Gugu Khoza Email & Phone Number

South Africa

I worked as a contractor for FURTHER Impact to deliver strategic solutions in the social impact sector.I worked on the Together for Play project; a Movement for Play by The LEGO Foundation, founded on the belief that play empowers children to become creative, engaged, and lifelong learners and that play is fundamental to early childhood development and learning. Through public mobilisation campaigns, we engaged parents, caregivers, communities, and decision-makers to recognise the importance of Learning through Play.My role included the following:RESEARCH & ANALYSIS- Drove development and refinement of hypotheses to define research question(s) to conduct strong research.- Developed clear and concise analysis, results, and conclusions.- Worked to deliver all aspects of the monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) process for South Africa, including outcomes, indicators, and evaluation methodology.STRATEGY & PROBLEM SOLVING- Translated from research & analysis and identified primary insights and opportunities to pursue across multiple workstreams, developed thought-provoking recommendations.- Understood and applied participation principles and grassroots strategy (coalition building, organizing, study of human behavior).COMMUNICATION- Developed an overall compelling project storyline and logical frameworks.- Presented and facilitated discussion of work products to client contacts and wider client stakeholders.My time doing this work contributed to my passion to shift the needle for people. I acquired a sharp mind, high integrity, a hands-on attitude, and an entrepreneurial, problem-solving spirit.

City Of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

As a strategist, I worked to assist clients with understanding more about their strategic position in the market by identifying trends, shaping market strategy, and driving performance through qualitative research.My responsibilities included:- Analysing data to identify insights, market conditions, behaviors, and trends.- Identify & strategically communicate and package opportunities to clients for revenue & brand growth to clients.- Demonstrate intellectual curiosity to create avenues to uncover new ideas.- Evaluate marketing strategies to develop & present strategic insights & recommendations.- Work in-field to capture cultural insights that can be used to develop strategies.

Johannesburg Area, South Africa

As a Human & Cultural Strategy Consultant, I focused on extracting rich Cultural Insight across various industries, brands, and business types.My focus on Human Truth is based on moderating, analysing, and synthesising insight from talking to consumers and stakeholders in any given industry across different marketsacross Africa and globally.Industries included FMCG, financial services and banking, and the automotive sector. My role as a consultant helped me to train and develop other colleagues, helping me to develop and refine my leadership skills and finalising content and strategy to get it across the line and ready to present to awider audience including client stakeholders.Some responsibilities included having an increased understanding of the business goals for exceptional execution of the required pillars of the job role where I had to consider the commercial aspects of the business, interaction with people and being involved in a team, contributing to strong, future-proof solutions & strategy, and the ability to maintain exceptional client deliverables and relationships.

Cape Town Area, South Africa

As an analyst, I was managing and leading the immersive project side of the business with responsibilities that included the following:- Managing all project logistics - recruitment, filming, and final research output; developing and maintaining a detailed project plan.- Analysis from raw data to presentation of findings for concept development.- Discussion guide design.- Consumer profile and identification of key markets to explore Focus group moderation and facilitation.- Telephonic and in-person one-on-one interviews with industry experts.- The use of ethnographic research methodologies ranging from observations and in-market immersions.

Johannesburg Area, South Africa

While I was studying towards my MA at University, I got the unique opportunity to freelance for one of the leading research agencies in Johannesburg. Projects were predominantly B2B where I explored the client/customer relationship in how the businesses can connect more meaningfully with the end consumer.My responsibilities included the following:- Gathering information from the client about themselves and their problem areas, and seek to design a set of interview questions to take into the field where the customers of the client are.- To address the current relationships of client and customer, and to find out the general thoughts and feelings of the customers.- Unearthing insights that could inform future marketing campaigns and relations of the client to their customers, ensuring solutions and strategy are future-proof.- Insights from the in-depth research helped to inform the creative team in coming up with suitable and niche marketing campaigns for the client to reach out to its customers more effectively, and in their language and nuances.

Master’S Degree, Social Anthropology

Obtained my MA in socio-cultural Anthropology in a year where my training was more focused on various fields through the anthropological.

Ba With Honors Degree, Anthropology

Obtained my BA with Honours in socio-cultural Anthropology in a year where I was trained in anthropological research methods from the past.

Bachelor’S Degree, Social Anthropology And Organisational Psychology