Shifting perceptions and creating shared value in Africa and beyond

Shift is the brainchild of Tiekie Barnard, a driven self-starter whose ethos is entrenched in social development and addressing the wrongs of the past. She has worked on public and private sector programmes with Kagiso in financial literacy, anti-xenophobia education, HIV education and voluntary testing and training for young entrepreneurs and SMMES in operational and financial business capacity building. Currently, she serves as a member of the Vega Advisory Council, a qualified NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) Life Coach, the founder and funder of the NPO Young Mbokodo and a member of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).

A group of young, dynamic like-minded women have followed Tiekie’s lead and teamed up to create Shift Social Development. With very different backgrounds, and skills in social and community development, marketing and advertising, digital, design and events, their broad range of knowledge equips them with the right tools to ensure that Shift’s objectives can be achieved. They have a majority black female shareholding which makes them a Level 1 BBBEE supplier; this is key when considering the work that will be Shift’s focus.

Shift is the organiser and owner of the inaugural 2017 Africa Shared Value Summit, taking place 25-26 May 2017. The summit is modelled on the Shared Value Leadership summit held annually in New York. Bringing the event here makes it more accessible to the South African market, as well as our counterparts from the rest of the African continent. Africa may be the next frontier for global growth, but it still has a long way to go. With the current global climate and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in mind, the time is ripe to provide this forum. An opportunity for change-makers and thought-provokers at every level of business management, in every field, to share their stories of Creating Shared Value (CSV). It aims to educate people and highlight that industry need no longer be seen as the cause of the world’s problems, but rather – with a shift in strategy –the solution.

The Shifters are not only thinkers, but creators and doers. They are all-rounders with a passion for real change and future-proofing organisations in order to make the urgent change needed. It is through the shifting of strategies and mind sets that Shift Social Development will contribute towards making a difference.