Elizabeth Donaldson is former journalist and editor and one of the founders of Soweto TV. She studied at Università per Stranieri in Italy and at the University of the Witwatersrand where she graduated with a Master of Arts degree in languages. She is committed to and has experience in the process of transformation, diversity and inclusion in media, the public and private sector as well as education.
Elizabeth has been a trustee of the Donaldson Trust since 1998. She established and continues to fund-raise and manage The Mentorship Programme, an initiative that provides homes, education and life-skills to children in need. She set up the Clothes Library at the DOCC in Soweto that provides formal clothing for occasions. Elizabeth also formed the Green Team project which offers homeless and unemployed people work in parks and public spaces.
In May 2008, South Africa was torn apart by a wave of violent attacks on foreigners. Elizabeth launched Operation Siza which funded, sourced, and delivered blankets, nappies, infant formula milk, non-perishable items and clothes to refugee camps in Gauteng. She addressed the government on xenophobia at the National Conference for Media Reform in that year.
In 2010, Elizabeth was a senior consultant at Meropa Communications and head of CSI. In the lead up to the FIFA World Cup, she worked with Mr. Tom Mayisa of the Department of Social Development, to form The Rainbow All Stars, a soccer team for the homeless that competed at the Homeless Soccer World Cup in Mozambique. She continues to work with Mayisa today.
During the Covid 19 Lockdown Elizabeth initiated the immediate identification of a school that needed support through the crisis. OASIS near Ficksburg in the Free State was selected with the guidance of fellow trustee Mr Elias Potloane.
Elizabeth works as an English and History teacher and a facilitator at Cohesion Collective, a specialised Equality, Diversity and Inclusion consultancy that provides research and training for corporates, educational institutions and other organisations.