Several Tutu Fellows were involved in the CNBC Africa Celebrates Leading Women in Business series. The series interviewed leading women in business as part of International Women's Month, looking at how Africa’s leading women are redefining business and entrepreneurship across the continent, and more specifically in South Africa. The Fellows involved in the series included Stacey Brewer, Lynette Ntuli, Mandisa Maholwane, and Dr Theo Mothoa-Frendo. Subject matter discussed during the month-long series was wide-ranging.
Stacey Brewer, a 2017 Fellow, spoke with CNBC's Nozipho Mbanjwa about the growth that Spark Schools is experiencing as it delivers quality, affordable, private education in South Africa. They discussed the education group's growth trajectory and the role that leadership plays in transforming entrepreneurial projects. Mbanjwa is herself a Tutu Fellow, but in the class of 2018. Brewer is co-Founder of Spark Schools.
Lynnette Ntuli, another 2018 Fellow and the founding director and CEO of Innate Investment Solutions was interviewed about the way in which her company is redifining property space in South Africa. She articulated how she sees changes that have come to property management. She said that the longer-term and intentional nature that property investment requires has shaped her personal outlook. Patience is essential, she said.
In the interview with 2010 Fellow Dr Mandisa Maholwana, Mandisa spoke about her decision to change from being a general practitioner to working in the healthcare sector more generally and into the pharmaceutical industry more specifically. She said her decision was driven by what made her choose to be a doctor in the first instance - to help people - but that being a doctor wasn't a good fit for how she felt she could help. In industry she was able to have a larger role in training black healthcare professionals.
Another doctor who also made the switch from practicing medicine to using her medical expertise in industry is 2009 Fellow Dr Theo Mothoa-Frendo. She started as a medical doctor before switching to the pharmaceutical industry as well. While working in industry in product development, she realised that her experience could serve her well in launching a product line dominated by multinationals but not addressing melanin-rich skin - which led to the developement of Uso. The photo below is from an interview she did on the subject on CNBC Africa in August.
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