Abey Mokgwatsane
Current designation/title:
Abey Mokgwatsane is the CEO of the VWV Group, the global brand experience agency that produced the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Former designation with a brief history:
He is a founder and director of Young Business for South Africa (YBSA) – a 13-year old non-profit networking organisation for young professionals. He is also founder of The Thought Leadership Initiative – a young business leader’s platform that provides input, debates and actions issues on the national agenda. He is co-founder of The Experiential Association of South Africa (EXASA) a representative body of the experiential industry in South Africa.
Dr Ajit Ranade
Current designation/title:
Chief Economist at the Aditya Birla Group, an Indian multinational conglomerate.
Former designation:
Dr Ranade previously held faculty positions at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, the Indian Council of Research on International Economic Relations and JNU, New Delhi. He was also a faculty member of Brown University, Holy Cross College, and Wesleyan University in the USA.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
A member of the Board of India Today Economists, he chairs the CII West Zone Sub Committee on Economic Affairs and the Research Advisory Panel of the Indian Institute of Banking and Finance.
Titles of books, academic papers:
Dr Ranade is a regular columnist for the Financial Express and has written articles for a broad spectrum of publications.
Minister Alan Winde
Current designation/title:
Alan Winde became Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism in May 2009, shortly after the DA won the Western Cape Province.
Former designation with a brief history:
Minister Winde gained his political proficiency by working from the bottom up – first as a councillor, then as a member of the Provincial Legislature, and finally, as an Executive Member of the Western Cape Government. Before entering politics, Minister Winde started several companies. In his two years in office, Minister Winde has initiated exciting new projects to increase the attractiveness of the Western Cape as an investment destination, and stimulate job-creating growth.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
In the coming years, the Minister would like to see the Western Cape become a centre of business excellence, where an efficient and corruption free administration works together with an educated, healthy and opportunity-driven civil society.
Alec Hogg
Current designation/title: Media entrepreneur who founded
Moneyweb Holdings, now a R50m business, in 1997. Hogg is Moneyweb’s Editor in Chief,writes reflective articles on investment and economic matters, and broadcasts his half hour business programme weeknights, from 6pm on SAFM.
Amanda Brinkmann
Current designation/title:
Special adviser to Minister of Health and Leader of government Business: Western Cape.
Amanda agreed to join the Western Cape Government team in October 2009 and it has been a life changing decision. The decision was borne out of a need to find true meaning within career context, from a desire to be part of positive and impactful change in the world and driven by a need to give back and share what she has learnt on her journey so far.
She is responsible for an evolving portfolio called Strategic Partnerships. It forms a golden thread throughout all strategic objectives within all Western Cape Government departments and seeks to collaborate as deep and wide as is required with as many role players as required, to effect sustainable service delivery solutions.
Former designation with a brief history:
Before joining Government, Amanda was Sales & Strategy Director at Ads24, the national newspaper sales and marketing specialist division at Media 24. Her career spans 23 years in Advertising, Marketing, Business and Management – and includes co-ownership of an advertising agency, importer & exporter of various products and commodities, a foray into construction and extensive management consulting to a range of Blue Chip companies and on a range of challenging projects.
All of her choices have contributed to a breadth and depth of experience, knowledge and skills, to bring to bear on all that she becomes involved in and with. Transfer and sharing of knowledge is a great driver in terms of her interaction with staff – and learning every day is a key motivator. Her greatest and only potential regret would be to depart this mortal coil without having been able to learn as much as possible about as many topics and subject matter in the time given to her in this life.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
She was born in the Eastern Cape, transplanted to the Free State, where she went to school and university and emigrated to Cape Town in 1988
Andrew Boraine
Current designation/title:
Andrew is the Chief Executive of the Cape Town Partnership, a public-private partnership focusing on the regeneration of Cape Town’s Inner City. He is currently facilitating the establishment of a new Cape Economic Development Partnership (CEDP) for the Western Cape, and is part of coordinating Cape Town’s bid for World Design Capital in 2014. He is Adjunct Professor at the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town, and is on the advisory board of the State of Cities in Africa project.
Former designation with a brief history:
Andrew has been involved in South Africa’s local government and urban development processes for the past 33 years, as an activist, advisor, negotiator, government planner, city manager, facilitator, communicator and writer.
He has served as the City Manager of Cape Town, and conceptualised and coordinated the establishment of the innovative South African Cities Network (SACN) in 2002.
He has delivered papers on city, economic and urban development strategy at international meetings and conferences, including, amongst others: the Brookings MetroMonitor, ESADE geo-Centre for Global Economy and Geopolitics, Barcelona, Chatham House, Gothenburg City Council, Urban Age Project, INTA, World Urban Forum, Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government (UK), Institute of Governance and Public Management at Warwick Business School (UK), Cities Alliance, World Bank, United Nations, UK Government and USAID.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Andrew has taken part in the OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme’s Urban Missions to the Cities of Belfast, Derry and Barcelona, and is a Board member of the International Downtown Association (IDA).
Andrew is also Chairperson of the Development Planning Committee and a Board member of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the DBSA Development Fund. He also chairs the Board of the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
Titles of books, academic papers:
Andrew writes a regular blog called Cities for People (www.andrewboraine.com)
Alderman Belinda Walker
Current designation/title:
Mayoral Committee member: Economic, Environmental & Spatial Planning
Former designation with a brief history:
Her previous positions are as follows:
Mayoral Committee (Mayco) member: Corporate Services & Human Resources since 2006
Ward councillor City Bowl 2000-2011
Deputy Mayor 2000 – 2002
Executive committee (Exco) member – Corporate Services 2000 – 2002
Member of Tender & Procurement committee 2002 – 2003
Cheryl Laureen Nesbitt
Current designation/title:
Founder and Owner of Capsicum Culinary Studio
Former designation with a brief history:
Cheryl began her career in October 1998 with Western Province Caterers in which she was the National Sales and Marketing Manager for the company. She later joined INTEC and Damelin and managed existing and launched new courses as well as the accreditation for them.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Winner of Sanlam 3 Talk Business Women of the Year 2005. Nominated for the Verve Cliquot Business Women of the Year from South Africa – 2011.Nominated for Sanlam Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year 2011.Nominated for the Ernst and Young Emerging Entrepreneur for 2011.
