The Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership takes pleasure in announcing the appointment of Melissa Levin as its 2005 - 2006 Media Fellow.
Ms. Levin’s project deals with the interrelationship in the media between the state, the public and business in South Africa. It considers issues of transforming the media from one that serves the interests of a minority to one that serves all South Africans. Are the national interest, the public interest, and the bottom line mutually exclusive? Does race matter?
Melissa was born near Johannesburg, South Africa and completed her BA at the University of Witwatersrand. She earned her Masters Degree in African Studies from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and was awarded a South African National Research Foundation Prestigious Scholarship earlier this year. She is currently reading for a PhD in Political Science at the University of Toronto, where she held a Fellowship last year.
Reporting to the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress on Strategy, Melissa advised senior leaders including the President on electoral strategy, and wrote speeches for Presidents Mandela and Mbeki. She also worked as a researcher and analyst for the National Union of Mineworkers and New Africa Investments Limited. Her forthcoming article (2005) entitled “The Role of Business in Democracy” reflects on the tenth anniversary of freedom in South Africa.