Tag: Women in leadership

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Prof. Marianne Vanderschuren, the Deputy Dean Transformation and Social Responsiveness in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Cape Town. The civil engineering discipline tends to be associated with large scale infrastructure, like high-rise buildings, bridges, water management, and transportation systems, such as roads, railways, canals, harbours and airports. Prof. Vanderschuren has a particular interest in transportation. One of her research areas addresses gender safety in public spaces, which acknowledges that women in Africa face sexual harassment and violence during their commutes. This research considers how females can travel more safely through social and infrastructure interventions. Social interventions include travelling with people they know (passengers and drivers), and having access to security applications either on their phone or physical buttons to raise an alarm. Infrastructure-wise CCTV cameras, proper lighting and reducing deserted areas aid the safety of female commuters. Prof. Vanderschuren shares some of her motivations to pursue a career in civil engineering with an emphasis on transport, noting that the field is gradually transforming from a male biased one to accepting women. She is a member of several professional organisations and highlights the value of these networks for the growth of individuals and development of the collective. Prof. Vanderschuren encourages women to believe in themselves and pursue their passion, reminding people that is ok to be the outlier as long as you stay true to yourself. Tune in for more…

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June 8, 2023

Prof. Marianne Vanderschuren, Deputy Dean Transformation and Social Responsiveness in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Cape Town

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Prof. Marianne Vanderschuren, the Deputy Dean Transformation and Social Responsiveness in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of ...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to is Dr Elsa Thirion-Venter, who is the director and co-owner of MarkData, an independent marketing and strategic insights, consulting, and development company.  She is a registered Research Psychologist at the Health Professions Council. She is also a Southern African Marketing Research Association (SAMRA) Accredited Researcher (SAR). Through research Dr Thirion-Venter surfaces human insights, brings unheard voices to the forefront and makes a difference in people’s lives. She shares some of the challenges she has experienced as a female business owner and how she utilises servant leadership to steer her organisation and serve her team. We reflect on some of the mechanisms to increase the penetration of women into leadership positions, one being the need to simultaneously transform society’s stereotypes of women and for women to change limiting beliefs about themselves. Part of self-development is achieved through education, not just the acquisition of academic knowledge but for personal growth and attaining soft skills to equip one with coping tools for life. Tune in for more…

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May 10, 2023

Dr Elsa Thirion-Venter – Research Director – MarkData

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Dr Elsa Thirion-Venter, who is the director and co-owner of MarkData, an independent marketing and strategic insights, consulting, and development ...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Prof. Ghada El-Kamah who is a Professor of Clinical Genetics, coordinator of The Hereditary Blood Disorders (HBD) and Genodermatoses clinics and research team, Human Genetics and Genome Research Institute (HGGRI) at the National Research Centre (NRC), which is mainly involved in the study of medical genetics with a focus on inherited rare disorders, dysmorphology, community genetics, science management and genetic education. She shares some of her motivations to pursue a career in the field of human genetics, noting the role the discipline plays in treating vulnerable groups of people. The field of genetics is broadening and today every aspect of medicine includes genetics. Prof. El-Kamah is a member of several professional organisations and highlights the value of these networks for the growth of individuals and development of the collective, ultimately in pursuit of helping patients. Prof. El-Kamah encourages women to follow their dreams and develop their own style of leadership to become unique individuals.

