Meet Our Team
Delores Athiemulam
Director & Management Committee Member
I am Delores Athiemulam (nee Jacobs) born, bred and raised in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. After graduating from Rhodes University I started teaching at the local high school where I matriculated, Mary Waters High School. I then went on to teach at St Mary’s Primary School, where I had completed my primary school education.
It was around this time that I felt the need to make an even bigger impact on the lives of our children and started my career in the NGO field. I joined the Sakhisizwe Farm School Project of the 1820 Foundation in Grahamstown. As the Training Manager my work involved traveling to all farm schools in the Grahamstown and Fort Beaufort areas, assisting teachers in the classroom with the implementation of the Molteno Programmes: Bridge to English and Bridge Plus One.
I then worked at the Institute of Training and Education for Capacity-building (ITEC) in East London, first as Training Manager and then as the Managing Director for 14 years. I relocated to Johannesburg to take up a position as Country Director for Operation HOPE South Africa, working in financial literacy education across all provinces in South Africa, and in Swaziland and Lesotho. I was fortunate to receive a Fulbright Scholarship to Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, to study Materials Development and Curriculum Design.
I am passionate about working with children and creating opportunities for children to learn and grow to their full potential. I now have the opportunity to live out my passion as the Director of Persona Doll Training in Cape Town. I love meeting and interacting with people who share my passion for making this world a better place for our children.