Ambassador Nozipho January-Bardill is Chairperson of the Council of the Nelson Mandela University (NMU) and the UN Global Compact Local Network in South Africa. At the start of 2021 she was appointed to the board of trustees of the UN Voluntary Fund for Technical Assistance and the Implementation of the Universal Periodic Report in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.
She is the proud owner of Bardill & Associates, a consulting company which advises firms on diversity and inclusion, with a focus on race and gender equality, sustainable and responsible business development, stakeholder engagement, and government relations.
Having served as an independent non-executive director (NED) on the boards of several companies in the past 20 years, she is currently the NED of two listed public companies, including Mercedes Benz South Africa, where she serves as Lead NED and Chairperson of the Social and Ethics Committee, and the MTN Foundation. Her eight-year term (2011–2020) on the board of AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) and Chairperson of the Social Ethics and Sustainability subcommittee of the board, as well as a member of the (Remco) ended on 6 May 2020. She left the company with a legacy that has seen AGA successfully integrate environmental, social andgovernance (ESG) issues, human rights, race and gender sensitivity in all business strategies, and reach unprecedented safety records throughout its global operations. January-Bardill serves on the boards of two non-governmental organisations, namely Phenduka (child literacy) and Tshwaranang (legal advocacy for victims of gender-based violence), and is a trustee of the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital and Fund. Responsible and ethical governance remain central principles in her business activities.
A four-year position (2007–2011) as Corporate Affairs Executive at MTN Group, the largest and most diverse mobile telecommunications company in Africa, with operations in 11 African and six Middle-Eastern countries, exposed her to executive leadership in the private sector at home and on the continent, and the challenges of creating economically successful businesses with strong human rights cultures.
Between 2001 and 2007, January-Bardill served as South Africa's Ambassador to Switzerland, Lichtenstein and the Holy See, as well as Deputy Director-General, responsible for Human Resources and the Foreign Service Institute in the South African Department of Foreign Affairs. In 2014 she was appointed as interim Chief of Staff and Special Advisor to UN Women HQ in New York. For 12 years, she served as an expert member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.
These positions, as well as her ten years' experience of studying and working abroad in the education, local government and public health (HIV/Aids) sectors in London (1984–1994), helped her gain experience and use her leadership, change management, stakeholder engagement, political and diplomatic knowledge and skills, to advocate for justice for all, the implementation of the global sustainable development goals, responsible and ethical leadership and governance in business, as well as environmental stewardship and climate change.
In pursuit of her desire to acknowledge and enhance the contribution of African women to the development of this continent, January-Bardill chose to compile a book of stories by 55 women leaders from 23 African countries. Write to Speak, conceptualised and edited during the worst times of Covid-19, was launched at the beginning of July 2021.
