On behalf of the Help Lesotho Board of Directors, Peg Herbert and I are delighted to announce the appointment of Julia Thompson as Executive Director of Help Lesotho.
Julia brings to this position extensive experience of working in development contexts in Southern Africa and Canada. Julia’s demonstrated leadership, her experience as an Executive Director of a not-for-profit in South Africa, her work as both an educator and administrator in the international development context, equip her well to guide Help Lesotho into the future: a future of growing impact and increased resilience for beneficiaries in Lesotho and beyond. Please find a short biography below.
Peg will be wrapping up her many years of contribution until the end of April. She will be honoured and celebrated in March in Lesotho, and there will be opportunities to see her in Canada in April.
Kathleen Lauder
Board Chair, Help Lesotho
“I am so excited to have joined this amazing team, to participate in the important work of Help Lesotho. Thank you Peg and Board Chair Kathleen Lauder for the warm welcome. I look forward to settling in and supporting the ongoing health and strength of Help Lesotho’s beneficiaries and staff.” – Julia Thompson
Meet Julia
Julia Thompson has more than 25 years’ experience working in international development across three continents; in education and capacity building, and as a professional responsible for program delivery and financial oversight.
As the first CEO of Common Purpose South Africa, a leadership NGO, programs brought together senior decision makers from across the sectors to experience capacity building and thought leadership on issues as ranging and critical as social and restorative justice, and gender and environmental change.
Prior to this Julia worked with land claiming communities in South Africa with TRAC (the Rural Action Committee), and led organisational development and facilitation work with women’s organizations and the co-operative movement in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Managing for years, the International Program for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET), a complex and flagship training initiative of the World Bank and Carleton University, Julia led the program administration and delivery.
Julia has an MSc in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics and an honours BA in International Development Studies from University of Toronto.
Julia grew up in East and Southern Africa (Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Lesotho and Swaziland). She now lives in Ottawa, Canada and is a proud mother of her son.