In a world where communities are often caught in the cycle of persistent socioeconomic challenges, the search for solutions goes beyond the surface. What’s needed is a spark—a catalyst that doesn’t just tackle the symptoms but empowers people to reshape their realities. Real change is born from the ability to transform adversity into opportunity, to take what seems like an obstacle and turn it into a stepping stone toward something greater. This vision demands an approach that is as innovative as it is bold—one that places people at the center of the solution and ignites lasting transformation.
At the heart of this mission is Juanita Pardesi, a leader who sees change not as a destination, but as a living, breathing process—one that must grow, evolve, and adapt just like the communities it seeks to empower. As the CEO of Seriti Institute, she’s guiding a movement, one that invites people to step into their power and take control of their futures.
Adapting to the Evolving Needs
With over 33 years of experience in the development sector, Juanita has observed significant evolution within the field. She notes that the focus has shifted from traditional charity models to approaches emphasizing sustainable development and social impact, with a strong priority on community-led initiatives. The sector is now shaped by digital transformation, public-private partnerships, and inclusive governance.
Juanita highlights that adapting to these changes requires agility, innovation, and a steadfast commitment to community empowerment. Under her leadership, Seriti Institute has embraced these shifts by integrating technology into its programs, fostering multi-sector collaborations, and consistently re-evaluating strategies to maintain relevance and drive meaningful impact.
Juanita believes that effective collaboration is built on mutual respect, clear communication, and aligned objectives. She emphasizes engaging stakeholders as equal partners while acknowledging their unique contributions to foster trust and inclusivity. Transparency and accountability are also crucial in strengthening these relationships.
Amplifying Unheard Voices
At Seriti Institute, Juanita focuses on using ground-level insights to facilitate dialogue between government entities, NGOs, and communities. The organization’s people-centered design ensures that every voice is heard, balancing priorities to reflect the realities of those directly affected. By working through local community-based organizations, she enhances their capacity and service offerings. According to Juanita, these organizations, deeply rooted in their communities, are best positioned to implement initiatives that consider local dynamics, ensuring relevance, impact, and sustainability.
Juanita highlights that balancing technical precision with empathy is essential, especially in challenging environments. She believes that technical solutions work best when they are informed by data and paired with a deep understanding of community dynamics. This approach ensures that projects address systemic issues while meeting the unique needs of individuals in a sustainable way.
One example of this balance is the aRe Bapaleng program, which reflects Seriti’s dedication to innovation and human-centered design. It leverages a mobile app to offer real-time support to caregivers, allowing them to access resources, track progress, and share insights. This not only empowers caregivers but also creates a sense of community and shared accountability.
Addressing Long-term Community Needs
In the agricultural sector, she is championing the transition from traditional farming to agroecology, a practice that harmonizes ecological principles with farming. Seriti’s multi-functional agri-nodes serve as hubs for resources, infrastructure, and training, tailoring solutions to the specific needs of each community. She points to Deelpan as a transformative example, where Seriti worked with traditional leaders and public employment programs to bring work opportunities to a region that previously had none. The initiative has since evolved into a thriving agri-node, supporting local food security, economic activity, and skills development.
She also stresses the importance of using technology, like GIS mapping, to make projects data-driven and context-specific. By analyzing spatial data, Seriti identifies resource gaps, optimizes allocations, and designs interventions that address both immediate and long-term community needs.
Technical Innovation with Grassroots Collaboration
For Juanita, every project begins with listening to the community. She emphasizes the value of collaborating with local organizations, ensuring that implementation is guided by those who truly understand the local dynamics. By blending technical innovation with grassroots collaboration, she illustrates how projects can be both effective and transformative, reinforcing her belief that sustainable development is a balance of technical rigor and human connection.
Juanita reflects on one of her most transformative projects: revitalizing Seriti Institute during periods of significant financial and operational distress. When she joined in 2015, the organization faced a deficit of R16 million, requiring a complete restructuring of systems, processes, and workforce. Over two years, her strategic measures led to substantial cost savings, enabling Seriti to stabilize and adopt a leaner, more efficient structure.
In 2018, Seriti encountered a deeper crisis after losing its only major project, which had supported 65,000 participants over a decade with a budget exceeding R1.2 billion. The loss resulted in massive layoffs, reducing staff from 180 to just 10, and triggered financial challenges. Despite these setbacks, Seriti maintained its integrity, taking a principled stand against unethical procurement practices, ultimately winning a legal case in 2020 that declared the procurement process unlawful.
