ONICA LEKUNTWANE

Mmaagwe Rati at Rati and Friends

Onica Lekuntwane is a self-motivated, versatile and creative Visual Communication consultant and Social Entrepreneur. With more than 16 years’ experience as a Visual Communication Educator – in both Botswana and South Africa - she is constantly seeking out opportunities to use her skills to positively change lives.

For 13 years she was part of the Greenside Design Center team, and held the position of Head of Graphic and Multimedia Design from 2007 to 2013, before deciding to go back to Botswana and use her skills and knowledge to make a difference. Through her passion for arts and crafts she has contributed creatively to sustainable social development projects in Botswana – notably through the introduction of Homegirl – a Craft and Design initiative which focuses on using recycled materials to create crafts and empower women in rural communities.

She is also responsible for the Rati & Friends edutainment brand, which was created to be a window and mirror for young children growing up and learning in Botswana. The brand introduces cartoon characters that look and live like African children, and promotes learning in both Mother- Tongue languages and English.

She is currently a consultant Coordinator at Journey of Hope Botswana, where she uses her Management, Communication and Design skills to promote education and awareness about Breast Cancer.

For the past five years, Lekuntwane has also been involved in designing stamps for Botswana Post, as well as facilitating capacity-building workshops for a spiring stamp designers. She has also been involved facilitating Professionalism workshops for artists and crafters, in villages across Botswana. Through the latter workshops she teaches informally trained creatives how to speak and write about their work. The workshops also introduce them to branding, selling their products, copyright and basic book-keeping.

Lekuntwane holds a Masters’ Degree in Interactive Design and an Honours Degree in Graphic Design. She also has Strategic Management training, and is a qualified Assessor, Moderator and Trainer. Through her involvement in community engagement activities she has been recognised through awards that include Community Builder of the Year (2007) and St Louis Top 40 under 40 Catalyst (2013).