Ms Nadia Starr is the Chief Executive Officer of SAQA. Prior to SAQA, Ms Starr spent 10 years in senior management and non-executive director roles in the public sector, working with education and training policy development, quality assurance, youth skills development, and funding mechanisms. She has previously served as Chief Executive Officer of a high-performing Sector Skills Council.

Ms Starr holds a Bachelor's and a Postgraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and a Master of Education from the University of Witwatersrand (Wits), along with several occupational certifications.

Ms Starr currently serves as an executive director on the Board of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and non-executive director on the National Boards of the Human Resource Development Council of South Africa (HRDC), National Skills Authority (NSA), Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO), Council on Higher Education (CHE), Quality Council for General and Further Education and Training (Umalusi) as well as non -executive director on the International Boards of the Groningen Declaration Network (GDN) and United States Qualifications Framework (USQF). Ms Starr was also elected to serve as Co-President of the African Continental Qualifications Framework (ACQF) Network.