Hope Azeda
Hope Azeda is a playwright, director, and founder of Mashirika Performing Arts Media Company. She is a pioneer in using art as a tool for peacebuilding and a celebrated leader in the Rwandan and African arts sectors. She is the founder of the acclaimed Ubumuntu Arts Festival, which provides a platform for artists from around the world to present performances […]
Tulio de Oliveira
Dr Tulio de Oliveira, the director of the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP), played a leading role in the response to COVID-19 in South Africa through his visionary application of genomics and bioinformatics.
Dominique Botha
Dominique Botha is a writer with an award‑winning body of work published locally and internationally. She combines creative practice with active cultural leadership and arts advocacy. She is a regular contributor of essays, reviews and creative work to South African and international publications. She is a speaker and panellist at literary festivals and conferences; she conducts workshops in creative writing […]
Alan Storey
Alan is a storyteller and facilitator of personal and political change. After 33 years as a Methodist minister who lived off weekly words, he’s now exploring silence and solitude. He has recently written The Bell, Banners, and Blasphemy. Alan has an Honours degree in Theology and a Masters in the Philosophy of Applied Ethics. He is a recipient of Rotary’s […]
Dr. John E. Deasy
Dr. John E. Deasy, who led improvements that propelled student achievement and high school graduation rates to historic levels in the nation’s second-largest school district, is the President of the Bezos Family Foundation. Previously, he was a partner with Cambiar Education and a partner and co-founder of Rethinc. He has also served as the Executive Vice-President for Education for The […]
Neo Muyanga
Neo Muyanga is a composer, theatre-maker and musician whose practice straddles the spheres of performance and scholarship. His various works – including operas, multimedia installations, performance lectures and commercially released music albums – are informed by archival research and focus on investigating voice as a vector of suture and social innovation. Born in Soweto, Muyanga’s compositional influences include South African […]
Michael Jordaan
From leading one of South Africa’s most successful banks to investing in 25 promising startups, Michael Jordaan is a business leader who embraces innovation and entrepreneurship. He served as the CEO of First National Bank (FNB) for nine years, where he spearheaded the bank’s growth and transformation through technology and customer focus . He left FNB in 2013 to start […]
Wole Soyinka
Wole Soyinka, a Nigerian playwright, poet, and Nobel laureate, is a prominent figure in literature and activism. He made history as the first African to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. With an impressive body of work spanning drama, novels, essays, and poetry, Soyinka’s influence reaches global audiences. From founding theatre groups to teaching at prestigious universities, his contributions have left an indelible mark on the literary world.
Justice Malala
Justice Malala is an award-winning South African journalist, TV host, political commentator, newspaper columnist, and best-selling author. In 1997, Malala was awarded the Foreign Correspondents Association Award for Courageous Journalism and served as a judge for the Taco Kuiper Awards for Investigative Journalism for ten years. During 2007 and 2011, Malala was general manager of Avusa Media (currently Times Media […]
Rokia Traoré
Rokia Traoré is an award-winning Malian-born singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Her album, Bowmboï won the Critics Award category at the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music in 2004 and another titled Tchamantché won Victoires de la Musique World Music Album of the Year in 2009. In 2015, Traoré was appointed a UNHCR Regional Goodwill Ambassador for West and Central […]