#TEDxCT speaker profile: Sisa Ntshona & Mike Wood

Give us some background about yourself and your career/initiative?

Ntshona & Wood: We have a strong focus on exposing businesses to the increased opportunities and economic growth that result from transformation:

Wood: I have walked a diverse career path, which includes aviation shark conservation, TV production and advertising. I’ve owned my own businesses and held various corporate positions. I now run a business called The Growth Collective, which is a Black Empowered investment holding company.

Ntshona: I'm the CEO of South African Tourism, and president of the Enterprise Development Council of South Africa. I've held senior positions across various industries including banking, FMCG and Aviation. I also guest lecture on various MBA Entrepreneurship programmes.

Is this your first TEDx presentation and how are you feeling about it?

Ntshona & Wood: This is our first TEDx talk, but something we’ve wanted to do for some time. We have a compelling message which we are honoured to present on this platform. Are we nervous? Yes. Excited? Hell yes!

What is your interpretation of the theme Here/Hear to Listen?

Ntshona & Wood: The focus for us is more on 'Hear to Listen'. There is so little true understanding of each other in this country, which is a primary driver of conflict. With so much diversity in South Africa, we need to really challenge ourselves to listen first, before we can open up to change. This is easier said than done – true listening is a rare skill.

How will your presentation relate to the theme?

Ntshona & Wood: This theme couldn’t relate better to our talk. Without giving away the gist of our message (you’ll have to watch the talk), we encourage listening first, then seeking to understand. Often the complexities we assign to the problems in our country are disproportionate. If we take it back to basics we can overcome so much more than we think.

What are you looking forward to the most about TEDx CapeTown this year?

Ntshona & Wood: The calibre of speakers this year is world class! We're particularly looking forward to Chris Venter’s talk (the Blind Scooter Guy), and there’s a very entertaining and thought-provoking talk by Tate Mhunduru about maths… yes, maths.

TEDxCapeTown 2016: Tech-enabled to go green and enhance audience experience

For the first time since 2011, TEDxCapeTown is committed to a more tech-enabled team and delivery of the event. Audience members can expect to experience a web-enabled application, implemented by Accenture South Africa, allowing them to view the programme of the day, listed speakers and their bios and directly engage via the TEDxCapeTown social channels in-app.

For the second consecutive year, Accenture South Africa has decided to partner with the largest TEDx event on the African continent, to demonstrate and share contributions to innovation. Accenture strongly identifies with the ethos of TEDx which exists to discuss ideas worth spreading.

“Accenture and TEDx believe passionately in the power of innovation to change attitudes, perceptions and behaviours. In South Africa, Accenture remains committed to playing a strategic role in supporting our clients and helping to drive sustainable economic growth,” says Suren Govender, managing director of Accenture Analytics, part of Accenture Digital. “Our focus at TEDx this year really is to listen to the ideas local TEDx folks have and assist by translating these ideas – from strategy to outcome – into meaningful and actionable results that could contribute to job creation and growing the economy.”