Christoff Oosthuysen
Current designation/title:
Christoff Oosthuysen is a Business Improver and Entrepreneurial Coach at Flow Finders International. His focus is on increasing “flow” – not only for the businesses he supports, but also for the people working in those businesses.
Christoff is also active in various entrepreneurship and social enterprise networks; and he serves on the Board of Directors of Shawco. He performs as expert entrepreneurial speaker and he lectures in social enterprise, amongst others to international students and at a new programme launched by the UCT Graduate School of Business for Social Impact Organisations.
Former designation with a brief history:
As MD and founding partner of the newspaper BigNews, he was responsible for building the largest publication for small business owners in Africa.
After selling the business to Avusa in 2006, he inaugurated the Enterprise Development Awards and launched a career as entrepreneurial coach and business consultant. In this regard he is accredited by institutions such as the IDC and NEF; and he is a member of the Institute of Business Advisers and the Turn-Around Management Association.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
He is a University of Stellenbosch graduate and he completed various short courses, including Certificates in Strategic Management and Executive Coaching.
Daniel Ting Chong
Current designation/title:
Daniel Ting Chong is an illustrator, designer, artist and VJ/DJ based in Cape Town.
Former designation with a brief history:
Daniel was born in 1987 in Cape Town. Studied graphic design at Vega. He is emerging as one of Cape Town’s top creative talents following a series of art exhibitions, talks, commissions from clients and design collaborations with leading international brands including Levi Strauss, Adidas and the Discovery Channel.
Dawie Botha
Current designation/title:
Dawie is a Business man and ex- Banker and a Shareholder, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Bondpro Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd.
Director of companies:
Kennersley Castle Investments (Pty) Ltd
Kibwe Kids (Pty) Ltd (Chairman)
Bondpro Finance (Pty) Ltd
Bondpro Mortgage One (Pty) Ltd
Agattu Trading (Pty) Ltd
He is also Chairman of the board of trustees of both a pension and provident fund
Former designation with a brief history:
Held various senior management positions and executive directorships at Santambank, Bankorp and Saambou Holdings; also held management positions at Standard Chartered Bank (Consumer Banking) and directorships at life assurance, short term insurance, unit trust management and insurance broking companies.
Earlier in his career Dawie were also in various management positions at industrial companies related to the motor industry such as Wesglas, Pilkingtons and Ford Motor Company of SA.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
B.Econ. (Stell)
B.Comm (Hons.), MBL (Unisa)
Egbert Wessels
Current designation/title:
Manager of The Business Place
Former designation with a brief history:
Egbert manages The Business Place Philippi – part of The Business Place network of walk-in centres for entrepreneurs that has emerged as a leading SMME development service in Southern Africa. He started his career as a partner in an ice cream vending and retail business. He subsequently initiated an income generation project called The Healing Business for SelfhelpManenberg, a Cape Town community based organization before ending his time there as its director. Egbert has a degree in business management.
Dr. Eliada Nwosu
Current designation/title:
Nwosu’s research examines both how social structure (networks) informs African entrepreneurial development, and the role of entrepreneurship in facilitating local economic and social development within African communities. Her current research specifically explores the structure of black South Africans’ entrepreneurial social networks and the value derived and perceived to contribute to their small businesses’ development. She looks to expand the study to other African countries. At UCT’s Graduate School of Business, Nwosu will be contributing research and teaching to the arenas of Social Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurship in emerging African markets.
Former designation with a brief history:
Prior to UCT, Nwosu has conducted qualitative research on international development in other African countries and served as a Research Intern at the African Institute of South Africa (Pretoria, SA). Nwosu additionally brings experience in experiential, innovative, and community-oriented teaching in multicultural settings through her work as Coordinator of International Programming at the Office of Cross Cultural and Leadership Development (University of Pittsburgh) and former Program Director of the InterCultural House of Pittsburgh.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Dr.Nwosu received her doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (Pennsylvania, USA), where she specialised in International Development (Economics) and Global Political Economics. Prior to this she had completed her bachelor’s degree in Sociology at Yale University (Connecticut, USA), before going on to study her Masters in International Development at the University of Pittsburgh.
Eran Eyal
Current designation/title: Eran Eyal is the CEO and founder of Springleap.com
Former designation with a brief history: Eran is a serial entrepreneur, better known for co-founding Springleap.com and evly.com
To date he has owned an IT consultancy company, designed 16 mobile phones and wrote a white paper surrounding the project (designs procured by a major manufacture), launched and ran a major Japanese corporate IT hardware manufacturer concerns locally, created and sold a series of retail stores, mentored at design and entrepreneurship courses and has been a tech & motoring radio journalist on Cape Talk/ 702.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition: In 2011 he was listed by the Mail and Guardian as one of the top 200 Young South Africans and Old Mutual’s Top 36 Entrepreneurs
Farah Fortune
Current designation/title:
Farah started African Star Communications after great success as a publicist within the corporate and entertainment world working in the realms of Entertainment, Non-profit organizations, Eventing, Corporate, Consumer Products, E-commerce and Internet Public Relations. She couldn’t get a loan from any institution as they did not believe in her business plan. She took R1000 and bought her CC and spent the rest on business cards, starting the Business from her home.
Former designation with a brief history:
Farah comes from a diverse media background. With experience in the media/advertising industry in the United Kingdom, she has evolved into using those strategies in her career. She has publicity experience from companies such as Media 24 and Ster-Kinekor to name a few which has provided the platform to fulfilling relationships within the media. One of her biggest campaigns she has worked on was providing the publicity for TSOTSI, (which made news maker of the year 2006) the Oscar winning film which provided South Africa with its first Oscar for a movie. Her contacts and relationships with celebrities and corporate and media has been a solid platform for an extensive portfolio.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
In 2011 Farah was included on the annual list of “Top 200 young South Africans” (In the Business and Law Section) by Mail and Guardian newspaper and has been noted as one of the top publicists and event managers in the corporate and entertainment industries by numerous publications and television shows. Her portfolio runs from events with some of the nation’s hottest night clubs, Corporate Conferences, VIP weddings to launching many a celebrities career.
African Star Communications also launched their Nigerian Office in April 2011 with a 3 staff capacity based in Lagos.
