Mofolisi Maduna is a development practitioner with over five years of experience in community engagement, field-based programming, training, data collection and working directly with communities across Lesotho and the region. He holds a qualification in Agricultural Economics from the National University of Lesotho and brings to CDSJ a strong combination of grassroots facilitation, programme implementation and evidence generation.

Before joining CDSJ, Mofolisi worked in roles that required extensive engagement with communities, local structures and programme participants. As an Area Extension Officer with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, he worked directly with communities and trained more than 500 farmers. He later worked as a Project Data Analyst with Vuna Agribusiness SA, where his responsibilities included community engagement, GIS mapping and data collection with more than 3,000 households affected by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project. He has also supported and trained field enumerators and has practical experience using digital data systems such as KoBoToolbox.

At CDSJ, Mofolisi serves as Programme Officer: MenEngage, where he supports the organisation’s work to transform harmful gender norms and strengthen the role of men and boys as active partners in advancing gender equality. His work focuses on creating practical spaces for men and boys to reflect on how social expectations around manhood, power, relationships, fatherhood, sexuality and decision-making can contribute to gender inequality and violence, while also supporting them to identify healthier and more positive ways of expressing masculinity. Through the MenEngage programme, Mofolisi contributes to community dialogues, male engagement initiatives, positive masculinity programming, violence prevention activities and the development of approaches that encourage men to take greater responsibility within families, communities and institutions. His work also supports engagement with traditional, cultural and community structures, recognising that lasting change requires working with the spaces where ideas about manhood are learned, reinforced and passed from one generation to another.

A key part of his role is helping CDSJ move beyond simply involving men as participants and instead supporting them to become accountable allies in gender equality. This includes promoting non-violent relationships, shared decision-making, responsible fatherhood, respect for women and girls, positive communication, and greater male participation in preventing gender-based violence and other forms of discrimination. Mofolisi’s background in grassroots mobilisation, training, data collection and community-based programming strengthens CDSJ’s ability to design MenEngage interventions that are practical, evidence-informed and rooted in the lived realities of Basotho communities. He contributes to ensuring that the organisation’s work with men and boys is not treated as a stand-alone activity, but as an important part of wider efforts to prevent violence, advance gender justice and build more equal and supportive communities.