TIPS Staff

Juanita Pardesi has more than 16 years’ experience working at local, national, regional and international levels in project design, development, management and evaluation. Before joining TIPS she was chief operations officer at the DFID-funded ComMark Trust – a grant-making agency aimed at supporting pro-poor, private sector development through implementing the “making markets work for the poor” approach.

Kate is a development strategist with over 20 years experience in social and economic policy development and implementation.

Mbofholowo Tsedu is a researcher with a B Comm. Economics degree from the University of Pretoria. He is currently contracted to TIPS as an Assistant Programme Manager for the Industrial Development pillar primarily focused on trade and industrial policy issues. Mbofholowo has been engaged in numerous industry-related research. He also has been responsible for providing supplementary research support to TIPS’s other pillars. Mbofholowo is currently enrolled in a Msc programme focused on Industrialisation, Trade and Economic Policy at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland.

Evans Chinembiri is currently working at TIPS as a junior economist responsible for Quantitative Data analysis. He holds an Honors degrees in Natural Resource management and Agriculture. He undertook a Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Economics at the University of Zimbabwe and is working towards the completion of his MSc in Agricultural Economics at the University of Pretoria.

Gaylor joined TIPS as a Junior Economist in December 2011 to provide research assistance in the sustainable growth pillar. Prior to TIPS, Gaylor was an Economic Attaché at the Department of Economic Affairs for Southern Africa (French Treasury) of the Embassy of France in South Africa. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Finance and Political Science, and a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po) of Grenoble, France.

Tanya Claassen joined TIPS for the second time round in August 2009 as a Office Coordinator and PA to the Executive Director and now the duty of Web Administrator, IT Support and Internal Communications Coordinator. She has past experience in Administration, Graphic Design, Legal Advise on Mortgage Bonds and Events Coordination. She resided in Botswana before moving permanently to South Africa in February 2008. She has over 10 years work experience which include national / international experience in United States of America, United Kingdom and Botswana.  

Rozale Sewduth has over 7 years of working experience. During this period, her core responsibilities included customer relations, staff supervision, and office administration and personal assistant duties. She has extensive event management experience. Rozale has worked both locally and internationally: United States of America, United Kingdom and South Africa. Rozale has a diploma in Business Management and Administration from Campus College.

Emily Sindane joined TIPS in 2004 and is responsible for office assistance and maintenance. She has two years' general secretarial experience and has completed a number of computer software courses, including Microsoft Word and Excel.

Glen Robbins is a part time Researcher at the School of Development Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal and freelance consultant specialising in regional and local economic development with a focus on regional and city economic development strategies, infrastructure planning and financing and trade and industrial policy. Previously he headed up the Economic Development and City Enterprises functions in the eThekwini Municipality (Durban).

Dirk van Seventer lives in New Zealand. He studied economics in the Netherlands and subsequently worked for 20 years as an economic analyst in South Africa amongst others as a research fellow at TIPS. After a 6 year stint at the New Zealand Department of Labour Dirk van Seventer has recently rejoined TIPS as a part-time research fellow. His work focuses on trade and economy-wide policy analysis and capacity building.

Ellen Hagerman has nearly 10 years of experience working on regional economic development issues including trade, infrastructure, food security and governance. She has worked for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for 13 years as a Program Manager and Senior Analyst and has covered a diversity of other issues including corporate social responsibility and global environmental issues.