Biography
Proudly hailing from Imbali Township in Pietermaritzburg, Ntando Dube is a BSc Actuarial and Financial Mathematics (cum laude) and BSc (Hons) Actuarial Science holder from the University of Pretoria. As a Technical Member of the Actuarial Society of South Africa (TASSA), she is currently working as an Actuarial Associate in the Non-Life Actuarial Team at Ernst & Young South Africa.
While at the University of Pretoria, she was a recipient of the Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Merit Award, the Postgraduate Merit Plus Award and the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation Scholarship. In addition to serving as a class representative in numerous classes, she was also a Teaching Assistant in the Actuarial Science department, focusing on second-year Financial Mathematics.
Despite her rigorous degree, and being a full-time student, Ntando simultaneously balanced both academic and professional responsibilities during her time at the university. Initially, as an Intern at Africa's first digital women's health platform, Zoie Health; then Bank of America, Merrill Lynch as an Investment Banking Intern and, most recently, as a Research Intern at the Harvard Business School Africa Research Centre. It was at the Centre that her admiration for the African continent was born. It was Africa’s attributes of resilience, indomitability and, more so, its great potential rather than its perceived need, that drew her deep affection and lasting reverence. As a result, while at Oxford, she hopes to pursue an MSc in African Studies.
Guided by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s quote, “Life’s most urgent and persistent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’,” she is deeply committed to public service, especially as it relates to education. In 2020, she appeared on National Television shining a light on COVID-19 and its contribution to the digital divide within the educational space. A few years later, she founded Libraries4Learning to create safe library spaces and address low literacy rates within her community. At present, she serves as an Advisory Board Member for Amathuba Foundation, an education-focused non-profit in South Africa. These efforts underscore her commitment to addressing the educational inequality that exists within her broader community.
An individual with multiple interests, she runs an e-commerce floral shop with her sister, is a newfound runner, a keen reader and a lover of French cinema. Additionally, she enjoys musical theatre, has an appreciation for hiking and lives life guided by a simple, yet poignant, poem: If by Rudyard Kipling.