Samantha ic a Strategic Partnership Officer, who joined the HSRC in 2018. She holds an Honors Degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Child and Family Studies. She has recently completed training in Effective Stakeholder Management and Science Communication for Societal Impact. 

She has worked in the higher education and government for the past eleven years. Her work has been on the operations of research development & management, facilitating strategic partnership engagements & implementation planning, data management processes as well as funding grants coordination. 

Samantha has served on various forums and committees; University Research Fund, Research Exchange Programme, Improvement of Qualifications Committee, Conferenceand the National Research Foundation's ratings internal committee. 

Currently, she oversees the coordination and warranting institutional compliance with Memoradum of Understandings. Ensuring efforts re geared to achieve greater impact of the workings of the HSRC, through engaged scholarship that relies on strategic partnerships (including government, state bodies, supporting transformative democracy, academic institutions, science councils, think tanks, corporate entities, civil society, funders and the broader South African public).