Kapenangutjiua Vetira

Kapenangutjiua Vetira is the founder and director of Children of Namibia (ChiNamibia) Arts Education for Development, a non-profit organization founded in 2013, which educates, develops, and empowers children and young people through arts and culture. Currently, she works on the day-to-day management of the organization, fundraising, proposal writing, events management, risk management, financial management, and marketing. Kapenangutjiua holds a diploma in African Performing Arts from the College of the Arts in Namibia, where she majored in dance education. She is a dancer, dance teacher, and choreographer with five years’ experience. Her passion for arts and culture and promoting the importance of her mother tongue language was what drove her to start her organization. Kapenangutjiua is an alumna of Young African Leadership Initiative Regional Leadership Centre. She has impacted the lives of 500 children, throughout the past four years, who have participated in the annual Children’s Arts and Cultural Festival hosted by ChiNamibia. Since 2015, she has served on the board of the Namibian Coordinating Committee for HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (NaCCATuM) representing the youth sector. Upon completion of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, she will share the skills she gained with other young people, including, but not limited to, those involved in civic leadership.