We are in a transition of a country and world, that’s grown tired of empty campaigns and HR box-ticking, This is not a review, but an introduction to Demi Phasha, who offers something rare : healing-centered, community-rooted, gender-considerate social impact strategies, delivered with intention, experience, and soul.
They/She is a freelance Social Impact Practitioner working at the intersection of advocacy, education, and emotional justice. With academic grounding in Sociology, Psychology, and Philanthropy, Demi designs programs and spaces that are not only strategic but restorative, guided by gender-compassionate theory, queer wisdom, and indigenous healing frameworks like go tshwarela (to hold, to make space, to forgive or not).
Demi helps organisations meaningfully engage with calendar moments like the upcoming Mandela Day, Women’s Month, Pride Month, and 16 Days of Activism, among others, not just through awareness but through deep, equity-informed engagement.
Here’s how they can support your team or campaign:
- Strategic planning for key social calendar dates
- Gender-inclusive & equity-centered programme design
- Trauma-informed facilitation & staff workshops
- Partnership building & stakeholder relations
- Creative direction for storytelling & exhibitions
- Healing retreats & community support spaces
- Philanthropy, monitoring tools, and capacity building
Proven Impact: Demi’s work is rooted in community and widely recognised:
- GALA Youth Fellowship: Stepping in at the implementation stages of the fellowship, Demi helped facilitate the program and carry out the curriculum, as well as mentor the participants in helping them refine their projects. Demi’s participation in developing a youth activist programme and mentoring participants speaks to their commitment to holistic community advocacy.
- Dutch Royal Recognition: Co-curated exhibitions that received international recognition for their approach to justice and storytelling.
- GALA Queer Archive: Co-facilitated a trauma-informed healing retreat for LGBTQIA+ youth, developed tools for aftercare, and produced short films now part of IDAHOBIT exhibitions.
- Doeks & Books Literary Festival: Conceptualized and executed a literary and cultural event celebrating women’s voices in literature and the arts. This yielded engaging with over 60+ attendees. Designing and facilitating panel discussions, poetry performances, and interactive engagements, overall collaborating into fostering dialogue on gender equality and storytelling.
- Reading Club Imbizo Contributions : Demi’s project facilitation experiences contribute integrational facilitation in industry human development. Their expertise contribute into a flowing eco-system of change. Bringing us into their role at the Reading Club Imbizo, they contributed in conceptualization and timeline planning for a literacy workshop empowering Black reading clubs. Being immersed into this collaboration further enabled them to develop event components focused on storytelling, literacy empowerment, and cultural preservation, engaging 9 reading clubs and 5 high schools from the Polokwane circuit. Advising also on strategic partnerships and programming to enhance sustainability and long-term impact.
“I design programs that root healing at the centre of transformation.” Demi
As a frequent collaborator with GALA Queer Archive, an NGO and Center that’s become a catalyst for the production, preservation and dissemination of information about the history, culture and contemporary experiences of LGBTQIA+ people in South Africa, Demi isn’t here for the performance. They’re here to help teams slow down, reflect, and build campaigns that mean something and stand the potential to affirm a positive teams flow, compassion, and consideration.
Gala, among other agancies and organisations who have hired or consulted with Demi, have experienced this change agents approach as gentle but clear, strategic yet grounded. Demi offers real tools for change, not just frameworks for diversity reports.
If you’re an NGO, education institution, startup, museum, cultural org, or corporate social impact team, this is your sign to reach out and bring Demi into the room.
Because inclusive work should never be an afterthought.
Get in Touch / Hire Demi: dunsterlethabo@gmail.com
