Damien du Preez

Profession: As a young professional, I'm passionate about leveraging my skillset to contribute to projects and organisations creating positive change in the world. Since joining the Centre for Research on Democracy (CREDO) in 2021, I've been instrumental in growing the centre's reputation and impact as an international research institution. In 2024, I'll begin the new role of Research Coordinator in order to initiate and co-chair South Africa's first Citizens Assembly Working Group.

Vocation: Uniting much of what I do is a desire to understand and engage with the world, as well as a fascination with how we might create a better one for ourselves and future generations. A natural offshoot of this is Bright Skies, a radical intellectual project exploring ideas for a better world. Through interviews, essays, and articles, I intend on investigating ideas like citizens assemblies, social ecology, pedestrian cities, degrowth, mutual aid, and universal basic income, among others.

Education: I hold a Bachelor's degree in political science, philosophy, and economics from Stellenbosch University, which included a fully-funded six month exchange at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. In late 2024, I hope to begin Master's studies in Europe.