Biography
A summa cum laude graduate of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Humairaa is an activist, entrepreneur and student leader. She is currently completing her Honours degree as a Mandela Rhodes Scholar at Stellenbosch University. Her Honours research focused on the application of renewable energy as a solution to the load-shedding crisis in South Africa and a key tool for achieving sustainability and decarbonisation.
Working to realise the right to a meaningful education for all is a powerful motivator for her. During her undergraduate studies, she co-founded an award-winning Ed-tech start-up called Bursary Buffet that works to make access to tertiary education as easy as it should be.
Humairaa strives to live a life of service. She has previously served as President of both the UNICEF and Golden Key International Honours Societies at UKZN. She is a Fellow at the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, a recipient of the prestigious Abe Bailey Travel Fellowship as well as the Brenda Gourley Scholarship in recognition of her academic excellence and strong service ethic.
She is passionate about inclusive economic development and collaborative, interdisciplinary reserach, particularly within the fields of mental health, climate change, access to education and literacy. At Oxford, Humairaa hopes to read for an MSc in Environmental Change and Management, and to visit the many beautiful libraries that the city is home to.
Always keen to try new things, Humairaa is a budding woodworker, and is currently trying to master Indian cuisine.