Democracy Works Foundation has a network of expert professionals, the Associates, at its disposal to help the organisation design and implement projects. Our Associates are experts and thought-leaders in their own right and continue to play a pivotal role in assisting Democracy Works Foundation provide tools to build resilient democracies.
Karin Alexander
Alexander is an independent development professional and political analyst. A Zimbabwean Rhodes Scholar with an MPhil in Development Studies from Oxford and an undergraduate degree from Harvard University, her areas of specialisation include democratisation, governance, and conflict management.
Alexander has moved from work on Transitional Justice in central and east Africa through managing Idasa's States in Transition Observatory to leading Idasa's Measuring and Monitoring Democracy strategic team. She recently managed the Web Index for the World Wide Web Foundation, and has co-edited the books A Fine Balance: Assessing the Quality of Governance in Botswana and Peace in the Balance: The Crisis in Sudan.
To read publications by Karin Alexander on our website please click here.
Thandi Matthews
Thandi Matthews is an attorney with experience in the private and public legal sectors in South Africa. She is a Senior Legal Officer at the South African Human Rights Commission, focusing on the progressive realisation of socio-economic rights by various state and non-state actors. Her interests lie in analysing the relationship between human rights, governance and society, and her academic work has been published in the South African Journal of Human Rights. She comments frequently in various media publications and panel discussions on issues affecting South Africa’s youth, with a particular emphasis on social transformation and its intersection with race and gender. She also sits as a non-executive Board member of the AIDS Consortium, an NGO which serves over 200 affiliated members in the HIV/AIDS and Human Rights sectors. Thandi holds a Masters in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University based at The Hague (Netherlands); a Bachelor of Laws from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Bachelor of Social Sciences from the University of Cape Town. In 2015 she was selected by the US State Department as a Fulbright / Hubert Humphrey Fellow and based at the University of Minnesota Law School, United States.
To read publications by Thandi on our website please click here.
Lucas Jaoa
Project Manager
Lucas João has more than 25 years of experience in fields such as education, peacekeeping, reintegration of ex-combatants, social action, local development, fight against poverty, child protection, gender equality, mine action, democracy, and local elections. He has worked with the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Angola, the World Bank, the Institute for Socio-Professional Reintegration of Ex-combatants, the Ministry of Social Action, Family, and the Promotion of Women. Lucas holds a BA in Education Sciences with a focus on English Language and is currently studying Law, Public Management, Social Protection, and DDRR. In his free time, he enjoys music, travelling and exploring different cultures, and he is passionate about social and human social development.