In 2000, with a handful of volunteers, Shine Literacy opened its first centre in a primary school in Cape Town, providing weekly one-on-one support to children struggling with reading and writing. Motivated by the remarkable progress we measured, we designed a social franchise model and formalised our methods and materials so that the Shine Literacy Hour (SLH) programme could be used more widely.
As our experience has grown, so has our understanding of the wide range of factors that influence a child’s progress at school. We have therefore expanded our offering to encompass parents, caregivers, and the greater community in an effort to Create a Culture of Reading (CCR) in the spaces where children live, play and learn.
Chairperson
Kehiloe holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology and a postgraduate certificate in mindfulness-based interventions. She has consulted for the University of Cape Town on various topics such as mentor training, life skills programmes and psychotherapy since 2003. Her interest in diversity and inclusion has also led her to facilitate diversity programmes and workshops within the NGO sector. She is an associate at Rosa Burns Ntsekhe, a global consultancy working towards broad-scale behavioural change by tackling issues of socio-economic inclusion and organisational diversity.
Treasurer
Graeme manages Shine Literacy’s finance, risk and governance functions. After starting his career as a chartered accountant in KwaZulu-Natal, Graeme moved to Deloitte & Touche, then Ernst & Young in the United Kingdom. Back in South Africa, he climbed the corporate ladder to the position of Managing Executive in the corporate banking division at Nedbank. Graeme has always been involved in entities that contribute to the development of social consciousness and upliftment. He values the opportunity to continue doing so through Shine Literacy.
Lolo Mini, who joined the Alan Gray Orbis Foundation in June 2018 as the Head of Talent, has 20 years of human resources experience. Previously, she was the HR Director at Chevron, where she spent over 10 years in different positions covering South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland. Before changing careers to HR, Lolo started out as a teacher. She holds a BA Degree in Psychology, a BA (Honours) in Psychology from UNISA and a Masters in Philosophy in People Management from the University of Cape Town.
Di holds a BBus Sc (Marketing) from the University of Cape Town. Most of her corporate career was spent in the unit trust industry before she moved into the non-profit space to head up the Association of Collective Investments.
Since 2010, Di has been working as an independent director and retirement fund trustee. She chairs the Nedgroup Collective Investments Board, as well as the Old Mutual Wealth and Fairbairn Capital Retirement Funds. She furthermore serves as Nedgroup Investments Retirement Funds trustee.
Co-founder and Honorary Board Member
Kathryn completed a Montessori Diploma in London in 1994, followed by a BEd in Early Childhood Studies and honours and master’s degrees in early childhood development at Roehampton University. South Africa’s deep social inequality and Shine Literacy’s attempts at levelling the playing field were the driving forces behind her social justice and political awakening. In 2018, Kathryn left her beloved South Africa for new adventures in the United States. She remains passionate about the organisation’s work. She remains engaged through her role as honorary trust
Dan Pink, in his book, “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”, talks about success in the workplace being based on each team member having Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. Founder and Executive Director, Maurita Weissenberg, believes that Shine Literacy’s success can be attributed to each team member being self-motivated, passionate about a shared vision and always willing to learn more.
Executive Director
As a qualified teacher specialising in remedial teaching, Maurita witnessed first-hand the need for support services in low-income schools. This led her to founding the first Shine Centre in 2000. As the Director of Shine Literacy, she has helped establish the organisation’s social franchise model in the form of Shine Chapters. She has led the organisation through challenging times brought on by the Covid-19 Pandemic with care and resilience. As a result, Shine Literacy staff eased into a hybrid working model and embraced it while making some necessary changes to some of its programmes to respond adequately to the pandemic. Shine Literacy currently supports over 14 000 children across 46 schools nationally.
Finance Manager
Julie has been responsible for the smooth and efficient running of Shine Literacy’s finances since 2012. By ensuring good governance, compliance, and careful risk management, she ensures that the organisation remains on track to reaching its long-term vision of being sustainable and impactful. Julie holds a diploma from the Chartered Secretaries of Southern Africa and has financial management experience in both the non-profit and corporate sector.
Each individual matters
Shine creates an environment which affirms a child’s importance.
Listen with respect and without interruption
The quality of our attention profoundly affects the quality of other people’s thinking.
Treat each other as thinking peers
We learn from one another, regardless of age or qualification.
Ease creates, urgency destroys
An environment that encourages children to work at their own pace facilitates learning.
Practice the art of appreciation
Be generous and genuine with praise and words of encouragement.
Respect for human rights
We uphold the values that all people should be treated equally and with dignity as is reflected in South Africa’s Bill of Rights.
Responsibility
We are invested in our duty to improve the future of literacy in South Africa.
Integrity
Our actions, methods, measures, principles and outcomes will be consistent, truthful and transparent.
Trust
We aim to be sincere and truthful in all our working practices.
Collaboration
We build partnerships with those who share a common purpose.