Lynette Sifiso is a writer, visual artist, and cultural curator. She holds an MFA (Writing) from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, a Master’s in Conflict Resolution from Columbia University in New York City, and a Bachelor’s in International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of South Africa.

Prior to focusing on her creative and cultural work, she spent over a decade working in international relations, holding roles at the United Nations, the Obama Foundation, and the World Bank Group.

Her body of work is interdisciplinary and concerns itself with creating spaces for dialogue between people, places, and things. Her work is shaped by an African-diasporic sensibility, positioned within a broader global discourse. She works across multiple disciplines and areas of practice, including literature [creative nonfiction, fiction, and hybrid forms], visual art [text-based art, mixed media and installations], social practice [participatory and community-based projects], and social science [cultural diplomacy, peace building and conflict resolution].

Lynette Sifiso runs her literary and visual art practice at Studio Lynette Sifiso. She is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of two international brands: Globally Rooted, a lifestyle and culture magazine on everyday culture, and Stone & Sahara, an editorial studio that explores the cultural life of African cities. Lynette Sifiso is the Founder and Creative Director of the Bakani Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to African and Diasporic storytelling. The Foundation houses, among other programs, the African Museum of Collective Wisdom, a digital archive of African and Diasporic stories as told through artistic and creative expressions, living practices and ways of knowing.

She lives and works between the US and Zimbabwe.