Maximina Jokonya

Maximina is an established HIV and gender equality advocate and young leader. She has eight years of experience in health programming with a focus on adolescent and young people including, adolescent girls and young women, gender equality and women’s empowerment, sexual reproductive health and rights, youth development, and leadership. Maximina’s journey with Zvandiri began in 2005 when she first joined the Zvandiri support group. As an empowered and resilient young woman, she co-authored resources such as Red-Ribbons and Roses, and Our Story book, with the hope that more adolescents and young people living with HIV across Zimbabwe and beyond will relate and learn from experiences like hers.

Commitment and growth took Maxi from the position of beneficiary to being an implementer of the Zvandiri model as a Provincial Mentor for the National Case Management system for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, working with the Department of Social Welfare and leading the DREAMS project. Maximina was an outstanding Community Adolescent Treatment Supporter Trainer sharing experiences of being both a beneficiary and an implementer of the Zvandiri Model. Maximina has taken on roles in research, in advisory boards and in technical and community leadership including HIV vaccine and treatment trials in sub-Saharan Africa. These include the University of Zimbabwe – University of California San Francisco (UZ-UCSF) Collaborative Research Programme, Community Delegation to the Global Fund, Women Deliver Young Leader, HIV Vaccine Trials Network Protocol community representative, International Partnership for Microbicides Dapivirine Ring Access Committee, Mandela Washington Fellowship 2016 and she recently joined the Tackle Africa International Board of Trustees. She is a holder of BSc Degree in Psychology with Women’s University in Africa and a master’s student in Psychology & Neuroscience of Mental Health under King’s College London.

Maximina is the currently working at Y+ Global as the HER Voice Fund Coordinator. Zvandiri is one of the recipients of HER Voice Fund grants and we have been privileged to continue to work with this astonishing young leader in this capacity.