Colleen Lowe Morna is CEO of Gender Links, a Southern African NGO that promotes gender justice and equality through its work in the media, governance and justice sectors. A South African born in Zimbabwe, Colleen began her career as a journalist specialising in economic and development reporting including as Africa Editor of the New Delhi-based Women’s Feature Service. She joined the Commonwealth Secretariat as a senior researcher on the Africa desk in 1991, and later served as Chief Programme Officer of the Commonwealth Observer Mission to South Africa. She subsequently served as founding CEO of the South African Commission on Gender Equality. A trainer, researcher and writer, Colleen has written extensively on gender issues in Southern Africa, and is editor of the annual SADC Gender Protocol Barometer Colleen holds a BA degree in International Relations from Princeton University; Masters in Journalism from Columbia University and certificate in executive management from the London Business School. She has received awards from the Woodrow Wilson School of International Relations; the Newswomen’s Club of New York the Mail and Guardian newspaper; South Africa’s Media and CEO Magazines. Colleen is an honourary Golden Key holder. She is married to a Ghanaian and they have two daughters.