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April 26, 2023

Prof. Ghada El-Kamah – Clinical Genetics – National Research Centre – Egypt

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Prof. Ghada El-Kamah who is a Professor of Clinical Genetics, coordinator of The Hereditary Blood Disorders (HBD) and Genodermatoses clinics and re...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Prof Rokhaya Ndiaye Diallo, who is a professor in Human Genetics and holds the chair of Human Genetics at the Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Odontology at the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal. She is a founding member and general secretary of the Senegalese Society for Human Genetics (S2GH), a member of the executive committee of the African Society of Human Genetics (AfSHG) and the H3Africa consortium, and she is leading the Senegalese Reference genome project SEN-GENOME. We discuss tertiary education as an enabler and equalizer. Education at public universities in Senegal is free for Senegalese citizens. This policy produces an informed society of educated young people that can problem solve for the economic development of the country and creates equal opportunity where people are not precluded from advancing themselves because of affordability. Prof Ndiaye emphasises the importance of healthcare in Africa and the lack of human and infrastructure resources to make good healthcare sustainable. She notes that human genetics is the future of health for the continent. She runs several genetics related projects, including breast cancer genetics and the SEN-GENOME project, which aims to create a reference genome for Senegal, with the goal of establishing personalized medicine to individuals. To help close gender gaps Prof Ndiaye suggests that women are given appropriate support to balance the practicalities of motherhood and career progression, have access to mentors to help their development, be eligible for funding to finance their research and have a planned career trajectory to advance their professional goals. Tune in for more.

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April 19, 2023

Prof Rokhaya Diallo – Chair of Human Genetics at the Cheikh Anta Diop University – Senegal

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Prof Rokhaya Ndiaye Diallo, who is a professor in Human Genetics and holds the chair of Human Genetics at the Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Odo...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Prof Jantina de Vries, who is the director of The Ethics Lab at the Neuroscience Institute and an Associate Professor in Bioethics in the Department of Medicine of the University of Cape Town. She is a member of: the Research Ethics Board of Médecins Sans Frontières, the Steering Committee of the Global Forum for Bioethics in Research and the Advisory Board for the Center for ELSI Resources and Analysis (CERA) at Stanford University. She was a member of the WHO Genome Editing Expert Advisory Committee as of the H3Africa Steering Committee. The vision of the Neuroscience Institute is a continental one for an Africa where people achieve their full potential through brain health. The mission of the Ethics Lab is to foster transformative ethics scholarship to disrupt and shape ethics in health research in innovation and to centre Africa as the context and driver of global health ethics. The Ethics Lab’s interdisciplinary scholars ask broad questions about new and emerging health technologies from the view of our African context. They engage with a variety of technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), genomics and robotics and think about the ethics of these technologies, and what it means to be human. For example, taking the perspective that humans are incomplete and are a constant work in progress, then the incompleteness framing could allow us to think about technologies as extensions of self, that we utilise to become more complete, or better people. Prof de Vries discusses the mindsets of abundance and scarcity and how a culture of conviviality can lead to changing ways of work and the as well as the work environment with a positive impact on people. We discuss some of the constraints that women experience, which may be internal limitations that are self-imposed, as well external influences that may tell women that they are not good enough. Give yourself the freedom to pursue your dreams or find what really stimulates you; that is your responsibility, you must pursue that which nurtures and sustains you. Tune in for more….

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April 12, 2023

Prof Jantina de Vries – Director Ethics Lab – University of Cape Town

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Prof Jantina de Vries, who is the director of The Ethics Lab at the Neuroscience Institute and an Associate Professor in Bioethics in the Departmen...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to a woman of several firsts Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Currently, she serves as Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) (first woman and first African to do so); previously, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala twice served as Nigeria's Finance Minister (2003-2006 and 2011-2015) and briefly acted as Foreign Minister in 2006, the first woman to hold both positions. She is a global finance expert, economist and international development professional with over 30 years of experience working in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America. She sits on numerous boards, has published several books and won multiple awards. We discuss some of the key milestones in her life’s journey. Her early years were grounded in rural village life and during her teens the Nigerian civil war caused her family to lose everything and start afresh. She studied economics with the intent to become a developmental economist to help poor people in developing countries and earned a Ph.D. in Regional Economics and Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, 1981). During her tenure as Nigeria’s Finance Minister she succeeded to implement reforms that tripled the growth of the economy, fought corruption and cleared thirty billion dollars of external debt. All her roles have enabled her to fulfil her dream of being able to have a material impact on peoples’ lives in an effort to change them for the better. Women in leadership have the added responsibility of trying to use the position that they are in to introduce other women into their organisation, to mentor women and open opportunities.  Ask the question, how you are setting the example in the organisation you lead? Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, together with Julia Gillard, the former Prime Minister of Australia wrote the book, “Women and Leadership - Real Lives, Real Lessons” and analysed the lived experiences of female leaders, to derive 10 key lessons for women aspiring to a leadership position.

