GSB to host first all-women MBA Recruitment Breakfast in celebration of Women's Month

The first Women’s Month MBA Recruitment Breakfast at the UCT Graduate School of Business (GSB) will feature a first-rate panel of bold and passionate women in business including South African Airways’ Kim Thipe; Executive Head of Business Development at Pretoria Portland Cement Limited, Nonhlanhla Happy Girl Buthelezi; Investec Asset Management’s Siobhan Simpson; and the GSB’s Executive Education Director, Kumeshnee West – all of whom are GSB alumni.

The event is one of several being hosted at the school this August in celebration of Women’s Month and is aimed at connecting talented and motivated women who want to pursue an MBA with female graduates of the programme who will share exclusive insights into their career trajectories.

“Research shows that women who make it to the top of their profession almost always cite their mentors and their networks as key to their success,” says Saskia Hickey, Market Intelligence and Strategy Manager at the GSB. “At the GSB we want to foster a community of successful women in business who support each other on the journey to success. There is so much that we can learn from each other.”

Thipe, born and raised in New York, USA, was this year named one of the world’s Top 15 in Marketing by the Direct Marketing News (DMN) 2016 Marketing Hall of Femme. She came over to South Africa, along with her husband, two decades back and is currently South African Airways’ Head of Marketing, at the helm of a 30-person strong global team. Thipe has pinpointed her defining career moment as the two years she spent at the GSB completing her MBA. “It helped me to perfect the execution of big ideas and practical projects that have added flair to my marketing ever since,” said Thipe in a recent DMN interview, adding that beyond that, she also ‘met really amazing people’.

Buthelezi joined the Pretoria Portland Cement Limited team (formerly PPC Ltd.) as joint head of international business development in 2013 and currently presides as Executive Head of Business Development. Her career spans 13 years conducting business across Africa for Vodacom, Telkom SA, MTN, and PwC, in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, licenses and greenfield operations, privatisations, public-private partnerships, and project finance in ICT and other infrastructure industries.

Simpson, Sales Manager at Investec Asset Management, has an intriguing career progression that’s regularly swung between education and finance. In 2005 she graduated from UCT with a Bachelor of Business Science with Honours in Finance, then completed a postgraduate certificate in Education in 2006 before completing her MBA at the GSB in 2010 after a short teaching career at SACS Junior School in Cape Town.

West is the Executive Education Director at the GSB, with a background in occupational therapy. In 2008 her career changed direction towards management, development, and organisational restructuring, and prior to her executive role at the GSB she consulted independently with the Provincial Government of the Western Cape, Woolworths, GSB, Sanlam, and the Cape Leadership Centre, among other notable organisations. West completed her MBA in 2011 as well as the GSB’s Women in Leadership Executive Education Programme in 2014.

“The GSB is confident of the positive impact this event will have on encouraging more women to take the leap and enroll in an MBA and we welcome the support of this initiative by all stakeholders. We hope that people will share the details of this event with their networks so that we get a vibrant and diverse group together,” says Hickey.

The panel discussion will be led by respected academic and consultant Dr Linda Ronnie and the GSB admissions recruitment team will also be available to answer any questions.

The all-women MBA Recruitment Breakfast will be held on Monday 29 August, from 7.30am to 9.30am, in the Exhibition Hall at UCT Graduate School of Business in Cape Town.

To RSVP click here.