Mandivamba Rukuni

Mandivamba Rukuni "is a world-renowned agricultural economist who was also the youngest Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare. He chaired Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s Land Commission and is a consultant to the World Bank and other international institutions. Currently, he is the Regional Director of the American W. K. Kellogg Foundation, a foundation which has played a major role in building the Center for Lifelong Education at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Rukuni is a key partner of IAIA’s, supporting and participating in programs such as the “Answers Lie Within” Economic and Cultural Exchange between South African and Native American artists. Rukuni’s passion lies in empowering rural communities to develop themselves by drawing on their cultural heritage and adapting it to a modern context, a philosophy that parallels what many Native Americans are practicing within the United States to revitalize their communities."

• Trustee, Institute of Development Studies