Daylene has been working and leading initiatives in the non-profit sector for youth and children for over 19 years. Daylene joined City Year South Africa shortly after it was founded in 2005; she served as a service leader in the programme in 2006 and joined the staff in 2007. In 2012, she was appointed as the Youth Development Manager; in this role she managed various portfolios in the organization including recruitment, training, placement and building the alumni network.
In 2014, she was appointed by the board as Executive Director for City Year South Africa, being the youngest female and first alumnus to lead the organisation. Since her appointment, Daylene has been committed to building the National Youth Service movement in South Africa and to using service to build pathways to employment for young people. Daylene’s vision is to create more service-learning opportunities for young people in South Africa that will change their lives and careers for the better. In 2019, Daylene was selected as an Obama Africa Leader, a year-long program of 200 African leaders that seeks to build a growing network of innovative and ethical changemakers who will drive positive change in their communities, the continent, and the world. She was chosen based on her vision and excellence to building quality National Youth Service Models and raising the resources and investment to grow the movement. She currently serves on the presidential task team for youth development and National Youth Service Committee with the National Youth Development Agency. She continues to serve her community of Westbury in her spare time and she believes that service to a cause greater than self is one of the most powerful tools to change the world.
