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Profile
M.B.A. Judge Business School, University of Cambridge (2019)
M.Sc. in Integrated Product Design, School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania (2010)
M.Arch. Master of Architecture, School of Design, University of Pennsylvania (2010)
B.A. with University Honors, University of Toronto (2007)
Thabo Lenneiye is the managing director of PennPraxis, overseeing the operations, fundraising, business development, communications, and strategic planning of the organization, beginning in January 2023.
Prior to joining PennPraxis, Thabo was an architect at Gensler for 12 years, where she worked in several design and project management roles on mixed-use developments, airports, brand, and product design. She worked alongside the firm’s leadership team to shape initiatives focused on promoting justice, inclusion, and social impact. The work included the conceptualization and strategic planning in 2020 for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) studio with a mandate across 10 global regions and over 50 offices, nuanced by local understanding.
Thabo served as the inaugural secretary of the Board for the African Union Pan-African Diaspora Women’s Association, under the leadership of Ambassador Arikana Chihombori-Quoa (2017-2018). She was also instrumental in setting up Gensler's Africa practice, where she worked directly for CEO Diane Hoskins, and led the launch of the firm’s Africa Committee and served as support staff for the Obama Administration’s Presidential Advisory Committee for Doing Business in Africa. As an entrepreneur, Thabo has founded businesses and sits on several start-up advisory boards.
Prior to becoming Praxis's managing director, Thabo co-taught multi-disciplinary design studios at the University of Pennsylvania, most notably, alongside David Gouverneur, on a Harare 2040 studio at the intersection of architecture, landscape architecture and urban planning. The Harare studio created a space to test a set of ideas for a city that is experiencing informal growth in a sensitive ecological environment, where the built environment can be an incredible force for empowerment or disempowerment. Rapid urbanization places pressure on cities to provide services and opportunities for the millions of people flocking to these centers in search of better lives--an increasingly urgent global phenomenon with immense environmental and socio-economic implications.