Shafika Isaacs works as an international digital learning, AI and education specialist, community builder and professional coach. Her work focuses on inclusion, equity and social justice in digital and biodiversity ecosystems. She currently serves as Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg, as Expert Group member of UNESCO’s AI Competency Framework for Teachers and as partner in the Biodiversity Skills Transformation Strategy in South Africa. She provides technical support on digital policy and programme development to wide-ranging global and local community organizations and development agencies including UNESCO, Commonwealth of Learning, the African Union Development Agency (AUDA) NEPAD, ITU and UNICEF. She also serves on the co-ordination team involving the Chrysalis Academy and Clear Mind International in the design and implementation of an embodied justice trauma-informed wellness leaders programme for community leaders. She has worked on digital learning programs in many countries across the world and built and serviced numerous community and international organizations. She serves on the governing boards of global and local organizations and has published widely on technological change, the latest of which is Smart Education Strategies for Teaching and Learning. Critical Analytical Framework and Case Studies. She has a PhD in Education from the University of Johannesburg, a M Sc degree in Science and Technology Policy as a Mandela Scholar at the University of Sussex and an Executive MBA with distinction at the University of Cape Town. In 2017 she was awarded the Woman of Stature Woman of the Year Award and in 2020 received the award for the most outstanding doctoral thesis by the South African Education Research Association (SAERA).