Pivoting to a new direction, Juanita spearheaded the Seriti Partner Programme in 2019. This initiative shifted the focus to supporting grassroots organizations with technical expertise in areas like financial management and policy development. Beginning with 17 organizations, Seriti’s network has grown to over 100 partners, transforming its operating model. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization further demonstrated resilience by delivering over 32,000 food parcels and launching agroecological initiatives to address food security.
Under Juanita’s leadership, Seriti has rebuilt and expanded, now employing over 45 staff and managing programs like the Social Employment Fund and National Youth Service, which create thousands of work opportunities. In Deelpan, for instance, Seriti established an agri-node that supports sustainable farming, economic activity, and skills development.
Reflecting on this journey, Juanita identifies key lessons: resilience is rooted in strategic planning, crises can fuel innovation, collaboration amplifies impact, and accountability fosters trust. Today, Seriti thrives as a testament to these principles, focusing on initiatives that drive meaningful social change and community empowerment.
Overcoming the Hurdles of Financial and Operational Crisis
Juanita has faced several significant challenges during her tenure at Seriti, starting with steering the organization out of a financial crisis upon her arrival. With Seriti in R16 million debt, she took immediate, decisive action to restructure operations, implement cost-saving measures, and stabilize finances. The loss of the CWP tender—a program Seriti had managed for nearly a decade—brought further adversity, resulting in substantial layoffs and requiring a complete overhaul of the operating model. Despite this setback, Juanita and her team remained committed to integrity, pursuing legal action against an unfair tender process. Their persistence paid off when the court ruled in their favor, setting a benchmark for ethical governance.
Through these challenges, Seriti not only recovered but flourished, achieving remarkable milestones. The organization has created over 15,900 work opportunities, with 78% benefitting youth and 72% women. Its aRe Bapaleng program has supported 52,665 parents and caregivers, equipping them with tools to nurture the next generation. Seriti has also partnered with 81 local implementing organizations, extended its reach to 193 communities, and brought 61 hectares of land into production, supporting 368 small-scale farmers through sustainable, climate-resilient practices.
Initiatives like GreenWorks, employing 448 individuals to build climate resilience, and Seriti.TED, which has supported 328 township businesses, further demonstrates the organization’s impact. These achievements underscore Juanita’s ability to transform challenges into opportunities, fostering collaboration, innovation, and integrity. Today, Seriti stands as a leader in community-driven development and empowerment, reflecting the resilience and adaptability that have defined its journey.
Fostering Sustainable Livelihoods
Capacity building lies at the heart of Juanita’s approach to fostering sustainable development. It empowers organizations and communities with the skills and tools necessary for self-reliance, ensuring resilience and a lasting impact. For Seriti, capacity building is not a supplemental activity but an integral part of every project. This ensures that skills, knowledge, and robust systems remain embedded within communities long after the initial intervention concludes.
Seriti invests significantly in professional development, allocating a portion of its budget to support employees pursuing higher education, degrees, or technical qualifications. This enhances workforce expertise while bolstering the organization’s capacity to deliver impactful programs. Similarly, for communities, 10–12% of project budgets are dedicated to training initiatives, both accredited and non-accredited. Accredited training offers nationally recognized qualifications that unlock further employment opportunities, while non-accredited training addresses immediate community and project needs, such as leadership, agroecology, financial management, and early childhood development.
Programs like aRe Bapaleng exemplify this commitment, not only delivering interventions for caregivers and ECD centers but also equipping participants with skills in monitoring, evaluation, data collection, and community mobilization. This enables them to replicate and sustain activities independently. Similarly, through initiatives like Work.Learn.Grow, small-scale farmers receive agricultural and business training, fostering sustainable livelihoods and improved food security.
Championing Financial Integrity and Accountability
Financial transparency and accountability are central to Seriti Institute’s governance model. The organization operates under a robust structure with oversight from a Board of Directors, Audit Committee, and Remuneration Committee, ensuring ethical and strategic financial decisions. Annual independent audits verify compliance with international standards, and findings are shared openly with stakeholders to build trust.
Advanced financial management systems enable real-time reporting and accurate budget tracking, while stakeholder engagement ensures alignment and transparency in resource allocation. These practices bolster donor confidence, optimize resource use, and sustain large-scale programs like the Social Employment Fund. By adhering to high standards, Seriti maximizes impact and maintains fiscal integrity.
