand by increasing visibility and awareness. In this role, she played a critical part in information dissemination and business continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic. From May 2012 to May 2017, Mrs Gono was the University’s Director for Resource Mobilisation and Marketing. She was responsible for growing the University’s partners and enrolment. She was also brand custodian and media liaison. From November 2008 to May 2012. Mrs Gono was the Registrar/Director of Strategic Business Development for the Women’s University in Africa, Zimbabwe. She was responsible for Marketing & Public Relations, IT, HR & Administration, Strategic Business Units, which were channels for revenue diversification, Resource Mobilisation, and Registry that incorporated student records, examinations, admissions, and registration. She worked at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation as Head Finance and Administration from December 2002, re-graded to Group Finance Director in December 2003 and re-graded to General Manager Finance and Corporate Affairs from December 2006 to June 2008. Before joining ZBC, she was Chief Accountant in the Office of the President and Cabinet, where she rose through civil service ranks to Under Secretary for Finance. She has 19 years of experience in government financial management and six years of experience in the parastatals as well as 15 years in academia. Mrs Gono has served in several Boards that include the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) 2003 to February 2011, the Well – Patsime NGO an organization which is integrating HIV/AIDs with permaculture targeting the infected and affected, the Parastatals Council of Zimbabwe from 2004 to 2008, Trustee of the Women in Agri-business in sub-Sahara Africa Alliance (WASAA) since 2012, a non-profit making institution to promote women in agri-business, the Institute of Child Resources in Zimbabwe (ICRZ) from 2008 to 2016. In January 2012, Mrs Gono was appointed a member of the International Association of Universities (IAU) Reference Group on Higher Education focusing on Education for All (EFA) and Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 for the period 2012 to 2015 as an Advisor, information sharing and recognition of EFA-related activities undertaken by institutions of higher learning. She contributed to the development and establishment of the Early Childhood Development Model Centers in the University to cater for female students and surrounding communities, as well as a practical lab for Education degree programmes. Mrs Gono is currently serving on the World Technology Partners Board; www.worldtechnologypartners.org She has been nominated for various business accolades and awarded the Megafest 2014 Top 20 Outstanding Women in Business. She was the designated Officer for Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings in the African Broadcast Media Partnership (ABMP) Against HIV/AIDs. She managed to coordinate the National selections for the Imagine Afrika reality show for 2007, where the Zimbabwean candidate was in the winning group, which scooped US$6000 each. The 2008 reality show, on the same programme, managed to have three Zimbabweans in the top 30 of Africa select. This programme profiled young African achievers, matching their ingenuity and leadership in tackling challenges confronting many poor communities across Africa, such as HIV/AIDs, water & sanitation, training and food supply. The show focused on themes including gender equality and equity, open communication about gender roles, HIV/AIDs, stigma and HIV testing. The campaign emphasised personal action and urged all Africans to consider their role in realizing an HIV free generation under the tag line ‘Imagine the possibility of an HIV-free generation: It begins with You.’ In her portfolio of community engagement at the Women’s University in Africa, she succeeded in bringing key research collaborations with the University College London (UCL) on a project titled: Mapping risk and resilience to mental health consequences of child marriage in Zimbabwe. She also brought in the University of the West of England (UWE) collaboration in the delivery of the module titled Professional Practice in Change Leadership at postgraduate level. Mrs Gono has coordinated a lot of events that have impacted positively in the women empowerment agenda. These included public lecture series that focused on issues affecting women and children, covering issues of gender-based violence, child marriage, human trafficking, and the African Union Agenda 2063, among others. Mrs Gono was a volunteer at the 18th ICASA (International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa, Zimbabwe, 2015).