Dr François Bonnici
Current designation/title:
Director of the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business
Former designation with a brief history:
Originally trained as a medical doctor, he initially worked in paediatric clinical medicine and led humanitarian and development programmes in low-income counties and disaster settings. He subsequently worked on developing public-private partnerships and innovations for development whilst at the World Economic Forum, later heading up the Forum’s own Foundation work in social entrepreneurship in Africa and the Middle East.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Dr Bonnici has co-founded an award-winning enterprise building low-cost medical devices for low-resource settings, as well as cofounding the African Social Entrepreneurs Network. He is a Rhodes Scholar, was recognised as a Global Leadership Fellow by the World Economic Forum, and was awarded both the Gold Medal for Medicine by the University of Cape Town and the Said Prize by the University of Oxford as the best overall student in first medical school and then business school.
Titles of books, academic papers:
Dr Bonnici has published on innovation and business for development and was the Contributing Editor to the MIT journal’s special edition on “Social Innovation in a Post Crisis World”, launched in Davos 2010.
Councillor Garreth Bloor
Current designation/title:
Garreth Bloor is an elected public representative and chairman of the economic development portfolio in the City of Cape Town, South Africa, having been appointed by the Mayor in July 2011
Former designation with a brief history:
Bloor is a prolific writer with work appearing across over two dozen publications and academic journals, including the Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Wits Business Journal and the African Yearbook of Rhetoric. In 2008 he received a Culture of Enterprise Award from former US Attorney General Edwin Meese III for his research into “enterprise and a humane economy”
Dr Haroon Bhorat
Current designation/title:
Haroon Bhorat is Professor of Economics, at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He is also the Director of the Development Policy Research Unit (DPRU). His research interests cover the areas of labour economics, poverty and income distribution and is the current recipient of a highly prestigious national Research Chair under the theme of Economic Growth, Poverty and Inequality: Exploring the Interactions for South Africa
Former designation with a brief history:
He has undertaken extensive work for numerous South African government departments, most notably the South African Department of Labour, the Presidency and the National Treasury. He has served on a number of government research advisory panels and consults regularly with international organizations such as the ILO, World Bank and the UNDP.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Haroon Bhorat is the Minister of Labour’s appointee on the Employment Conditions Commission (ECC) – the country’s minimum wage setting body. Professor Bhorat served as an economic advisor to Presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe, formally serving on the Presidential Economic Advisory Panel. He is currently an economic advisor to the Minister of Economic Development.
Titles of books, academic papers:
He has co-authored two books on labour market and poverty issues in South Africa, and has published widely in academic journals
Iqbal Surve
Current designation/title:
Dr Surve is a medical doctor, an influential African entrepreneur, a Global business leader and a recognized philanthropist.
Former designation with a brief history:
He is the Founder and Chairman of the Sekunjalo Group. The Sekunjalo Group is an Investment Holding Conglomerate with investments in more than 70 Private and Public companies in Africa.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Sekunjalo Group was nominated by the WEF in 2007 as one of the 125 “New Champions” also called the Community of Global Growth Companies. Dr Surve is the recipient of numerous and significant awards for business excellence and business performance and has been recognized by authoritative African magazines as one of the most influential business leaders that will “shape the future of the African continent”.
Dr Surve is a philanthropist and serves as Chairman of a number of NGO’s. These are strongly supportive of social entrepreneurs and young people in education, arts, sports and music. Dr Surve has a strong commitment to education and academia and is Chairman of the UCT (University of Cape Town) Graduate School of Business and a Governor of the UCT Foundation. Dr Surve has been appointed to and participated in many prestigious Presidential, Ministerial and Public Institutions and Advisory boards.
Dr Surve is a Global leader, a Fellow of the Africa Leadership Initiative, a Fellow of the HRH the Prince of Wales Business & Environment Programme as well as being appointed by President Bill Clinton to the Board of Governance on the Clinton Global Initiative. Dr Surve is Co-Chairman of the Global Growth Companies (GGC) Advisory Board of the World Economic Forum.
He is also on the Advisory Board on Sustainable Innovation of the World Economic Forum. He is a regular invitee and participant at both the Davos and Summer Davos meetings of the World Economic Forum. He has also recently been appointed by Siemens Limited as one of the ten Global Leaders on the Siemens Global Sustainability Advisory Board. He is Chairman of the Saudi South Africa Business Council and a Council Member of the South Africa-USA Business Council. Dr Surve is Chairman and Vice-Chairman of a number of public traded companies on the JSE Securities Exchange. He is also a Director of significant multi-national private sector companies including Siemens Limited, Nokia, British Telecom and SAAB.
Dr Surve’s life has been profiled on television as an inspiration to other Africans and a case study about him and the Sekunjalo Group is taught at Harvard Business School. His case is an example of someone who has shown outstanding moral leadership in the face of numerous challenges.
Prior to founding the Sekunjalo Group in 1997, Dr Surve was affectionately known as the “Struggle Doctor” as a result of his medical work with victims of apartheid and provision of medical care to a number of prominent South Africans after their release from Robben Island. In 1989, at UNESCO in Paris, he was honoured by Amnesty International for his medical and ethical work with victims of detention and torture.
Jacqueline Kew
Current designation/title:
Jacqui Kew is a professional educator and researcher specialising in financial literacy. Her focus is on financial accounting, small business development and entrepreneurial education.
Her main areas of research include small business development, youth studies and entrepreneurship. She is a team member of the South African Team member for the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and has and co-authored a number of the South African reports. GEM is a world-wide entrepreneurial research project started by London Business School and Babson University. She has also authored and co-authored books in entrepreneurship and accounting that are used in South Africa and other SADC countries. Her research interests have focused on ICT usage in small businesses, youth and entrepreneurship, township entrepreneurs and the effectiveness of business interventions’.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
She develops and presents short courses for micro-businesses, is involved in a number of small business development programmes such as the Raymond Ackerman Academy and Business Bridge, a not-for-profit organization offering facilitated on-line business courses and is involved in entrepreneurially-directed Corporate Social investment work within public companies in South Africa.
Jerushah Rangasami
Current designation/title:
Jerushah Rangasami is the owner and director of Impact Consulting, a consultancy that partners with organisations engaged in social development projects and guides them to a better understanding of their contexts, successes and challenges. Through regular monitoring and evaluation, and innovative information management solutions, Impact enables them to achieve maximum positive social impact.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Jerushah holds a postgraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Cape Town and has over thirteen years of work experience in the development, research and philanthropic worlds, including at the University of Cape Town Development Office, the University of London Library, Inyathelo: The South African Institute for Advancement, the Department of Neuropsychology at the Great Ormond Street Paediatric Hospital in London and Impact Consulting.
