Neo Jane Masisi also known as Mma Atsile is the Former First Lady of Botswana and the wife of Former

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Personal life

Neo Jane Masisi was born in November 1971 in

Francistown Francistown is the second-largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 103,417 inhabitants and 147,122 inhabitants in its agglomeration at the 2022 census. It is located in eastern Botswana, about north-northeast from the capital, Gabo ...

, the eldest of six children of Baruki and Irene Maswabi. Both her parents were university graduates. She grew up and attended school in

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

, where her parents were working. She married Mokgweetsi Masisi in 2002; they have a daughter named Atsile.

Career

Masisi is an

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certif ...

. She trained at the Accountancy Training Centre of the Debswana Diamond Company where she obtained membership of the

Chartered Institute of Management Accountants The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is the global professional management accounting body, based in the United Kingdom. CIMA offers training and qualification in management accountancy and related subjects. It is focused on ...

. From 2001 to 2004 she continued her studies at

De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...

in England, where she obtained an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

degree. First Lady Neo Masisi was in 2019 conferred Fellow Chartered Management Accountant by CIMA President Mr Steven Swientozielskyj in Gaborone. In 2004 she joined the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, initially working at the

UN Headquarters , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004 (cropped).jpg , image_size = 275px , caption = View of the complex from Long Island City in 2021; from left to right: the Secretariat, Conference, and General Assembly buildi ...

in New York City and then at the

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA or ECA; , CEA) was established in 1958 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council to encourage economic cooperation among its member states (the nations of the Africa, African contin ...

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

. She has also worked for the UN in the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

. In 2017 Masisi moved back to New York to work on Umoja, an

enterprise resource planning Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real time and mediated by software and technology. ERP is usually referred to as a category of business management software—typically a suit ...

software system to be used by United Nations entities worldwide. She left the UN in 2018 when her husband became President of Botswana. Her role as First Lady is largely ceremonial. As First Lady, Masisi has focused on issues that affect children and adolescents, and on women's empowerment. In 2018 she launched ''Eseng Mo Ngwaneng'', a

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

campaign against sexual exploitation and abuse.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masisi, Neo First ladies of Botswana Living people Alumni of De Montfort University 1971 births