Zimbabwe Country Coordinator, Francis Mukora is a certified journalist, democracy and human rights campaigner, youth mentor, public policy analyst and advocate, social entrepreneur and environmentalist combining his vast skills, expertise and responsibilities to promote sustainable development in Zimbabwe, Africa and across the world. Francis holds a diploma in Community Leadership from George Mason University in the United States, a degree in Journalism and Media Studies from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST)in Zimbabwe and is currently studying towards a Masters in Governance and Leadership with NUST. Francis has closer to a decade of experience in research and policy advocacy with various civil society organisations in Zimbabwe. He is also anaccredited economic expert providing technical and expert review and analysis of public policy on Public Resource Management and Economic policies for news outlets in Zimbabwe. Previously, Francis has served as an Ambassador for Thought For Food, a global movement working to promote food security around the globe.
He is also the Zimbabwean Ambassador for the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the world’s leading think tank dedicated to analyse promote peace around the world. He is also currently serving as the Board member and Regional Representative for Seldavine Tree Tracker, a Nigerian Registered company working to reduce deforestation and revolutionize agro-forestry and conservation across Africa. Francis is also the Vice-President (Strategic Partnerships & Development) for Net Impact Harare Chapter; an affiliate of Net Impact Central, a California registered public benefit corporation promoting food security and climate change action. Francis is also serving in the board of the Community Voices Network Zimbabwe Trust, an organisation seeking to promote media diversity and access to information in marginalised communities around Zimbabwe. Francis’ work has seen him being awarded the 2019 Global Youth Leadership Award by the Global Youth Parliament in recognition of “tremendous contribution to youth empowerment and sustainable development in Zimbabwe”. He was also selected to participate in the 2018 ACT Entrepreneurship Bootcamp and the2018 Mandela Washington Fellowshipfor Young African Leaders, the U.S Department of State’s flagship fellowship for emerging young leaders from 49 Sub-Saharan countries.
Francis was also selected for the 2018-2019 Community Solutions Program (CSP), another U.S State Department Exchange fellowship for the best and the brightest young leaders from around the world, where he was placed to work with Greening Youth Foundation (GYF) in Atlanta, Georgiato promote youth action in environmental conservation. While in the U.S for the CSPFellowship, Francis was selected to participate at the 2018 Global Leadership Forum an annual gathering organised by The Presidential Precinct bringing together 20 outstanding young leaders from around the world to Charlottesville, Virginia to discuss topical global issues and exchange experiences. Francis is currently undertakingyouth mentorship, selecting youths with a passion for development and potential leadership who he mentors around SDGs to become development catalysts in their communities.Francis is the co-founder and Research and Policy Advocacy Coordinator for Community Alliance for Human Settlement in Zimbabwe (CAHSZ), a Zimbabwean civil society organisation involved in advocacy for safe and secure human migration, settlements and access to land and productive resources around Zimbabwe.