Vusi Thembekwayo
Venture capitalist, best-selling author, renowned entrepreneur and global business speaker
MyGrowthFund
Vusi Thembekwayo is a venture capitalist, best selling author, renowned entrepreneur, and global speaker who was named one of the top 12 speakers in the world by MeetingsNet for his inspirational and transformational impact on businesses. Vusi Thembekwayo has worked in 37 countries across six continents, helping leaders make necessary but painful shifts in their businesses. He is a regular contributor to CNBC and Forbes and has appeared on BBC, CNN and Bloomberg.
Vusi Thembekwayo understands the strategic nature of his work and catalyzes business growth, stimulates necessary sea-changes, and inspires motivation essential for leaders to take bold action. Vusi Thembekwayo has been a professional business speaker for the past 16 years and has worked across 6 of the 7 continents. Some of his accolades over the years include but are not limited to a GQ award in 2020 for Business Leader of the Year, building an extensive free educational platform for entrepreneurs which reached over 519 000 verified unique entrepreneurs across 23 countries on 5 continents using social media & online learning platforms and a recognition by the United Nations as on one of the 100 most influential Africans in 2018.
Lebo Lion
Entrepreneur, speaker, coach, and business influencer
BEOPLE MEDIA
Lebo Lion is an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, coach, & business influencer with her roots firmly placed in tech & SMEs. Her mission is to make it cool to think different in a world that’s influenced by algorithms & digital distractions.
She is the founder of BEOPLE MEDIA a marketing & PR agency as well as BrandCulture an online learning platform for entrepreneurs, creators, and professionals that’s transformed over 1000 SMEs. She is also the host & creator of a chart-topping marketing & Mindset podcast named The Lebo Lion Show. She’s the girl who’s disrupting the marketing game & democratising access to information through her viral marketing & business threads.
Anita Opperman
Specialist Director for Commercial Sales
Mastercard, South Africa
Anita Opperman is a Director, Commercial Sales Specialist at Mastercard and is responsible for market development and driving new business across various financial institutions, fintech’s and travel management companies. Over the past 5 years she has assisted banks in driving pipeline conversion and sharing best practice within the card and payments industry with a strong focus on SME’s, Travel and Entertainment and Business to Business Payments.
Previously employed at Nedbank Card, Anita was the National Sales and Travel Manager - Corporate Card Issuing and has extensive experience in Sales, Service and Channel management within Issuing and Acquiring.
Anita qualified as a Financial Advisor with Liberty Life and has obtained FAIS Accreditation. She has also completed Junior and Senior Management courses with Gordon Institute of Business Science and a Diploma in Marketing Management. Anita’s sales success has been achieved by excellent client and banker relationships as well as strong card product solutions knowledge. Her key competencies include strong communication and relationship management and leadership skills.
Colleen Harrison
Head of Marketing
PayFast
With a career in digital marketing spanning across 15 years and a passion for tech, Colleen has found her calling at the South African online payments company PayFast, where she heads up the marketing team. Always up for a new adventure, Colleen has lived in 4 countries across 3 continents, working in sectors ranging from retail to government. Now settled in Cape Town with her husband and two children, she is excited about the future of ecommerce in South Africa and the role that fintech plays in enabling financial inclusion, economic growth and innovation across the continent.
Celeste le Roux
Co-owner
madebyartisans
Celeste le Roux is the co-owner of madebyartisans, an online marketplace that sells a wide range of South African products and supports the local artisans who make them.
Prior to this, Celeste worked in the tourism industry for over 20 years, where she had specialised in selling to and arranging luxury African safaris to the international market. At the onset of the pandemic when travel was impacted, Celeste founded madebyartisans together with her partner Mark Knijnenburg to earn an alternate income, while also helping other South Africans who found themselves in the same predicament to sell their wares through an online platform.
After running the business from home for the last 18 months, Mark and Celeste have now expanded the business to include a storage unit for stock and moved to an office location in central Paarl. They are also currently recruiting their first staff member.
Celeste currently lives in the Cape Winelands with Mark, her 10 year-old daughter and several pets.