Lindiwe Dlamini

Lindi Dlamini is group executive for retail operations in South Africa at Liberty Holdings. She has 15 years financial services experience spanning short-term insurance, health insurance and life-insurance. She has worked in financial services in legal advisory services, compliance and risk management and has served on several Boards of Trustees. She holds BA and LLB degrees from the University of Swaziland and an LLM in tax law from Wits University. She is also a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and has undergone senior leadership training at Manchester Business and more recently participated in a Global Leadership course at the Thunderbird School of Global Managed in Phoenix, Arizona. She regularly indulges her wanderlust tendencies whenever the chance avails itself. She has a passion for mentoring and coaching young women. She is a Fellow of the sixth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

 

Kevin Fleischer

Kevin Fleischer is a maverick angel-investor with too many different e-mail addresses. He is active in film, art, technology, property, publishing, and food. Long ago, he started his career at Morgan Stanley in New York and London, before becoming a partner in a structured-finance team based in London. In 1993, after an eight-year absence, he returned to South Africa, moving into broadcast services. For a while he worked with Isaac Shongwe, setting up what is now Letsema Investments, and working on initial versions of BEE policy. In the early 2000's he worked for the Gauteng government as founder and CEO of Blue Catalyst, an award-winning venture capital support network, through which he was on the ExCo of the South African Venture Capital Association. More recently, he has moved into the film industry, where he acts as Consigliere to teams producing local features, including White Wedding, the South African entry to the 2010 Academy Awards. He advises the Independent Producers Organisation and government on policy in the film and TV industry, and is active in developing transformation strategy for Independent Schools. He recently held his first solo photographic exhibition, and when he grows up, he wants to be a writer. He has a BA in economics from the University of the Witwatersrand, and an M.Phil in finance from Oxford. He is a Fellow of the sixth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Oliver Fortuin

Oliver Fortuin is general manager for Sub-Saharan Africa at IBM. Prior to rejoining IBM in July 2009, Oliver was the managing director of Hewlett-Packard South Africa and general manager of Technology Solutions Group. In this role, he drove the enterprise hardware, software and services business, and lead the regional management team. Prior to that, he was Hewlett-Packard South Africa's director for HP services. Oliver has more than 20 years experience in the technology industry, 15 of which were spent with IBM. Prior to joining HP in 2006, he held various executive positions in the IBM Corporation, including general manager of the IBM PC Business for Africa. He joined Lenovo South Africa as a member of the EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa) management team when Lenovo acquired IBM's PC business in 2005. He is a formal mentor for aspiring executives in the community. Oliver holds an MBA from Open University, UK. He is a Fellow of the sixth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Makhosi Khoza

Makhosi Busisiwe Khoza is chair of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) in the KwaZulu Natal legislature. She also serves on the finance and economic development and tourism committees. She is the former CEO of the South African Local Government Association and the KwaZulu-Natal Local Government Association. A former deputy mayor of the Pietermaritzburg municipality at the age of 25, Makhosi is also a former manager of Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank. She is the founder of Africa Governance Transformation and has lectured at the University of Natal and the University of Witwatersrand. Makhosi developed the governance concepts of Processes, Resources, Systems, and Structures (PRASS) and Transformation Through Total Quality Management (3TQM). She holds four degrees, including a PhD in administration. She has written four books, entitled Tough Women Bleed in Success, A Cry from the Heart, and Being Yourself, Representing Others: A Guide for Local Government Councilors. She is a Fellow of the sixth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Mpadi Makgalo

Mpadi Makgalo is director of FuturesGroup. Previously, she was managing director of Harambe Consulting, a leading social and economic development consulting company. Mpadi's previous professional experience includes working in senior positions within the NGO sector with organisations such as Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and WATCH. She is chair of the board of Sussex University Africa Forum and director of the board of Ubuhle Bezwe Medical Services and Grace Foundation. Mpadi holds a BA with honors in sociology from Nippissing University, Canada, a diploma in economic development from the University of Glasgow, UK, and an MSc in international education from the University of Sussex, UK. She is a Fellow of the sixth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Moipone Malefane

Moipone Malefane is a political writer for the Sunday Times of South Africa. She was previously a reporter for the Star, where she covered the Gauteng government. She did in-service training at the South African Press Association for four years. While in training, Moipone was expected to cover a range of areas and issues and realised the value of reporting on general news. Moipone graduated with a degree in journalism. In 2007, she was honored with the Mondi Shanduka Award in the Analysis and Commentary category. Moipone is a Fellow of the sixth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Kefiloe Masiteng

