Speaker: Dr Namane Magau

Dr Namane Magau earned her doctorate in education at Harvard university. She is President of the Businesswomen's Association of South Africa. She is currently Managing Director of her own consulting company, Business and Development Solutions. Dr. Magau's qualifications and experience include executive leadership, business development, education, human development and human resource management. Prior to launching her consulting business, she was a member of the executive team at the SABC as Director of group human capital services. She is a non-Executive Director of Santam Bank, Murray & Roberts, and Thebe Investments, and sits on the Council for Support of National Defence.

Namane Magau was the woman behind the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research's (CSIR) emergence as one of South Africa's most successful developers and retainers of talented staff. As CSIR’s Former Executive Vice President for Human Resources, she demonstrated a talent for using cultural diversity as an asset in reducing race, gender, and class inequities, and paving the way towards a more skilled and representative workforce in South Africa.

Having personally benefited from an educational exchange in the U.S. during the apartheid era, Magau is keenly aware of the importance of making educational opportunities available to members of traditionally underprivileged communities.

"In a global environment where information is an important asset for success," Magau begins, "we need to support initiatives that are directed at broadening access."

Since receiving her doctorate in education from Harvard University, Magau has advanced such initiatives at a number of organizations and through her service on countless boards including the South African Excellence Foundation and the Center for Education and Policy Development.