Director|Strategy

David du Preez

David du Preez was appointed to the OLIVE LEAF Foundation 's Board of Directors in September 2007, where he is responsible for strategy and the growth and development of the organisation relative to new developments in the industry.

David joined the OLIVE LEAF Foundation (known as HOPE worldwide South Africa at the time) in December 2003, serving as the Regional Manager overseeing operations in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. In this position he was responsible for the general management of regional operations including managing the implementation of regional programmes, budgets, and relationships with donors and partners. During the four years he served as Regional Manager the regional staff complement increased from 8 to 97. At the same time he secured R40 million for new programmes, exceeded annual reach targets in all programmes, established close and mutually beneficial partnerships; and started several new OLIVE LEAF Foundation programmes unique to the region.

Before joining the OLIVE LEAF Foundation , David was involved with the democratisation of local government in South Africa. He worked as a Technical Advisor in the multi-party negotiations during South Africa’s political transition; and then in 1995 as a policy planner in the Ministry of Provincial & Local Government and the Elections Task Group, a national body responsible for co-ordinating the first non-racial, local government elections in South Africa. David was responsible for designing formalised intergovernmental relations, input on the White Paper on Local Government and authored the innovative Masakhane campaign endorsed by Nelson Mandela. David worked from 1997 to 2000 with several non-profit entities in Southern Africa on organisational development, before being appointed as General Manager for a start-up commercial entity in Cape Town.

He graduated from the University of Pretoria with an Honours degree in Political Science and the University of Stellenbosch with a Bachelors degree in Sustainable Development. David is currently completing a Master’s degree in Sustainable Development at the University of Stellenbosch. He lives in Stellenbosch and has been married to Katrien since 1994. They have two children, Sebastian and Isabel.