Kefiloe Masiteng is deputy director-general for population and social statistics at Statistics South Africa. Her responsibilities include managing the Population and Social Statistics Programme in Stats SA, including a supervisory role over ten executive managers; taking full financial and management responsibilities for the cluster; and representing Stats SA in the Social Cluster FOSAD meetings and all international experts meetings for Population and Social Statistics. Prior to joining Stats SA, Kefiloe worked in the presidency, Department of Housing and Health in the areas of governance, monitoring, and evaluation. She has a BS with honors from Wits University and a postgraduate diploma in epidemiology and biostatistics, as well as a master's in public health from the University of Pretoria. She also was a Fellow at the University of North Carolina from 2000 until 2002. Kefiloe is working toward a PhD in public and development management at Wits University. She is a Fellow of the sixth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Thembi Msibi

Thembelihle (Thembi) Msibi is CEO of the Advertising Standards Authority. She was previously an international relations executive in two government departments and before that a legal adviser in the Department of Transport. She was a corporate lawyer for the South African Broadcasting Corporation as well. Her work experience in these departments has led her to work with government counterparts in various countries and public advocacy institutions in the SADC region, West Africa and in Europe. Her work also involved extensive interactions with South African Government, Parliament and its committees and other government departments. Thembi has also led a provincial transport department which entailed managing and administering a provincial budget and mapping a strategy for the department. Before returning to South Africa, she worked for a prestigious law firm and public advocacy firm in the United States, where she managed artist contracts and identified targets ranging from policy lobbying to opportunity access. She is a lawyer by profession, having been admitted to the bar in London, UK. Her key competencies are in entertainment and corporate law. She is a Fellow of the sixth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Phindile Nzimande

Phindile Nzimande is CEO of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa. She was previously CEO of EDI Holdings, the state owned company tasked with project managing the restructuring of the electricity distribution industry. She joined the Metropolitan Council of Johannesburg in 1996 and was appointed executive director of contract management for the city of Johannesburg, managing the relationships between the city and its municipally owned entities. She began her career in government as strategic management team advisor to the then Gauteng Member of the Executive Council for Housing and Local Government. She was previously in private practice at a law firm in Pretoria and Wright Rose Innes. She graduated from Wits University. Phindile has served on a number of boards such as Nurcha, a presidential lead project established to facilitate investment in the financing of low cost housing and Sanparks. She currently serves on the boards of Momentum, Common Purpose and the Wits University Council. Phindile is the proud mother of a single child, Thandolwethu. She is a Fellow of the sixth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Kumaran Padayachee

Kumaran Padayachee is CEO of Spartan Technology Rentals (Pty) Ltd. He is also a founding shareholder of Utajiri Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd, an investment company with holdings in Deutsche Bank SA. He was a top five finalist, under the Best Emerging Entrepreneur category, in the 2005 Ernst &Young World Entrepreneur Awards and has been a judge each year from 2006. Kumaran holds a B.Comm in accounting and commercial law) from Rhodes University and attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan Business School, for the three-year Entrepreneurial Masters Program. He is a non-executive director with the National Business Initiative and member of the Entrepreneurs Organisation (a global network of more than 7,000 business owners in 38 countries) as well as being selected as a high impact entrepreneur by Endeavor SA in 2006. He is a Fellow of the sixth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Kim Robinson

Kim Robinson is the founder and CEO of  Renaissance Strategic Solutions.  Renaissance specializes in organizational development, philanthropy, social investment, and education.  Renaissance is a South-Africa based company with an African reach that offers “surge capacity” to address short and medium term needs for NGOs and non-profit organizations, small business, international foundations and funders, governmental entities, corporations, high net worth individuals, and philanthropists.  The work of Renaissance is based on the immense promise of South Africa and the entire continent.   Prior to founding Renaissance, Ms. Robinson was Executive Director of Student Sponsorship Programme, a South African non-profit trust focused on identifying and nurturing academically talented, low-income high school students.  Previously, she was the Coordinator, Organizational and Leadership Development at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy.  Ms. Robinson's experience in South Africa and southern Africa dates from 1991 when she was a Human Rights Intern at the law firm of Smith, Tabata, Inc.  In 1994, she was a Fulbright Scholar and worked on constitutional matters with Advocate Wim Trengove SC at the Legal Resources Centre and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand.  Later she clerked for Justice Johann Kriegler of the Constitutional Court of South Africa.  While an associate at the law firm of Bingham McCutchen in San Francisco, she successfully sued Pacific Bell for marketing fraud and damages of $24 million were awarded.  From 2001-2005, Ms. Robinson served as in-house counsel to the U.S. Agency for International Development in Botswana covering legal, policy, management, and development issues throughout southern Africa.  Ms. Robinson is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Hunter College of the City University of New York.  She loves film, books, tennis, and travel.  She is a New Yorker by birth and proudly South African by marriage.  She is a Fellow of the sixth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

