Bio
Dr. Patrick Makokoro | Founder
Dr. Patrick Makokoro is an educational researcher and development practitioner with extensive experience working in community and international development. He is a dedicated child rights activist and passionate about social justice issues around the world.
His experience working with children at an orphanage led him to establish the Nhaka Foundation, a charitable organization that has provided access to education, food, health care, counseling, and other essential services to over 20 000 orphaned and vulnerable children throughout Zimbabwe in Africa.
Nhaka Foundation has since 2020 expanded its work to neighboring Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), providing early childhood development consulting services, early learning program development and implementation.
Beginning in 2012, Dr. Makokoro founded the Zimbabwe Network of Early Childhood Development Actors (ZINECDA) a national umbrella organization for organizations working in the early years sector.
Through this organization he designed, led and managed projects supporting over 45 000 children. Patrick also carried out research on early childhood and community development which informed national education policy development. This organization has now grown from having an initial 20 members to a coalition of over 250 members intersecting on the need to provide expanded early childhood development programs, policy implementation and advocacy. In 2020, ZINECDA was awarded a 3-year grant to lead transnational early childhood development advocacy and policy work in Lesotho, Malawi and Zimbabwe. As the Chair of the Board, Dr. Patrick Makokoro provides guidance and support to the administrative teams across the three countries.
Dr. Makokoro is also a founding member of the African Early Childhood Network headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya that works to champion the developmental needs of young children in Africa. This network was established based on the need to bring together civic society professionals, academia and funders to support the Early Childhood Development sector on the African continent. Following initial meetings in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2014, Dr. Makokoro and other colleagues began the journey of developing this network which has now grown to support national early childhood development networks across Africa.
From 2010 to 2011, Dr. Makokoro served as a Global Leader for Young Children Fellow of the World Forum Foundation. This program was part of a leadership capacity development program that provided coaching and mentorship to leaders within the Early Years sector. A key part of this program was the designing and implementation of a country focused project. Dr. Makokoro formed the Zimbabwe Network for Early Childhood Development as his project. He currently serves on the Board of Directors and on the Finance and Administration sub-committee of the World Forum Foundation (US).
Dr. Patrick Makokoro is an alumnus of the Mandela Washington Fellowship (YALI 2017 cohort). The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is the flagship program of the U.S. Government’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). Since 2014, nearly 4,400 leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa have participated in the Fellowship. The Fellows are accomplished leaders and have established records of promoting innovation and positive impact in their communities and countries.Through a six-week residential program at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, Dr. Makokoro honed his skills in social justice, equity, diversity and inclusion among other leadership development courses.
Dr. Patrick Makokoro has consulted widely across Africa through his work with the African Early Childhood Network and other organizations. In the US, he has consulted for various organizations that include Childhood Education International, Hope Starts Here Detroit, Global Health and Education Strategies LLC amongst others. He also has previously served as Regional Director for Africa at Childhood Education International in Washington D.C.
Amongst many educational attainments, Dr. Makokoro has a BA in Community Development from the University of South Africa, a Post Graduate Diploma in International Youth and Child Care from the University of Victoria, Canada, an MSc in Development Studies from the Women’s University of Africa. He has a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Studies from the University of Victoria, Canada.
Dr. Makokoro has several articles that have been published along with some book projects that he is currently working on.
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