A member of the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA), the Business Women’s Association (BWA) and the Black Management Forum (BMF), Jerushah regularly speaks at national and international conferences, including the recent Social Enterprise World Forum where she presented thoughts on measuring the impact of social enterprises.
She is committed to social justice and making the world a better place for us all and is a strong believer in getting up and doing things that need doing.
John Peters
Before starting at the old Department of Economic Affairs, did teaching and lecturing – small business management, entrepreneurship and management. At the DEA did small business management – policy and programmes. Part of the original group that started the RED Door programme.
Moved from DEDAT to Housing and responsible for Economic Empowerment and PHP Housing.After 2 years joined SEDA as WC provincial manager. During 2008 joined DEDAT as Chief Dir (LED, Enterprise Development, Skills Dev and Economic Empowerment).
Past business interests include (1) car repair and sales, (2) service station. Interests include motorcycling – restoration and off road riding.
Academic qualifications comprise: B.Com.Hons (Econ); B.Com.Hons (Man); HDE
Karin Chisholm
Current designation/title: Karin founded CAREER PLANET: CAREER DISCOVERY CENTRE™ in 2007 after being involved in the education environment for more than 22 years.
Former designation with a brief history: She has worked extensively in corporate and NGO companies at both at operational and board level, and has significant experience in marketing and sales. During her time in the corporate sector, Karin was responsible for the successful implementation and running of several IT learnerships – including candidate job placement. She also has personal experience as an entrepreneur, having started and run a niche furniture manufacturing business supplying kiddies bedroom accessories for export to international markets, and an educational development company publishing material promoting literacy, science & technology and language acquisition.
Keet van Zyl
Current designation/title:
Keet is a dynamic investment expert with extensive private equity and venture capital experience.
Former designation with a brief history:
He has worked in specialised finance at industry-leading international companies such as Procter & Gamble and Investec Bank. He was also responsible for structuring, funding and monitoring various private equity funds in the Southern African region before joining HBD Venture Capital – a VC Fund founded by Internet entrepreneur and cosmonaut Mark Shuttleworth. In 2010 he co-founded PoweredbyVC to continue the active management of HBD’s South African portfolio of VC investments and build the VC industry in South Africa.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Keet regularly speaks at conferences and acts as guest lecturer at leading business schools.
Titles of books, academic papers:
Keet has written several published articles relating to VC and entrepreneurship.
Laurie Scholtz
Current designation/title:
Laurie Scholtz is the Social Return on Investment analyst at Greater Capital
Former designation with a brief history:
Her career to date has seen her working with corporates, asset managers and non-profits in defining metrics and indicators to be used when measuring social impact. Recently she has been exposed to drafting Socially Responsible Investing policy and has been working closely with Cadiz Asset Management on measuring the social impact of their SRI Bond Fund.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Academically she has completed a Masters Degree in Commerce focusing on the study of social entrepreneurs and the challenges they face within South Africa and is currently working towards her PhD with a focus on the business models adopted by social enterprises.
Lavendra Naidoo
Current designation/title:
Lavendra Naidoo is the General Manager for The Business Place eKapa branch in Cape Town, South Africa. He is responsible for the marketing of the branch in the Cape Town area, the operational running of the branch, Human Resources (HR) and financial, statutory compliance as well as stakeholder management and accountability to the Board of Directors. He has been with the organisation for four years and was appointed General Manager for The Business Place eKapa in 2007.
Former designation with a brief history:
Prior to joining The Business Place, he worked from 1993 – 1998 as Loan Officer and Branch Manager respectively for The Independent Financing Centre. From 1998 – 2007 he was the Branch Manager for Khethani Business Finance in Cape Town.Naidoo has extensive knowledge and understanding of Governance, Networking as well as Portfolio and Operations Management.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Naidoo holds a Bachelor of Social Science degree from the University of Cape Town, majoring in Industrial Sociology. He also holds a number of certificates from various short-course training programmes including, a certificate in Leadership Effectiveness Training Programme (LEAP 1) from the Nedcor Banking College, as well as a certificate in Business Integration and Leadership Development (BUILD) from the United States – South Africa Leadership Programme (USSALEP).
Lesley Africa
Current designation/title:
Lesley Africa is currently the CEO of WECBOF (Western Cape Business Opportunities Forum), as well as the Chairperson of Business Western Cape, the umbrella body for organised business in the Western Cape consisting of the AHI Cape Regional Chamber, FABCOS, NAFCOC, SACCI and WECBOF.
He is also the Local Representative for PUM; an organisation based in The Netherlands which provides ongoing business support for developing economies.
Former designation with a brief history:
Lesley previously held the position of Deputy Principal at Cedar High School in Mitchell’s Plain, and left the teaching profession after 16 years with a Voluntary Severance package in July 1998
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Lesley holds a BA degree, a B.Ed as well as an HDE from the University of the Western Cape, and obtained a Certificate in Labour Relations at CPUT.
Lesley also serves as chairperson of the Western Cape Provincial Tender Board, Business Western Cape, the Western Cape Education Department’s Tender Committee, the Provincial Development Council, Organised Business in the PDC of the Western Cape and the Labour Recruitment Chamber in the Services Seta.
He also serves as a Principal Member on the Boards of WESGRO, Cape Town Routes Unlimited, AllPay, Equip, Services Seta National Council and WECBOF Section 21.
Additionally, he is an Advisory Member on the Boards of Swiss Contact, Hout Bay Business Opportunities Forum, Stellenbosch Black Business Opportunities Forum, The Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s Technology Station, and the University of the Western Cape’s Enterprise Development Unit (EDU).
Lesley Donna Williams
Current designation/title:
Lesley designs and facilitates dialogue, learning and change processes. She is co-founder and director of Hub Johannesburg, a co-working space and international learning network for social entrepreneurs. She has also co-foundered Africa++.
Her passion for sustainable development, enabling social entrepreneurship and developing learning organisations has led her to convene and deliver or participate in learning journeys and workshops across Europe, South America and Africa.
