Bogolo speaking at the virtual Women in Leadership event

Fumani speaking at the virtual Women in Leadership event

In July, we were delighted to host two African alumnae leadership speakers at our virtual Women in Leadership event. Bogolo Kenewendo, an African Economist and former Minister in Botswana, and Fumani Mthembe, co-founder of the Pele Energy Group and the managing director of its subsidiary, Knowledge Pele, joined event Chair Dr Zahira Jaser from the University of Sussex Business School to discuss their personal experiences and share advice for those seeking leadership roles.

Opening the event, Dr Zahira discussed her recent research into contrasting leadership styles from the UK and New Zealand and her own experiences, including how her career in corporate banking is helping her to envision women in leadership roles. She explored the multiple roles that women inhabit both within the home and at work and shed light on prevalent stereotypes, which see women as nurturing and gentle and men as assertive and tough. Women, she has found, are at constant risk of being misunderstood as, for example, when they’re tough, they are treated much more harshly than a man would be. 

Alumna Bogolo Kenewendo (International Economics 2012) was the youngest minister in Botswana’s history when she was appointed Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry in 2018. During the event, she shared her views on inclusion and diversity in the workspace and emphasised the value that women bring to organisations, saying that more women were needed in senior positions to pave the way for others to follow them, though she admitted it’s not always easy to be one of those first women forging new pathways.

Paraphrasing a well-known proverb, she said: “Behind every great woman is a tribe of great women” and encouraged all women to help and support one another to make better changes for all.

Alumna Fumani Mthembe (IDS 2008) spoke about her experience as the Managing Director of Knowledge Pele and Co-founder of its parent organisation Pele Energy Group. Like Bogolo, she had much to say on the value created by women in the workplace and the concept of inclusion and she also highlighted where the state could play an important role.

Firstly, she addressed the different benefits women specifically bring to an organisation, how the presence of a more diverse workforce can create new values within a workspace, and how organisations can champion values that support women’s careers.

Secondly, Fumani cautioned that organisations can fall into the trap of creating targets and objectives that claim to champion inclusion but that actions need to follow the words: aiming for a culture of inclusion isn’t enough, we need truly diverse workplaces with marginalised people actively involved in their operations.

Fumani ended by discussing the role of the state in supporting women, driving diversity in the workforce and championing robust inclusion policies. She also linked back to Bogolo’s talk, comparing their experiences in Botswana and South Africa respectively.

Zahira neatly summarized the discussions, drawing parallels and differences before posing questions from our global audience. They covered multiple topics such as what each speaker does in their workspaces to support their female employees, how women can balance their dual roles of carer and nurturer at home and full-time employee, and whether or not the speakers consider themselves to be feminists.

Joining the event from across the world were alumni, staff, students and prospective students and we’d like to thank everyone for getting involved and especially our esteemed speakers and Chair who gave up their time to share their knowledge and experience with us all.

This event was organised by the Development and Alumni Relations Office (DARO) working with the International Recruitment Office, which organises the Road to Sussex events. You can learn more about our speakers by watching their TEDx talks on Youtube. Bogolo discusses how history erases women whilst Fumani's talk is entitled Wakanda in our lifetime.

The DARO team produces events throughout the year, so keep an eye on our events pages for what’s coming up in the future. If you are interested in speaking at one of our events, we encourage you to set-up a Sussex Connect profile and set your ‘willing to help’ preferences for volunteering as a speaker. You can also email alumni@sussex.ac.uk to register your interest in being involved in future events.