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April 5, 2023

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala the Director-General of the World Trade Organization

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to a woman of several firsts Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Currently, she serves as Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) (first woman and...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Prof. Suki Goodman, the Dean of the Faculty of Commerce at the University of Cape Town, who also leads the Future of Work research programme under the South African Research Chair: Creation of Decent Work and Sustainable Livelihood. For the past three decades Prof. Goodman has progressively risen through the academic ranks at the University of Cape Town becoming Dean of the Faculty of Commerce in 2022. As a registered organisational psychologist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), holding PhD, master’s and honours degrees in organisational psychology she strives to create a working environment that is life affirming and structured to maximise human potential. It is vital for institutions of higher learning to work with industry and government partners to develop qualifications that produce graduates that are fit for the world of work.    We discuss the role of universities as incubators of disrupters to nurture future innovators that will impact the world. Public institutions carry a massive responsibility to contribute to developing active conscientized analytical skilled citizens for the economy and society. We need to develop thought leaders, problem solvers, truth seekers, knowledge producers, as well as artists, dreamers and philosophers.   As a woman in leadership with a family, Prof. Goodman demonstrates how she consciously navigates between being a present parent and fulfilling her professional mandate, shifting constantly between these roles to ensure they receive the attention they deserve. She imparts some important words of wisdom, namely that building one’s self-belief is a fundamental lever to success; listening to what you want for you as opposed to what other people want for you, and taking the driver seat to control your narrative to the best of your ability; and surrounding yourself with people who are worthy of you.

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March 29, 2023

Prof. Suki Goodman – Dean Faculty of Commerce at the University of Cape Town

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Prof. Suki Goodman, the Dean of the Faculty of Commerce at the University of Cape Town, who also leads the Future of Work research programme under ...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Professor Michèle Ramsay, who is a Professor in Human Genetics, holds the SARCHI Chair for Genomics and Bioinformatics of African Populations at the University of the Witwatersrand and is a director of The Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience. The Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience (SBIMB) is a multi-disciplinary research institute dedicated to investigating genetic variation amongst African populations and the impact of genetic variation on health and disease. Research undertaken by SBIMB has an impact on African Science through its focus on African populations living in Africa addressing human genetics, interactions with the environment and implications for health and disease. Prof. Ramsay discusses some of the research projects that she is involved with, such as H3 Africa, which is one of the bigger symposiums considering the 3Hs of human, hereditary and health; which encompasses 40 different projects covers 35 African countries aimed at understanding genetic variation and the impact it has on health. This is a pioneering field that women are very much a part of and Prof. Ramsay is mindful of female inclusion and for women to strike their own personal balance between family and work. She emphasises that SBIMB operates in teams where members support one another, acknowledging that different types of support will be required during various phases of people’s careers. In terms of leadership, Prof Ramsay encourages women to take up leadership roles and understand the power that comes with positions of leadership from access to resources and determining where they are allocated to being able to influence institutional culture in a top down approach to drive transformation and create opportunities for women. Prof. Ramsay has served as the immediate past-president of the African Society of Human Genetics and the International Federation of Human Genetics Societies, as well as co-chair of the International Hundred Thousand+ Cohorts Consortium (IHCC) and several other structures. In closing Prof. Ramsay encourages women to follow their dreams, be true to themselves, nurture body and mind and as each person fulfils their path they should enrich the lives of others.