Former designation with a brief history:
Lesley was a director of Pioneers of Change from 2006 to 2010; an international community of practitioners and learners of systemic change. She previously worked at the Gordon Institute of Business Science from 2002 to 2006 under the leadership of Prof. Gill Marcus for a unit called Policy, Leadership and Gender Studies where she created Young Professionals Forum. She served on the national steering committee of Young South African Women in Dialogue in 2005 – founded by the former South African First Lady, Mrs. Zanele Mbeki.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Lesley obtained her B.Com (Industrial Psychology) degree from the Rand Afrikaans University and is an accredited trainer with the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). She is an AIESEC Alumni, member of Toastmasters International and a Common Purpose, Navigator Programme Graduate.
Lesley was selected as one of sixty international participants on a BP Antarctica Expedition in March 2009 focusing on Climate Change. She is currently on the Mail & Guardian’s 2011 Top 200 list of Young South Africans.
Lizo Ntloko
Current designation/title:
Lizo Ntloko is the Provincial General Manager of the Industrial Development Corporation. His responsibilities in the Western Cape are widely spread covering all areas of the Province including the West Coast and Eden districts.
Former designation with a brief history:
Lizo is a B Comm graduate by training, with a post-graduate Diploma in Marketing Management. His business experience stems from a number of years he has spent in the financial services industry, where he held several senior management positions prior to joining the IDC.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
He is also a trustee and director of several companies including the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre and the South African Savings Institute (SASI).
Lusapho Njenge
Current designation/title: He is currently Senior Manager: Strategy and Organisational Performance Management at Seda. This entails managing a planning and performance management framework for an organisation with 51 offices and nearly 600 employees.
Former designation with a brief history:LusaphoNjenge has an accounting background, with a degree in financial and management accounting as well as taxation. He has also completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Monitoring and Evaluation Methods with Stellenbosch University and is in the final year of an M Phil in Futures Studies with the same institution. He has also attended a programme on information management at the Harvard Business School.
Marc Balkin
Current designation/title:
He currently serves as a member of the First National Bank Enterprise Development Fund Investment Committee and has served a Trustee and non-Executive Chairman of the Investment Committee of the EnablisKhula Acceleration Fund and the KhulaEnablis Loan Fund.
Former designation with a brief history:
Marc started his professional career as an attorney with Werkmans Inc. Before joining Hasso Plattner Ventures Africa as Managing Partner, Marc provided private equity related consulting services to several South African Investment Banks. Subsequently Marc was employed in the Private Equity division of CorpCapital Limited, focusing on Venture Capital transactions. From 2000 to 2006, Marc was Founding Partner of O2 Capital, a Venture Capital Fund Management business.
He began his professional career as an attorney with Werkmans Inc. Marc has extensive experience in private equity management, having consulted to several South African Investment banks.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Marc holds BA and LLB degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand. Marc holds a BA and LLB degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Michael Bagraim
Current designation/title:
Attorney, Labour Law Specialist and President of the Cape Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Former designation with a brief history:
Michael Bagraim graduated from Rhodes University with a BA in Political Science and an LLB. He was admitted as an Advocate in the Supreme Court of South Africa, Eastern Cape Division in 1982 and thereafter was admitted as an Attorney in the Supreme Court of South Africa Cape of Good Hope Division in 1986. After University Michael became involved in numerous Welfare Institutions including Glendale, Home for the Handicapped, The Association for Persons with Physical Disabilities (Current President of the Association), Giants Gymnastics for Under Privileged Women and Epilepsy South Africa. Michael has completed numerous courses on Industrial Relations and has lectured many institutions on Labour Law.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
He is a regular contributor on Industrial Relations and Labour Law to the media, TV, radio, newspapers and magazines. Currently he is a member of the Labour Law Committee of the Law Society of The Cape of Good Hope and is a member of the Cape Town Attorneys Association. Michael became the President of the Cape Chamber of Commerce & Industry in 2010 and is currently the President of the Chamber. Under Michael’s presidency the Chamber of Commerce & Industry has challenged the proposed changes to the Labour Law and has been very effective in the effort complimenting job creation in South Africa.
Titles of books, academic papers:
To complement Johnny Goldberg’s presentation on “How the Proposed Changes will affect Recruiters”, Michael Bagraim wearing his Chamber of Commerce hat will focus on “How the Proposed Changes to Employment Legislation will affect Business”.
Neal Gandhi
Current designation/title:
Serial entrepreneur and investor
Former designation with a brief history:
Neal co-founded his first company when he was 21 years old. Despite early success, the company struggled, at which point Neal was forced to exit by his bank manager. He has carried the lessons learned from that experience throughout his career and believes that they have been instrumental in his subsequent successes. In 1996, having spent two years in the corporate world and realising that working for someone else was not an option, he co-founded Xplora, one of the first Internet professional services companies in the UK. The company was acquired by a Nasdaq listed company in 1998 after which he and his partners completed their two year earn out period. Neal then focused his energies on Attenda, an infrastructure management company which he had co-founded in 1997 while still at Xplora. Attenda raised £29m over three investment rounds including a £9m round led by MC Venture Partners in June 2002. Neal held a significant stake in Attenda until its sale in August 2011 to Darwin Private Equity for £50m.
Neal also invests both independently and in his capacity as venture partner with Octopus Ventures in high potential start-ups, mainly in the technology sector. His current portfolio includes Raising IT (www.raisingit.com), Engage Sciences (www.engagesciences.com), Kimble Apps (www.kimbleapps.com) and numerous others.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
In 2006, Neal co-founded Quickstart Global, a company that has grown to employ around 700 people located over 4 continents. The company has been recognised through numerous awards and accolades including Gartner Cool Vendor in 2009, Tech Track 100 (ranked #3 in 2010 and #37 in 2011), Deloitte Fast 50 (10th in 2011) and HSBC European Business Awards in 2010. Neal was also a top 10 finalist for Entrepreneur of the Year, part of the National Business Awards UK, in 2010. He is currently working on introducing two other brands in adjacent markets to Quickstart Global; the iPlex, a next generation business centre provider and Talent Anywhere, a global recruitment organisation.
Neal’s book Born Global: Successful Global Expansion By Those Who’ve Done It, was published by Hot Hive books in 2009. The book is a pragmatic handbook for companies wishing to expand globally.
When taking a break from his entrepreneurial enterprises, 43-year-old Neal, likes to spend his time skiing and enjoys motor sports. He also takes time out to coach under-8s rugby and reads voraciously, particularly enjoying anything related to macro-economics, new business thinking and biographies of business innovators. He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in January 2011 in aid of an orphanage in Bangalore, India.
