Like the previous editions, the IDEAL Leadership Summit takes place in the morning, followed by the glittering evening event of the awards recognition to recognize young trailblazers in entrepreneurship and leadership.
This year, the privately hosted glamorous annual event which honours the role played by female leaders and entrepreneurs will attract the country’s inspiring women, with various women-inspired panel discussions and engagements. The stage will be set to celebrate the future of South Africa’s women movers, shakers and innovators across six award categories. The awards will celebrate the IDEAL Authentic Leader, IDEAL Innovative Entrepreneur, IDEAL Propeller Entrepreneur, IDEAL Lift Up in Business Leader, IDEAL Emerging Leader, and the newly announced IDEAL Positive Impact Leader award category.
The morning summit will spark forward-thinking conversations on gender equity, leadership development, and economic growth, featuring panels on topics like #1000 Women Leadership Programme. This conversation unpacks the IWFSA FASSET Womens Leadership Programme (IFWLP) delivered by education partner Duke Corporate Education (DukeCE). This leadership program aims to have one thousand graduates by September 2025, contributing their skills, knowledge, and expertise to the private and public sectors, catalyzing positive change and driving economic growth. This panel discussion will tackle the pivotal role of leadership development while equipping women with the necessary skills to take up executive and c-suite level leadership roles in companies and in boards in the financial services sector.
The second panel will focus on Just Energy Transition (JET), where conversations will centre on the significant contributions of women in driving the Just Energy Transition (JET), in a bid to help facilitate discussions and help to transition societies towards sustainable and equitable energy systems. Panel three is titled “Fire Side Chat: Women in Leadership” with panel 4 titled: “Inclusion – Digital technologies: Empowering the Future and tackles the Future of Youth Employment: Leveraging Al and Digitization for Accessible Workplace Opportunities.”
Young people will not be left behind as Panel 5 will be dedicated to a discussion titled “Youth in Leadership, aimed at advocating for the inclusion of voices of young people at the level of governance and decision-making. This is because YLC IDEAL strongly believes in sustainability, as young people of today are the leaders of tomorrow.
Issues of compliance, policy, legislation and processes will also feature prominently under the topic: – Governance re-imagined, where experts in various fields will spearhead some of these crucial discussions. And finally, the last panel for the titled the Township Economy in creating sustainable entrepreneurs: A new Frontier Microfinance.
Standard Bank and the International Women’s Forum of South Africa (IWFSA) have returned as the event’s esteemed sponsors and partners for the IDEAL Leadership Summit and Awards 2024. The event will be held at the exclusive Standard Bank-Global Leadership Centre in Morningside on the 30th of August 2024.Among those earmarked to lead the way is International Women’s Forum of South Africa (IWFSA) President, Ms Nolitha Fakude who is also the Chairperson of Anglo American’s Management Board in South Africa and sits on the Anglo-American Platinum Board as a Non-Executive Director. Thabelo Raphala, Managing Director of MyDough is one of the young women of the future who is ready to share her inspirational journey as one of the country’s leading women entrepreneurs.
In what will be the true test of entrepreneurial fortitude, this year, YLC-IDEAL will be preceded by the YCL-IDEAL Pitching competition which will take place on July 26 at a private gathering in Johannesburg. This competition will see at least 12 entrepreneurs who will be pitching their business ideas to an esteemed judging panel made up of distinguished panelists including Feziwe Mpaku, Karabo Motaung, Thabelo Raphala and Sibusiso Nkosi, among others.
Ms Zandile Mathabo Makhaya says as the YLC co-chairperson, she is delighted about this year’s award ceremony which will unveil a new category and new female leaders. “We are delighted to be announcing the return of the YLC-IDEAL Leadership Summit and Awards with all our sponsors and partners. We are also excited about this year’s YLC-IDEAL Entrepreneurship Pitching Competition Awards Dinner where entrepreneurs stand a chance of walking away R180 000 richer through a number of cash prizes up for grabs with the number one winner winning R100 000 to use towards their business.” “Furthermore, “We have gone all out to ensure that this year’s edition improves on the previous edition as we have added a new award category: IDEAL Positive Impact Leader award category as testament to our continuous improvement and fine-tuning our contribution to women leadership,” says YLC o-chairperson and former IDEAL Authentic Leader Award for 2022 winner, Ms Zandile Mathabo Makhaya. Attendees will have the opportunity to gain valuable insights, forge meaningful connections, and collectively explore effective strategies to break down barriers and foster an inclusive society.
Ms Lerato Phelane YLC co-chairperson says this year’s theme reflects YLC and IWFSA’ s vision of inspiring young leaders of the future. “As suggested by our theme for this year:” Empowering the Future”, we are truly inspired by the next generation of women leaders and entrepreneurs, and it goes without saying that the future of this country is in great hands judging by the number of inspirational women who have come through the ranks of this programme. “Through a diverse range of engaging panels, thought-provoking discussions, and interactive workshops, the summit will bring together renowned speakers, experts, and influential figures from various fields,” she quips.
Standard Bank as the main sponsor of the IDEAL Leadership Summit and Awards 2024 continues to play a meaningful role in empowering the women, who as the theme suggests are the future of the country’s leadership landscape. “Standard Bank values the sponsorship of the YLC Ideal Leadership Summit and Awards, in honouring those who foster an equitable and inclusive environment for young women leaders. Recognizing that South Africa still has some road to travel to address gender parity challenges on various fronts, we are committed to becoming a part of the solution through our actions and creating a platform for meaningful engagements.” Said Funeka Montjane, Chief Executive Officer, Personal and Private Banking at Standard Bank Group.
