Rachel Kolisi was born in Mafikeng, and raised in Grahamstown, a small town in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. She attended from Victoria Girls’ High School and matriculated in 2008. Rachel is 2nd eldest of 5 siblings and due to this she is never afraid of getting her hands dirty. Rachel has a tenacious spirit, while working 5 sometimes 6 jobs simultaneously in order to she put herself through a Events Management course at the Stellenbosch Hotel School. Her excellent work ethic afforded her the opportunity to work for a large marketing company for 5 years where she specialised in events management.

During her pregnancy with their firstborn, Nicholas, Siya was thankfully reunited with his younger siblings after 7 years of being apart. Since December 2014 they been part of the Kolisi household after spending five years in orphanages and foster care in Port Elizabeth. Rachel, a mother to four children is the heart of the house and the integral hub through which all activity passes.

She is the co-owner of Rise, a movement dedicated to helping women live more purposeful lives, through health and fitness. She is passionate about empowering and encouraging women to be strong in who and where they are now. She loves to be challenged and enjoys the process of growth all while journeying with other women who may be on the same path. Rachel believes that there is nothing stronger, more powerful, more inspiring than a woman determined to rise and has committed her life to seeing this come into fruition.

Rachel has a heart for the nation and has a deep desire to see all South Africans afforded an equal opportunity to live out their dreams and ambitions. Through her humanitarian efforts, she has headed up a number of community projects which has brought about transformation for many different communities. In March 2020, together with her husband Siya Kolisi, launched the Kolisi Foundation. She believes that the Kolisi Foundation is a vehicle through which many lives can be impacted on a much greater scale.