Olivia Muiru
Current designation/title: Olivia Muiru joined B Lab/GIIRS in January as a rating associate for the GIIRS Nairobi office. She provides technical training on the GIIRS Ratings & Analytics for Impact Investing and assists companies and funds being assessed on their social and environmental impact. She is also responsible for marketing GIIRS within sub-Saharan Africa
Former designation with a brief history:
Prior to her work with GIIRS, Muiru worked with Microfinanza Rating (MFR) as a junior analyst in its African regional office. MFR is a private company that specializes in credit and social rating for microfinance institutions globally. During her time with MFR, Muiru worked in the social rating department administering social ratings for microfinance institutions located in sub-Saharan Africa. She conducted focus group meetings with clients and administered Progress Out of Poverty Index tools and Poverty Assessment Tools.
Previously, she worked with Deloitte and Touche, Kenya, in its internship program focusing on audit and assurance.
Muiru studied finance and international business at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.
Patmanathan Pillai
Current designation/title: Pat is a Teacher, Businessman, Social Entrepreneur and Journalist. He is a News Anchor and Executive Producer with E News / Channel.
Former designation with a brief history: He has previously held executive directorships and in the media industry, e.g. Primedia. Pat founded Life College 14 years ago. Life College is social business that offers Champion Mentality, Character and Self-Leadership Education to youth and adults. LCG offers direct training and also licences programmes to qualifying institutional partners in civil, business and government sectors.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition: Pat was awarded the Ashoka Fellowship in 2007 for his work at Life College. Ashoka is the global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs. Pat was also selected as an Ashoka Globalizer Fellow – a group of 35 Ashoka Fellows drawn from about 2 800 fellows who have social enterprises that are most likely to replicate globally.
Phillip Sithole
Current designation/title: Acting Deputy City Manager – Sustainable Development.
Former designation with a brief history: head business support and tourism
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition: As acting deputy city manager for sustainable development I am responsible for tourism, business development, investment promotion, planning and environment.
Phindile Tshabangu
Current designation/title:
Regional Manager at the Shanduka Black Umbrellas business incubator in Cape Town
Former designation with a brief history:
Phindile is a Chemical Engineer by training with over 15 years professional work experience (10 of which have been in various strategic capacities in the development of entrepreneurs and the creation of start up businesses).
Phindile is currently the Regional Manager at the Shanduka Black Umbrellas business incubator in Cape Town and the Programme Director at the UCT Graduate School of Business for the Entrepreneurship and SMME Development programme. Phindile started his illustrious career as a development engineer with a blue chip global industrial gases company, thereafter he moved on to be a partner in a techno-financial services company based in Johannesburg to concentrate on his passion of developing high growth start up companies. Over the years Phindile has gained extensive experience in the assessment and development of pre-start-up and start-up businesses from a funder’s perspective. Since moving to the Cape in 2009, Phindile has been involved in technology transfer and business incubation.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Described as “an extraordinary representative of business incubation and of South Africa” during his tenure as the Chairperson of the South African Business and Technology Incubation Association (SABTIA), Phindile speaks frequently on entrepreneurship promotion and small business support to audiences ranging from budding entrepreneurs to senior executives in the public and private sector.
Randall Kempner
Current designation/title:
Randall Kempner is Executive Director of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), a global network of organizations that propel entrepreneurship in emerging markets. The network’s members provide critical financing and business support services to small and growing businesses (SGBs) that create significant economic, environmental and social impacts in developing countries. ANDE’s 140 plus members have operations in 150 emerging market countries.
As executive director of ANDE, Randall oversees the implementation of ANDE’s extensive program and policy agenda, including efforts to develop standardized social and environmental metrics for impact investment, training seminars on supporting and investing in emerging-market entrepreneurs and the ANDE Capacity Development Fund, a $1m facility which supports capacity building and innovation within the SGB sector.
Former designation with a brief history:
Randall has nearly twenty years of experience in the field of national and international economic development. Most recently, he served as Vice President for Regional Innovation at the U.S. Council on Competitiveness. Prior to joining the Council, Randall was co-founder of OTF Group, an international consulting firm that advises regions and nations on how to create competitive advantage. He is frequent speaker on entrepreneurship-based economic development strategies.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Randall graduated from the University of Texas with an M.B.A and an M.P.Aff. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Government from Harvard College.
Robin Stead
Current designation/title:
Rob spent his early years in academia, as a researcher and senior lecturer in Molecular Biology at UCT. He became interested in the role that technology can play in changing the locus of energy and responsibility for learning from the lecturer/facilitator to the learner. Early work at UCT showed that dramatic changes in student performance and enjoyment of learning occur when elements of adventure and challenge are introduced and when technology is used to shorten feedback loops. Rob later left UCT to start developing technologies for effective learning and has created programs for over 50 corporate clients in South Africa, the UK, Europe and America, benefitting mainly disadvantaged learners. He has also established rural, entrepreneur-owned ICT training centres which have been effective in providing young people with job-readiness skills, and through which a high proportion of graduates find employment.
Former designation with a brief history:
In 2009 Rob was invited to become CEO of the South African Institute for Entrepreneurship, a Non-Profit organisation that has made great strides in using creative training simulations to awaken entrepreneurial mindsets among school learners, aspiring small businesses and subsistence farmers. He is working to expand the range of delivery platforms for the training materials and to shift the funding model of the organisation to include a greater component of self-generated income.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Rob was also one of the founder members of St Luke’s Hospice in Cape Town and serves as its Chairman for 10 years as it grew to its present stage.
Shameemah Da Silva
Current designation/title:
Owner of Arise Business and Social Development services, a company that focuses on development through education.
Former designation with a brief history:
Having completing a degree in Theology, HDE and Community Development, Shameemah started her career as a financial advisor for Old Mutual in 1994. Her desire to assist government in alleviating the high unemployment rate and other pressing social problems led her to implement a programme specifically developed to assist communities in starting their own businesses. In 2007 Shameemah initiated a project that focuses on assisting unsuccessful grade 12 learners in completing their matric certificates, by offering a comprehensive 8-month revision programme. The programme also assists learners looking to apply for higher education, and provides career preparation and entrepreneurial development training.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Shameemah is a passionate motivational speaker, and focuses predominantly on encouraging women to achieve their potential. She takes a grassroots approach to community development, and attempts to involve as many 18-25 year olds as possible in the building of a strong economy.
