Gaona Dintwe is one of the most phenomenal media personalities in Botswana.
She is a sought-after Speaker and Corporate event Facilitator and MC.
The young lady's talent has seen her representing her country in places such as Washington DC.
Gaona Age
Gaona is 36-years-old. She was born on 1 May 1983 in Botswana.
Gaona's Radio and Television Shows
Gaona has been working in the media industry since 2006. Her first broadcasting job was on Radio Botswana 2 in January 2006.
She hosted a show called Urban Flavas - an adult contemporary weekday mid-morning radio show. The star was also a news anchor on BTV and a newsreader on Radio Botswana 1 and Radio Botswana 2.
She later became a TV presenter and hosted Botswana TV's morning show.
Because of her excellent presenting skills, Gaona has presented some of the biggest events and the State of the Nation Address as well as the budget speech by the minister of finance and development planning.
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Gaona Husband
Gaona got married to her colleague and long-time friend Thobo Tlhasana in 2012. The two met at Mass Media complex where they both worked.
Thobo Tlhasana is a former Botswana TV (BTV) newsreader. He works as a Public Relations officer at the Ministry of Youth Empowerment Sports and Culture Development.
The two were married for four years.
GaonaDivorce
Gaona and Thobo separated in December 2014, and they later divorced in September 2015.
Gaona and Thobo allegedly went through a rough patch when she was diagnosed with endometriosis - a disorder than can sometimes cause infertility.
GaonaEndometriosis Activist
It was during her separation with her husband that Gaona decided to open up to the public about her condition. She says she did this to help liberate herself and help other women who are suffering from the same condition.
In an interview on her show Gaona Live, the TV personality says the disease caused her to suffer public shame and backlash from her in-laws. Gaona's husband was also not supportive.
Gaona has managed to use her pain and difficulties she faced in life to encourage other women who suffer shame because of endometriosis disease and infertility.
"I got diagnosed with endometriosis in 2012, okay well 2010 after the kind of pains that I've been going through especially around my period. I came across a doctor who actually mentioned that I could have a condition called endometriosis. I didn't know what endometriosis was, I never heard of it, so I thought of just dismissed it and I never bothered to go back. 2012 during an operation where I was supposed to be removing fibroids, I was diagnosed with endometriosis, " the endometriosis activist said on Gaona Live.
The endometriosis activist founded the Gaona Dintwe Foundation. She uses the foundation to raise funds to help women get access to reproductive care.
Gaona Community Projects
Gaona is passionate about women empowerment.
Being a successful entrepreneur herself, the star believes in helping young upcoming entrepreneurs. She has a feature on her Urban Flava show called The Business Factory. The show serves as a platform for young entrepreneurs to showcase their crafts and interact with prominent business people.
Gaona also has another initiative aimed at mentoring young girls. She runs the Glam Divas Botswana - an initiative which empowers young girls with entrepreneurship skills.
Gaona Live
Gaona has her own television program called Gaona Live which airs on DSTV and Zambezi Magic. She started it in November 2015. It is a female-run premier television production company and it airs online. She is not only the founder but also serves as the executive producer.
Gaona Live boasts a wide range of programs and is a platform where viewers get to see celebrities share about their personal lives. The YouTube channel has more than 100 000 followers.
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MC
Gaona has been an MC for big events. Some of them include the Stanbic Bank Mark of Excellence Awards, and the Debswana OLDM International Women's Day commemoration. She was also MC at Barclays Bank Premier Dinner.
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Gaona was also the Facilitator at Pinnalead Live2lead with John Maxwell.
Business
Apart from her production company, Gaona has a clothing brand called I-Rise. The brand produces sleepwear, loungewear, and headgear.
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She also runs an anti-smoking campaign which is aimed at helping teenagers to stop smoking. The initiative is championed by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in partnership with dialogue Saatchi.
Education
Gaona holds a BA degree in Communications and Media Studies. She studied at Monash South Africa and graduated in 2004.
She was also one of the people that were chosen for The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders in 2014. This afforded her the opportunity to spend six weeks at Yale University where she took an entrepreneurship leadership course. During her stay in Washington, one of the highlights was meeting President Obama and Michelle Obama.
After leaving the US, she went to Lagos Nigeria for an internship at the International Centre for Leadership Development.
Cars
Gaona drives a white Audi. Previously she used to drive a Mini Cooper.
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Awards
Gaona has won several awards.
She was voted as the Most Popular Female Broadcaster in a BOCRA survey.
She's also a Botswana Music Awards Union (BOMU) recipient of the Best Electronic Journalist Award in 2012.
