Lavinia Engelbrecht is the Senior External Affairs Officer in the External and Corporate Relations unit for Eastern and Southern Africa in the World Bank. She is currently based in Pretoria, South Africa where she leads and coordinates external and corporate relations for Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa. Her work streams encompass strategic leadership advice and reputation management, which includes political economy analysis and advice; partnerships, advocacy and campaigns; media relations and staff engagement.
Lavinia has over 17 years of experience in media, government, and corporate communications. She has managed local and international campaigns and engagements throughout her career. Prior to joining the World Bank, Lavinia worked at the New Development Bank in Shanghai, China on corporate communications, including profiling leaders, managing advertising, annual reports, and video production. Prior to that, she served at various South African government departments and para-statals, including as Director of Corporate Communications at Environmental Affairs. She remains passionate about environmental issues and is a practitioner of regenerative agriculture.
Lavinia is a Chile-Mandela Scholar, having obtained a post-graduate diploma in Public Management at the University of Chile. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Pretoria, with a concentration in Public Finance Management and Public Policy Analysis, and a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the Tshwane University of Technology, focused on Broadcast Journalism. She is an alumna of the USAID - White House: Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) in the Public Management and Governance track.