About Us
Our Story in Brief
Since 2008, we have worked to strengthen schools, support teachers, and open doors of opportunity for learners across South Africa.
The Novus Foundation reflects a bold step forward: building on our strong foundation in education while expanding our reach into projects that create long-term social and economic change. The Novus Foundation is the Corporate Social Investment division of Novus Holdings.
Our Team
Mrs Ruth Shogoe (MBA)
Executive
Ruth Shogoe is the Executive Lead for The Novus Foundation. An Economist by profession, Ruth combines her strong people-centric and commercial acumen to build strategic industry partnerships that drive mutual growth and innovation. She holds a BCom Economics and Econometrics, an MBA, and an LSE certificate in International Relations and Politics. She is also a Certified Executive Coach and PROSCI Change Management Certified.
Ruth is intentional about mentoring the youth and women and has been an AGOF mentor in shaping the future of our country. She is also a Group Executive: Public Sector for Novus Holdings and serves on Boards as a Non-Executive Director.
Mrs Letitia Butler
Impact Analyst
Letitia Butler-Kruger is an Impact Analyst with extensive experience in educational programme design, monitoring and evaluation, and evidence-based practice within the South African schooling sector. She leads the evaluation of strategic education analytics aimed at strengthening learning in under-resourced communities.
Letitia’s academic background is rooted in Psychology and Child and Family Studies, and she is presently pursuing her PhD, focusing on human trafficking and the role of Family. Her research interests include the effectiveness of education-focused interventions in rural and township contexts.
Our Board of Trustees
Dr Liesbeth Botha
Non-Executive Director, Chairperson
Dr. Liesbeth Botha, with over four decades of experience in ICT and AI, is dedicated to enhancing organizations as a non-executive director, advisor, and consultant. Her career spans transformative roles, including Chief Digital Officer of PwC Africa and Executive Director at CSIR.
Dr. Botha’s expertise lies in digital strategy, data governance, and organizational change. She
holds a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering, specializing in AI, from Carnegie Mellon University.
Prof. Relebohile Moletsane
Non-Executive Director
Relebohile (Lebo) Moletsane is Professor with expertise in gender and education, and girlhood
studies and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in South African rural schools and communities.
She is the current inaugural holder of the FALF-WITS-NRF Research Chair on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide. She previously was the JL Dube Chair in Rural Education in the School of Education and Pro Vice Chancellor: Social Cohesion at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Ms Keshree Alwar CA(SA)
Executive Director
Keshree is currently CEO of Maskew Miller Learning and Executive Director for Novus Holdings. She holds a Bcom (Hons) in Financial Accounting and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Keshree’s previously worked for the following entities and roles: Novus Holdings as Group CFO,
PwC as a senior audit manager, worked with various clients including Distell Group Limited,
Remgro Group Ltd and British American Tobacco South Africa. During her time at PwC Keshree
also had the opportunity to work internationally at PwC Chicago and PwC Columbus.
Dr Benadette Aineamani
Executive Director
Benadette Aineamani is an education executive and researcher with extensive experience in curriculum development, educational publishing, and digital learning. As Executive for Product and Services at Maskew Miller Learning, she leads teams that develop high-quality curriculum-aligned materials, multilingual resources, and innovative digital solutions that support teachingand learning across Africa.
She holds a PhD in Mathematics Education and is currently pursuing a PhD in Artificial Intelligence.