Spotlighting this week’s In Good Company conference

This week, on Thursday 16 and Friday 17 September, Nation Builder will host its virtual 7th Annual In Good Company conference. Once again, this growing community of like-minded investors and innovators will gather to look at ways that businesses can effectively address the socio-economic challenges facing our nation. Don’t miss out on this event. ‘Light in the Tunnel’ speaks to hope and opportunity, as we look to forge an even stronger, more collaborative social fabric that can embrace new ways of thinking. Hosted by Dr Michael Mol and Lesego Serolong Holzapfel. To book your ticket, head over to Quicket and book here. There is a discounted NPO ticket available via this booking platform.

Elevating our thinking through a systems approach, Samuel Njenga

What if our greatest challenge is not necessarily the external realities we face but the way we think about them? This is what Samuel Njenga, Director of Strategy and Training at Systems Thinking Africa,  will be asking this week during Nation Builder’s 7th In Good Company conference. Njenga will present the benefits of systems thinking as an approach to looking at the situations we face in different and possibly better ways. Within the development space, how can the business community move away from being top-down benefactors to becoming true development partners with the communities they serve? The answers to these questions could help us all to think differently and see more opportunities for positioning sustainable business practices in society. 

Finding the light in chaos and uncertainty, Bruce Whitfield

Bruce Whitfield is a multi-platform award-winning financial journalist and the acclaimed host of 702 Talk Radio and 567 Cape Talk’s The Money Show. He is also the author of a new book, The Upside of Down: How Chaos and Uncertainty Breed Opportunity in South Africa. ‘In a world of fake news, deep-fakes, manipulated feeds of information and divisive social-media agendas,’ he writes ‘it’s easy to believe that our time is the most challenging in human history. It’s just not true. It is a time of extraordinary opportunity. But only if you have the right mindset.’ 

Through one remarkable story after the next, Whitfield shares the ways in which crisis and adversity have bred outstanding courage and resilience in the hearts of South Africans. A VUCA world, he argues, is not the obstacle – fear of stepping into it, is. Those who are nimble, smart and acute problem solvers will find their way around the obstacles to unlock the opportunities. Join us this week, as Bruce Whitfield paints a picture of the South Africa we dare to become. 

Meet our co-host, Lesego Serolong Holzapfel

Lesego Serolong Holzapfel is CEO and founder of Bokamoso Impact Investments, a social enterprise company that connects rural South Africa through agriculture and ethical food production. She is also the co-founder of Raise the Children International, an organisation that connects vulnerable orphans from rural communities with quality education, community and mentoring. 

Lesego has always been passionate about using her business to close the gap on poverty and bring opportunities closer to the local soil. That’s why their manufacturing factory moved last year from Gauteng to Taung village in the Northwest province. Employees now can walk to work, rather than travel long distances. They have also started a honey making business in the village, offering residents an ethical income that can supplement . ‘Being an orphan myself, I have always had a deep desire to give back to the community that raised me,’ says Lesego. To learn more how our co-host is addressing poverty and bringing change through social entrepreneurship, be sure to attend this week’s IGC conference.