WHERE DID YOU GROW UP?
Johannesburg

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB?
I applied for ‘Vac Work’ at PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”) during the holidays while I was still in Standard 9 and matric.

WHAT WAS YOUR CAREER JOURNEY TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW?
I qualified as a chartered accountant and subsequently worked at PwC for 20 years. During that time, I worked through the ranks until I became a partner in 2010. I left PwC in 2019 to pursue opportunities in the Non- Executive Director space.

WHAT CAREER MILESTONES ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF HAVING ACHIEVED?
Firstly, achieving my dream of becoming a chartered accountant. I was also very proud of leading and working with a very capable and highly-respected team at PwC.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES YOU FACE IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE?
COVID-19 and the subsequent macroeconomic, socio-political and, more recently, geopolitical developments seem to have turned the world on its head. Staying abreast of these is imperative and making sure the businesses I am involved with are thinking critically and nimbly about the consequential challenges and opportunities.

WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT THE FUTURE IN YOUR INDUSTRY?
I am privileged to work with businesses in various industries. The pace of change, coupled with technological innovation and advancements focusing on the betterment of society and the environment, means that these businesses have the opportunity to make significant impacts in this space. Being a part of businesses driving this change is challenging, exciting and very rewarding.

WHAT IS THE BEST PIECE OF CAREER ADVICE YOU HAVE RECEIVED?
Lead by example and always focus on doing the right thing and having the right intent.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR INTERESTS OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE?
I love playing golf and doing yoga. I am also an avid reader. More recently, I started playing bridge, which I am thoroughly enjoying.

WHAT WOULD PEOPLE BE SURPRISED TO KNOW ABOUT YOU?
I love reading fantasy adventure novels – from Harry Potter to Lord of the Rings and everything in between. I also have a 16-year-old African Grey Parrot who keeps me highly entertained with his colourful vocabulary and comments!

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP?
I was born in Port Elizabeth and moved to Johannesburg when I was four. We lived in Westbury, which is a marginalised suburb in Johannesburg affected by unemployment, crime, substance abuse and gangsterism. Despite these challenges, my parents raised us with love and faith and instilled values of honesty and hard work.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB?
I spent three years at KPMG completing my articles as part of qualifying as a chartered accountant. After a year and a half in the auditing department, I moved to corporate finance, where I dealt with valuations and due diligence. This gave me the foundation for my future career.

WHAT WAS YOUR CAREER JOURNEY TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW?
After KPMG I worked for Anglo American in its corporate finance division for two years and then moved to a private equity firm. I have also served on numerous boards in South Africa and internationally. Additionally, I was also head of Business Engagement for Africa at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland for three years. After spending my formative years in corporate, I pursued entrepreneurial ventures, published my first book, My Blood Divides and Unites, and recently launched an online course Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace – Race and Gender, aimed at helping organisations navigate diversity and inclusion in the workplace. I am currently the Co-Managing Partner of AIH Capital, a 100% black womenowned and managed private equity fund, to uplift and impact women through our investment choices.

In addition to qualifying as a chartered accountant, I completed my Master’s degree in Public Administration at Harvard, which gave me international exposure and broadened my skills beyond finance. It allowed me to benefit from leadership, politics and international development courses and form bonds with my diverse and dynamic classmates from around the world.

WHAT CAREER MILESTONES ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF HAVING ACHIEVED?
I grew up in apartheid South Africa as a woman of colour and, despite my academic and professional success, I still had lingering emotions to process and deal with. Writing and publishing a book about my experience allowed me to reframe my involvement and bring closure. My Blood Divides and Unites is about racial reconciliation, healing and inclusion and telling my story and those of friends and colleagues around the world. I then developed a course for the workplace on racial and gender diversity and inclusion, Dealing with the Heart of Race and Gender Inequality in the Workplace, which was launched this year on Udemy, the international online learning platform. The following is an extract from my book: ‘We are all authors, crafting the story of our lives. We continually write and rewrite, interpret and reinterpret what has happened to and around and because of us, reshaping the narrative in an attempt to make sense of it all’. I firmly believe that the world will be less divided and fractured if we can all explore and reconcile our own contradictions and conflicts.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES YOU FACE IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE?
Mainly, establishing a track record for the fund. To date, R400 million in committed capital has been raised, which is progressing towards our target fund size, and the managing partners have successfully worked together for 14 years building our parent investment company, AWCA Investment Holdings. Having said this, fundraising requires thoughtful engagement and follow-up with prospective Limited Partners.

WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT THE FUTURE IN YOUR INDUSTRY?
I am excited about being able to shape my own future and the future of others by addressing inequality and inclusion. In the early stages of my career, I was in a position of receiving and implementing and now, having gained more experience, I can create and build through my book, my course and AIH Capital, with a more significant opportunity for impact.

WHAT IS THE BEST PIECE OF CAREER ADVICE YOU HAVE RECEIVED?
Don’t let a setback derail your progress. If you fall, just get straight back up.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR INTERESTS OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE?
I love to travel and have visited 70 countries so far. My goal is to reach 100 countries in my lifetime. I am also learning to speak German. My greatgreat- grandfather is German and my twin sister learned German as a child. Now, when I watch Netflix, I watch in German with English subtitles.

WHAT WOULD PEOPLE BE SURPRISED TO KNOW ABOUT YOU?
I come from three consecutive generations of identical twin girls, a four in 100 000 000 phenomenon! My grandmother Lillian and her identical twin were born in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, in 1924. Lillian gave birth to identical twin girls (my mother and her sister) in 1945 and then my mother gave birth to my identical twin Julie-Ann and me. My sister qualified as a medical doctor and lives in Australia.