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March 15, 2023

Professor Michèle Ramsay – Director of The Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Professor Michèle Ramsay, who is a Professor in Human Genetics, holds the SARCHI Chair for Genomics and Bioinformatics of African Populations at t...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Professor Resia Pretorius, Department Head and Distinguished Research Professor in the Physiological Sciences Department, Faculty of Science, at Stellenbosch University. She is also an Honorary Professor at the University of Liverpool. Additionally, she is Managing Director of BioCODE Technologies. Prof. Pretorius highlights the diverse research areas in her department that focus on a variety of illnesses and methodologies to study various conditions and identify solutions for them. Prof. Pretorius’s research centres on blood and blood related diseases, and more recently on clotting pathology in patients with Covid and long-Covid. We discuss the commercialisation of research and innovations at universities, acknowledging access to resources from a variety of institutional disciplines to support development, whether it be legal advice for patents or business skills to operate companies. For example, BioCODE Technologies, a spin of company of the University of Stellenbosch develops point-of-care smart sensing solutions that detect novel circulating inflammatory molecules in the blood. BioCODE also provides a place for students to have their first experience in industry and prepare them for the external job market. Women are making an impact in STEM, notably in physiological sciences. Although they may be equipped with the skills and capabilities they need access to opportunities to realise their full potential. To help women on their career paths Prof. Pretorius advises seeking out a mentor that is in or near your field of interest for support, direction and networking; she also recommends learning how to market yourself and speak the language of your prospective employer; going for interview training to present and sell yourself and create demand for your skills and services with a potential employer. In closing Prof. Pretorius reflects on the value of keeping an open mind, “to join the dots” in new ways and derive new outcomes. She also embodies that sentiment that if you find your passion and make it your vocation you will never “work” a day in your life, because you enjoy what you are doing. Tune in for more…

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March 8, 2023

Prof. Resia Pretorius – Head Physiological Sciences – Stellenbosch University

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Professor Resia Pretorius, Department Head and Distinguished Research Professor in the Physiological Sciences Department, Faculty of Science, at St...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to the CEO of Microsoft South Africa Lillian Barnard. Microsoft has a market capitalisation in the region of USD 1.78 trn, ranking second in the world. It owns multiple subsidiaries, including LinkedIn, Skype and Xbox, and approximately 1.4bn people across the globe use one or more Microsoft products or service. Ms Barnard shares some of her career milestones. She also notes a few of the challenges she experienced working in a male dominated ICT industry, and shares how women can overcome these issues. Her tips include: being confident and finding your voice to make your point; being aware that you are an intellectual equal to your male peers; and seeking help and mentorship to navigate your career path. For example, the South African chapter of Women@Microsoft is a mentorship instrument that spurs a culture which encourages gender equality in the workplace We note the importance of IT throughout society with an emphasis on digital transformation and the need for women to pursue careers in IT and take advantage of economic opportunities. It starts with demystifying what it means to have an IT career and exposing young women to technology, letting them touch it, see it and play with it. Ms Barnard closes with a few words of wisdom: 1. Believe in yourself and your abilities. Don't let self-doubt hold you back from pursuing your dreams. 2.  Seek out mentors and allies who can support you in your journey. Don't be afraid to ask for help or guidance. 3.  Embrace challenges and setbacks as opportunities for growth and learning. Remember that failure is not the end, but a stepping stone on the path to success. 4.  Celebrate your successes and the successes of other women around you. Lift each other up and help create a world where all women can thrive. 5.   Finally, never forget the power of your own voice and the impact you can make in the world. You have the ability to shape your own destiny and to make a difference in the lives of those around you. So go out there and make your mark!

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March 1, 2023

CEO Microsoft South Africa – Lillian Barnard – Women in IT

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to the CEO of Microsoft South Africa Lillian Barnard. Microsoft has a market capitalisation in the region of USD 1.78 trn, ranking second in the world...

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