RISA CHARITABLE TRUST
email:info@risafund.org
web: www.risafund.org
TEL: 774.276.0202
9120 173rd Ave SE
Snohomish, WA 98290 USA
Elena Thandiwe Pullen-Venema is RISA's former Executive Director. She was responsible for oversight of capacity building and board development and care. Ms. Pullen-Venema joined RISA in the fall of 1999.
Before taking on the position of Executive Director, Ms. Pullen-Venema served as RISA's South Africa Operations Manager and Chief Financial Officer. As Executive Director, she is responsible for overseeing program work in South Africa, conducting due diligence, and expanding RISA's network of support both in South Africa and at home. Ms. Pullen-Venema is also responsible for financial management and fundraising oversight for the RISA Charitable Trust.
In 1996, Pullen-Venema was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to work and study in South Africa two years after the first democratic elections and the end of apartheid. While living in Cape Town, she worked with the Western Cape Oral History Project and the University of Cape Town. Returning from South Africa in 1997, Pullen-Venema worked in the Policy Department at Oxfam America where she concentrated her efforts on public advocacy activities aimed at Oxfam's programs in Africa, specifically those targeting women. In 2001, she received an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Temple University.
Pullen-Venema is also a graduate of Tufts University where she received a joint degree in Political Science and African Studies in 1995.