Shawn Theunissen
Current designation/title:
Shawn Theunissen is the founder and manager of Property Point (www.propertypoint.org.za), a Growthpoint Properties’ enterprise development programme focusing on the holistic development of SMMEs and the creation of market linkages within the property sector. Property Point applies a two-pronged approach to the development of SMMEs, incubation and an information platform. The focal point of the programme is the incubation of a selected group of businesses, which participate in an intensive development process. An analysis of needs is conducted on each business and a personalised development plan is designed to fill the “gaps” identified in the business. The secondary element of the programme, the information platform, is designed to reach a large audience of SMMEs in the property sector through the presentation of information sessions hosted by industry experts. Theunissen has also designed and managed various enterprise development programmes for The Business Place, an entrepreneurial support centre with 12 offices across Southern Africa.
Former designation with a brief history:
In his 13 year career Theunissen has held various Senior Management positions both in the corporate as well as NGO sector. His experience ranges from senior roles in Customer Service, Training and Development, Management Consulting, Key Account Management and various roles within the Economic Development space. He was also a founding member of a training consultancy, GLO Consulting. He has also been a facilitator and guest speaker for various business schools and business forums both in South Africa and abroad.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
He holds a Masters in Concept Making and People Centric Innovation from 180 Academy in Denmark. The focus of the masters’ degree was innovation strategy that drives business growth and radical innovation. The title of his thesis was “Innovation strategies for small business development programmes”. He holds a BCom (Industrial Psychology) undergraduate degree from University of Johannesburg. He has a vast amount of knowledge regarding the human resource legislation in South Africa, having been accredited as a Skills Development Facilitator (SDF), an Assessor and an Education, Development and Training Practitioner (EDTP) with the South African Qualifications Authority. He holds an Advanced Diploma in Project Management and a Diploma in Financial Management from Damelin. In 2006 Theunissen completed the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) Young Professionals Forum programme. He also completed an executive development programme on Strategy Development at GIBS. He recently completed the summer Academy on Sustainable Enterprise Development with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Turin, Italy.
Theunissen is also on the board of directors of Twenty30, an NGO which runs volunteerism programmes with an aim to address socio-economic needs in our country.
Simon De Haan
Current designation/title:
Chief Engineer for the Praekelt Foundation
Former designation with a brief history:
Growing up in the Middle East left an indelible impression on Simon and sparked a passionate interest in community development, entrepreneurship and technology. The potential to be directly involved in the use of technology to improve the lives of the less privileged proved irresistible, however, and Simon moved to South Africa to focus on community development work in 2009.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
After completing a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Media Technology in the Netherlands Simon worked for several prominent digital agencies before being appointed CTO of a promising internet start-up in Amsterdam.
Sisa Ntshona
Current designation/title:
Head of Enterprise Development at Absa Business Bank focusing on the development and fostering of SMEs through innovation and product development.
Former designation with a brief history:
Before assuming his current role at Absa, Sisa was the General Manager of the Small Business division, having previously worked at Absa Capital as an Investment Banker. Sisa is a seasoned executive, who for 6 years has worked extensively throughout Africa and the Middle East, fulfilling business and operational roles in the Financial Services Industry. He has worked across a range diverse cultures & languages, and concluded agreements in different juristic and legal environments. His insights and expertise have been sought out by the international community and he recently delivered a presentation on SME development to the Egyptian Banking Institute in Cairo.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
An accountant by training, Sisa also holds an MBA from GIBS and an International Executive Programme from INSEAD in France and Singapore.
Tamzin Ractliffe
Current designation/title:
CEO of Nexii, a global impact investment advisory firm, and the founder of award winning group, Greater Good South Africa.
Former designation with a brief history:
Widely credited with having started the first social investment exchange in the world, Tamzin has been a visionary leader for Greater Good South Africa – an African online social development networking platform – and its affiliated impact investment advisory business, Greater Capital, for the past 12 years. A graduate in Applied Psychology and Commerce, she has worked as a financial analyst, as well as in private equity and venture capital investment banking, both locally and abroad.
She established Greater Capital in 1998, and a year later started The Funding Site – a web-enabled resource site – before going on to develop the internationally acclaimed award-winning social networking platform, Greater Good South Africa, in 2004. Greater Good South Africa is a social profit organisation dedicated to utilising 21st Century technology to facilitate indigenous philanthropy and performance-based giving and social impact investment in South Africa. Through Greater Good South Africa, Tamzin conceptualised and developed the South African Social Investment Exchange in June 2006, which has facilitated significant capital allocation to both performance-based philanthropy and impact investment, whilst also leveraging larger-scale external investment in social financial offerings.
For the past two years, Tamzin has focused on establishing Nexii, a company dedicated to to the promotion of coherence, organisation and efficiency in the impact investing sector.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Tamzin has continually sought to use the markets for greater social good, and was awarded the GIBS Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2007. She was also appointed an Ashoka fellow in 2008, and, in 2011, established the world’s first publically regulated stock exchange board for impact investments – the iX – in collaborative partnership with the Stock Exchange of Mauritius.
Tarisai Mchuchu-Ratshidi
Current designation/title:
Tarisai Mchuchu-Ratshidi is Director of Young in Prison South Africa, an organisation that works with children and youth in prison and youth-care centres teaching them life-skills using creative arts, sports and education.
Former designation with a brief history:
Since she has taken the reigns at Young in Prison in 2008 she has done a lot of work on advocacy to make changes to the juvenile justice system. The main aim of Mchuchu-Ratshidi’s work is to empower young people to make the right choices and stop living a life of crime. Young In Prison has a huge drive to help young offenders turn towards a fulfilling life for themselves, their families, their communities and in turn for the country itself. The focus is on opportunities for these young people to be successfully rehabilitated and reintegrated. She believes it very important to change the mind-set of the community at large to shift thinking from punitive towards restorative justice. She is also driving to get more support for post release participants. These young people cannot leave prisons and then be idle on the streets again. She is campaigning to get South African businesses to buy into employing ex-offenders and offering training to inmates of all ages inside prison.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Mchuchu-Ratshidi was listed as one of the 200 Young South Africans in the Mail and Guardian and also in the Mail & Guardian Book of South African Women. She was also a finalist in the Shoprite checkers Women of the Year-Good Neighbours Against Crime 2011.Mchuchu-Ratshidi completed her Bachelors of Arts in 2006 and her Bachelor of Laws in 2010 at the University of Cape Town.
