Dr SeitioKgokgwe scoops Africa Woman Leader Award
The Institute of Development Management (IDM) Country Director, Dr Onalenna Seitio-Kgokgwe has done it again. This time around she has been bestowed with an international title of AFRICA Woman Leader, an award which identifies and celebrates Women Leaders. She was amongst several leaders from various geographic regions globally who were bestowed with accolades for their outstanding achievements.
According to the organisers of this prestigious global event, the World HRD Congress and World Women Leadership Congress, the award recognises some of the finest women leaders and achievers who believe in producing leaders of change. They are further applauded for nurturing gender diversity as a talent management strategy in sync with the vision of their organisations as well as national agendas.
The elated Dr Seitio-Kgokgwe received the award at a virtual event this week, and said her achievements were a result of contributions from several individuals who include her team at IDM.
“I draw my strength from the team everyday. Their hard work inspire me to do more in both my personal and career life. I am always gratified and fulfilled by their zeal and enthusiasm to drive the business strategy and take IDM to greater heights,” she highlighted.
To her family, Dr Seitio-Kgokgwe mentioned that they helped her sharpen her focus and realise her dream and purpose in life. “My husband will always remain the pillar of my strength, when I meet challenges along the way. He is quick to remind me that in every cloud there is a silver lining, and that helps me to keep my eyes on the ball.”
A leader of close to three decades, she can be credited for taking IDM from humble beginnings, with just a few hundreds of enrolments to a fully-fledged selfsustaining institution with footprints found across the entire country. Her selflessness and determination to have the Institute stand out has seen a massive brand visibility campaign resulting in the development of training products that are relevant and responsive to the needs of communities. She’s consistently sharing the IDM mandate, which she underscores is aligned to the national vision and goals, contributing to efforts to take Botswana from a middle income to a high income country, as well as help reduce over-reliance on minerals and lean towards a knowledge based economy.She further attributes her many feats to her professors at the University of Otago in New Zealand where she acquired her PhD in Public Health. “They cultivated a seed of purpose in me to always reach for the stars.”
Dr O, as affectionately referred to, is a proud product of the Government of Botswana who educated her and built her career at the Ministry of Health where she worked as a practitioner, educator, trainer and leader.
During her tenure in the Ministry, she coordinated the Healthcare Leadership Management Development Programme which focused on improving the quality of leadership to ensure efficient service delivery throughout the health sector. This was positively received as it empowered decision-makers to appreciate the impact their decisions had on the overall outcomes of health services.
In addition to her Doctorate from New Zealand, she received an Honorary PhD from University of Bolton in the UK last year. Dr Seitio-Kgokgwe obtained her Master of Nursing Science (Nurse Practitioner) from Johns Hopkins University in the USA, Master of Public Health from University of Limpopo, South Africa, and is a fellow of the Afya Bora Global Health Leadership programme. She has authored and reviewed a number of articles in international journals.