 

Iqbal Sharma

Iqbal Sharma is executive chairman and CEO of Issar, a mining company. He previously headed the trade policy division of the Department of Trade and Industry, where he oversaw global economic strategies and managed bilateral trade relations and negotiations. Before joining the DTI, he worked for large multinationals such as PepsiCo and the Bank of America. But, an entrepreneur at heart, he left to set up and run his own companies, including South Africa's first computer education franchise and a software firm. He has been hailed as "one of South Africa's most remarkable entrepreneurs" (SA Success Magazine 4/98).The Financial Mail has also recognised him as one of the Top 400 most influential black professionals in SA. An activist committed to the upliftment of rural and poor communities, he has worked with NGO's and published many articles and papers on social, political and economic issues. Growing up outside South Africa, he studied in many countries before he graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in economics. He is a Fellow of the sixth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

 

Heather Third

Heather Third is founder and CEO of Rainbow Consulting and one of South Africa's Top Women in Business & Government 2008. Previously, she was former chief operating officer of Microsoft South Africa. She is also one of the founding members of the Africa Advisory Board for the International Chief Marketing Officer Council. Heather started Rainbow Consulting in 2008 to use her knowledge and expertise to guide clients along the journey of matching business strategy to marketing plans, ensuring key metrics are set and achieved. Her strengths lie in deriving maximum impact from the brand using all available resources from marketing to people. She is passionate about reputation management and its ability to help people and companies realise their business goals. She also consults to clients on leadership development, performance management, citizen activism and giving. Heather previously worked in communications consultancy in varied industries from hospitality to the financial services sector. Prior to joining Microsoft, she worked for a well-known construction company, overseeing their brand identity change as they evolved from a government-sanctioned cartel to a free market operation. She is a Fellow of the sixth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Andrew Zaloumis

Andrew Zaloumis is CEO of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority. Under his leadership, the 330,000-hectare iSimangaliso Wetland Park, which includes 9% of South Africa's coastline, was proclaimed and listed as South Africa's first UNESCO World Heritage site. His work has resulted in the economic turnaround of the park with meaningful empowerment and benefits to local communities and more sustainable conservation practices. He previously conceptualized and managed the development the Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative, a regional development corridor involving South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland. Andrew's roots are in human rights-based development. He has lived and worked for over 20 years in poverty stricken rural areas with high conservation value. He is keenly interested in indigenous knowledge systems related to the environment and wilderness. He holds degrees in economics and town and regional planning. He is a Fellow of the sixth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Ethel Zulu

Ethel Zulu is managing director of Hope Nutrition. She is also the founder and CEO of Nkanyiso, a nutrition and HIV/AIDS non-profit that deals with care and support for orphans and vulnerable children, and director for INMED Partnership for Children South Africa. She has over 10 years' community nutrition and development experience. She serves as a board member of Nkanyiso and Women with Purpose organisations. She holds a masters degree in nutrition and community development from the North West University (previously Potchefstroom University). She is currently pursuing her doctorate in nutrition at Vaal University of Technology. She has also received training in such countries as Britain, Japan, United States of America and Indonesia. She has extensive experience in working with school nutrition and garden programmes, community nutrition programmes, conducting evaluation research studies, wellness programmes, working with government and non-governmental organisations addressing food security, nutrition and HIV/AIDS issues. She also runs a life skills programme with the youth during the school holidays. She has provided her services in different provinces in South Africa, Gauteng, Limpopo, Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and North-west Province. She is a Fellow of the sixth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Buyani Zwane

Buyani Paul Ndukuzempi Zwane is CEO of Breakthrough Development, a leadership development company. He is a motivational speaker, student, network builder, and leadership development facilitator and has been involved with human resources management at Shell SA (Pty) Ltd; Old Mutual Individual Life (marketing division); Eskom's flagship power station, Kendal; the Sasol Limited Group; and Uthingo Management. He served as executive chairperson at FranklinCovey Southern Africa for four years and continues as director of Dynamic Leadership Solutions and Magnificent Mile. Buyani is a part-time lecturer at the University of Pretoria's Gordon Institute of Business Science. Buyani won the Black Management Forum Manager of the year award in recognition of his human development efforts in Mpumalanga in 1996. He is the former President of the Black Management Forum in Mpumalanga and a member of the National Board of BMF. He received his graduate education in industrial psychology, public administration, and human resources management at the University of Cape Town and has completed the management advancement program at Wits Business School, as well as the Sasol Senior Management Program at GIBS. Born in Northern KwaZulu Natal, educated in and outside of South Africa, Buyani maintains his connections with his roots and ploughs back to the communities that have helped shape him. He is a Fellow of the sixth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.