Co-Designing Sustainable Solutions
Seriti tailors projects by understanding each community’s unique challenges, histories, and strengths. Through consultations and needs assessments, the organization co-designs solutions with local stakeholders. Initiatives like multifunctional agri-nodes in Mpumalanga integrate agricultural innovation and youth-focused programs specific to local conditions.
Tri-sectoral partnerships with government, businesses, and civil society amplify project impact, combining regulatory support, technical expertise, and community-driven insights. Seriti builds on local assets, such as traditional knowledge and leadership, to foster ownership and sustainability. Regular feedback and monitoring ensure that interventions remain adaptive and relevant, driving meaningful and lasting change.
Corporate governance at Seriti Institute ensures that development projects align with ethical and strategic objectives, fostering transparency and accountability. Leadership plays a pivotal role in translating vision into actionable outcomes. Seriti’s leadership prioritizes adaptability, collaboration, and empowering teams to innovate, driving sustainable and impactful results.
Eradicating the Root Causes of Societal Issues
As the CEO of Seriti Institute, Juanita sees her role as a catalyst for innovation, collaboration, and social change. Her leadership is rooted in core values of approachability, agility in decision-making, and fostering a culture that prioritizes action. She embraces the philosophy of “do it and apologize later” to maintain momentum and progress, ensuring that the organization remains dynamic and results-driven.
Colleagues and friends describe Juanita’s leadership as visionary, resilient, passionate, and enthusiastic, bringing energy and optimism to the team even in adversity. She is seen as tenacious, daring, and willing to take calculated risks, always striving to break new ground. Her approach is open-minded and discerning, valuing diverse perspectives and empathy, while also acting as a path-paver and negotiator, bridging gaps to connect people and ideas.
Her leadership at Seriti revolves around addressing the root causes of social issues and creating scalable, sustainable solutions. By inspiring creativity and fostering a culture of continuous learning, Juanita challenges the status quo, encourages innovation, and embraces new technologies and evidence-based approaches.
Creating work opportunities is a central focus for Juanita, who views work not only as employment but as a means of restoring dignity and unlocking potential. Whether through the Social Employment Fund or the National Youth Service, her leadership aims to provide individuals with sustainable pathways to economic participation.
The Pursuit of Utopian Communities
Juanita’s aspirations for the development sector are rooted in creating a future where sustainability, inclusivity, and resilience are at the heart of every initiative. She envisions a sector that moves beyond short-term solutions, focusing on systemic change that empowers communities to lead their own development while addressing global challenges like poverty, inequality, and climate change.
Her key aspirations for the sector include:
- Prioritizing Vulnerable Populations: Ensuring equitable access to opportunities for women, youth, and marginalized groups, designing programs that address structural barriers and provide pathways for meaningful participation in economic, social, and environmental systems.
- Balancing Growth and Conservation: Advocating for development approaches that integrate economic growth with environmental conservation and social well-being, incorporating practices like agroecology, renewable energy, and climate resilience.
- Fostering Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships: Encouraging collaboration between the private sector, government, and civil society to co-create solutions and tackle complex challenges through shared strengths.
- Empowering Communities: Investing in local organizations and leadership development to ensure that solutions are contextually relevant, sustainable, and community-driven.
- Embracing Innovation: Advocating for the use of technology, data, and evidence-based approaches to design adaptive and impactful programs.
As an alumna of the International Women’s Forum South Africa (IWFSA) and a mentor, Juanita is committed to fostering transformative leadership, particularly among youth and women. At Seriti Institute, she focuses on scaling impactful programs such as aRe Bapaleng, which strengthens parents and caregivers, and Work.Learn.Grow, which empowers communities through sustainable agriculture, job creation, and caregiver support. She actively advocates for policies that address economic inequality and environmental challenges, while building partnerships that amplify resources for greater impact. Her passion for creating work opportunities is evident in initiatives like the Social Employment Fund and the National Youth Service, which drive economic inclusion and resilience.
Being nominated for CEO of the Year at the Women of Stature Awards is a humbling recognition of her dedication to these causes. Through mentoring emerging leaders and advancing innovative, sustainable solutions, Juanita aims to leave behind a legacy of meaningful, lasting change that empowers individuals and strengthens communities.
Leaving a legacy of Lasting Progress
Her greatest aspiration is to inspire a world where every community has the power to define its own destiny. She envisions a reality where equity is the norm and resilience forms the foundation for lasting progress. By nurturing leadership, fostering partnerships, and championing sustainable solutions, Juanita hopes to ignite a ripple effect of change that transcends generations, leaving not just programs, but a legacy of empowered lives and stronger, united communities shaping a brighter, more just future.
