Lucretia Smith is the office manager of the SARChI Chair in Higher Education and Human Development.

Mohlophehi Mngomezulu is the programme coordinator for Development Studies, overseeing the day-to-day academic administration and operational management of postgraduate programmes, including PGDip, master’s, and PhD. He ensures efficient programme delivery, supports student administration and academic records, and facilitates effective communication among stakeholders. Working closely with the programme director, he also contributes to maintaining high academic and administrative standards across all programmes.

Prof Faith Mkwananzi is an associate professor in the Centre for Development Support within the Higher Education and Human Development Programme. She serves as an international advisory board member of the Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education (JCIHE) and is one of the founding members of the Research Alliance for Higher Education in Africa (RAHEdA). Her research sits at the intersection of higher education and global development, focusing on how educational opportunities shape shared well-being and social justice in sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing on perspectives from migration, gender, youth, post-conflict, and development studies, her work is grounded in cross-cultural learning and interdisciplinary approaches. She is also interested in how universities and communities collaborate to address contemporary societal challenges. Her research seeks to bridge academic scholarship, development practice, and community experience by generating knowledge that informs locally relevant educational policy, practice, and interventions. Prof Mkwananzi has experience in postgraduate teaching and supervision, thesis examination, and capacity strengthening for early-career researchers. Her current work advances the operationalisation of the capability approach in the internationalisation of higher education, with a focus on the well-being of students and staff.

Nomvula Makhubu is a senior assistant officer within the SARChI Chair in City-Region Economies.

Dr Anita Venter is an interdisciplinary practice-based artist and researcher working at the intersection of informal settlement upgrading, culture, and socio-ecological development. Her practice draws on decades of scholarship in fine arts, philosophy, sociology, gender studies, and development studies. She trained as a regenerative practitioner with the Earthship Biotecture Academy in Guatemala and the Natural Building Collective in South Africa. She is also a certified UNESCO community-based participatory research (CBPR) trainer and has completed a course on decolonising arts practice at the Berlin Art Institute. Her artistic and research work co-creates post-natural theory, exploring repair, care, and emergence in landscapes and communities shaped by extraction and ecological collapse.