The annual W-Suite Summit celebrated and honoured the legacy of the empowered woman at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in Sandton. In celebration of Women’s Month, the W-Suite Summit, in partnership with Imperial Logistics, the JSE, and Brand South Africa hosted a series of impactful and important discussions around the theme of “The Era of the Empowered Women”. The W-Suite Summit hosted 180 influential attendees.
One of the topics that the W-Suite Summit addressed this year under the theme of “The Era of the Empowered Women” was “Reviving your career – Actionable Steps to Achieve a Professional Renaissance”, which delved into how to balance life as a high-achieving woman. Cleola Kunene, Head of CX and SME development believes firmly “that we need to understand what balance means to each of us as well as consistently practicing the things that matter”.
The next topic “The Power of No – The Importance of Setting Boundaries and Realistic Goals and Defining your impact as a leader” was clearly defined by Sithembile Ntombela, Acting Chief Executive Officer at Brand South Africa as “setting boundaries that allow us to see a clearer vision of what we want for our futures, not just for tomorrow”.
The third and final panel discussed “Transforming Men into Allies in the Workplace” and hosted Bulelani Balabala, Founder of the Township Entrepreneur Alliance as well as Clinical Psychologist and Businessman, Sikander Kalla, on the panel. Esha Mansingh, Executive Vice President: Corporate Affairs and investor Relations, who also participated on this panel believes “that we all have our part to play in creating real and tangible opportunities to move women forward in engaging in difficult and insightful dialogues as both men and women “.
The newly crowned Miss South Africa, Ndavi Nokeri was in attendance and participated in the dialogue, In Conversation with Miss SA. According to the Chief Executive Officer at the Miss South Africa Organisation, Stephanie Weil, “Women deserve platforms to bring important messages about women empowerment”, a powerful statement about why platforms such as W-Suite need to exist. The W-Suite Summit has been a reminder to honor the era of the empowered women and the legacy that the high achieving woman will be leaving behind. We are currently in the era of empowered women, and these are the very women who assume leadership positions. These are the women whose attitudes, experiences and principles shape the future.