Chuma Qwalela is an Executive Director and Board Member with over (20) years’ experience leading truly impactful programs within public, private and non-profit sectors. She has held various senior and advisory positions across these sectors, from strategy consulting to execution of complex, large scale organizational turnarounds.  She is currently an Executive Director at United Way South Africa, with a focus on Education, Financial Stability and Health impact programs. She further serves as a Non-Executive Director on a number of boards and committees within financial services.

In her career, Chuma has led the implementation of the Prudential Authority program at the South African Reserve Bank as part of the Twin Peaks model of financial regulation, aimed at financial stability and inclusion. She later got involved with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) as Head of Strategy and Change, responsible for formulating and delivering on a new multi-asset class clearing and settlement platform in South Africa.

Chuma holds a BCom (Honours) in Economics and Management from University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Gordon Institute of Business Science. She has completed a General Management Program with the Harvard Business School in Boston, USA. Her life mantra is 5 Million Freed - to be achieved through a 30% reduction in poverty. Her passion and current focus is on developing innovative solutions to address financial inclusion for women entrepreneurs in Africa.