Professor Rodny-Gumede has worked in journalism, marketing and PR and has consulted for several government, private and academic institutions in Europe and Southern Africa including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education. She has also worked as a researcher and project officer for the U.S. National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the SADC Parliamentary Forum. She is the former President of the Southern African Communications and Media Association (SACOMM) and currently serves on the International Council of the International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR). She is also a non-Executive Director on the board of the Institute for Advancement of Journalism (IAJ) and a former Trustee of the board of Brand South Africa.