Dr Thanaphol Virasa
Current designation/title:
Assistant Professor in the College of Management at Mahidol University, Thailand. He specialises in entrepreneurship and innovation management, public policy on research and technology management.
Former designation with a brief history:
Formerly the project manager of the Thailand team in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2005-2007 research project, Dr.Virasa gained his business experience in dealership management at the Siam Cement Plc. and in business development from the state-owned Krungthai Bank.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Dr Virasa currently serves on several strategic planning working committees, including the Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology, the National Centre of Nanotechnology, and Mahidol University. He also serves on several government policy research projects including the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Science and Technology Development Agency, the National Innovation Agency, the Thailand Research Fund, and the Office of SMEs Promotion.
Tom Fox
Current designation/title:
Chief Technical Adviser, Social Enterprise Development, ILO Pretoria
Former designation with a brief history:
Tom Fox works on social enterprise development in the International Labour Organization’s Pretoria office. Since 2009 he has managed a social enterprise development project in South Africa. The project has supported the ILO’s constituents and partners in their efforts to promote social enterprise development in South Africa, supporting progress towards a conducive enabling environment and the development of appropriate business development service products for potential social entrepreneurs. Tom is now involved in rolling this work out across the region as part of the ILO’s wider programme of support on the social economy. Tom previously worked on sustainable business development for UNDP and the ILO in Zambia, on a variety of international projects related to business and sustainable development for the International Institute for Environment and Development, and for a business school in Lesotho.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
He has written widely on issues concerning the relationship between business and development. He has degrees in international business and development studies.
Tracey Webster
Current designation/title:
Tracey is the CEO of Virgin Unite Africa and the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship
Former designation with a brief history:
Tracey previously worked across the region as an independent social development consultant for social impact initiatives. Her clients included RenewEn USA, a smart energy solutions provider, and ‘Could You?’, an NPO who brings high net worth individuals and media from the USA to Mozambique for an African immersion experience. She acts as a voice for Africa, and directs their philanthropic giving and foreign direct investment to relevant African led initiatives.
Tracey spent 9 years dedicated to the plight of orphaned and vulnerable children. She was a founding member and CEO of the Starfish Greathearts Foundation, which, under her leadership, supported 22,000 orphaned and vulnerable children across South Africa with education, health, food and psycho-social support. She also worked with NIRSA and James 1:27 Trust to host a national consultation on orphaned and vulnerable children in 2009 .
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Tracey has been widely acclaimed and awarded throughout the course of her career, having been selected as one of South Africa’s ‘Real Heroes’ who carried 2004’s Olympic Torch, and awarded an Archbishop Tutu Fellowship in 2007.
She was selected as an Inspired Individual by Tearfund in 2008, and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Lonely Road Foundation, and as a trustee of Cheesekids for Humanity.
Tsholo Mogotsi
Current designation/title:
Mogotsi is the Deputy Director responsible for Enterprise Development at the City of Johannesburg’s Department of Economic Development.
Former designation with a brief history:
Previously, Tsholo had worked for 13 years in the IT industry as a business analyst, application developer, consulting project manager and entrepreneur. In 2002 he began practicing as a strategy consultant for new entrants into the ICT industry during which time he served for several years as a consultant to the Nelson Mandela Foundation, where he was tasked with establishing a project to implement a shared information platform for South African civil society. He joined the City of Johannesburg in 2008 where his primarily role has been to lead the development and implementation of a new SMME development strategy for the City of Johannesburg.
Yogavelli Nambiar
Current designation/title:
Yogavelli Nambiar is a social development strategist who has 17 years of experience spanning social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility and communications in South Africa and India. As Executive Director of the African Social Entrepreneurs Network, Yogavelli works on promoting sustainable development through the growth of the social enterprise sector in Africa.
As Programme Director of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, she manages the South African chapter of a $100 million international programme to provide women entrepreneurs from underserved communities with a business education and support services to scale up their operations.
Former designation with a brief history:
Yogavelli previously served as the Head of CSR Consultancy at Kaelo Worldwide Media, where she managed the KAELO STORIES OF HOPE multimedia platform (the largest CSI communications platform in Africa) and twice convened the KAELO RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS SUMMIT, a leading conference on corporate citizenship. She has also worked in India for seven years – as Executive Director of a successful non-profit working with people with disabilities, and with the Asian Women’s Human Rights Council, where she organised the World Court of Women against War, for Peace, a ground-breaking international conference in which 45 women from all over the world testified on human rights violations they had experienced. At the same time, she has been involved in several United Nations conferences and workshops, dealing with issues of human trafficking and refugees in Thailand and India.
Yogavelli has previously consulted on strategies to government, companies and non-profit organisations, and is is also part of a working group constituted by the Institute of Directors to evolve a Code of Governance for the non-profit sector in South Africa. She has also researched and written case studies on 25 social enterprises across the country on behalf of the International Labour Organisation – a United Nations agency.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
Yogavelli regularly contributes to development debate through media interviews and articles. She has degrees in Development Studies, Community and Health Psychology, and Communications, and has also received qualifications in special education for children with multiple disabilities and business entrepreneurship.
Zayd Minty
Current designation/title:
Zayd is the Co-ordinator of Creative Cape Town, a creative and knowledge economy support programme of the Cape Town Partnership. Creative Cape Town incubated the World Design Capital 2014 Bid, The Fringe, the Cape Town Design Network and Imagine City Hall.
Former designation with a brief history:
Zayd is a cultural producer and researcher with an interest in culture and cities in the global South, and has a special interest and love for his adopted home, Cape Town. He previously worked for both District Six Museum and Robben Island Museum where he worked at the intersection of new museology and public art practises.
Other notable information, awards, special positions or academic recognition:
As an independent producer he curated a number of contemporary art projects, festivals, dialogic forums and conferences.
Titles of books, academic papers:
As a researcher, he has written for various publications, has penned a report on diversity in Cape Town and was a key writer of Cape Town’s World Design Capital bid book. He is currently involved in setting up the Fringe: Cape Town’s Design and Innovation District.