In September 2013, the Foundation conducted its first Selection Summit – the purpose of which was to create clarity around our selection practices and processes.

The programme included reflections on the Foundation’s selection journey since inception and provided an overview of the Foundation’s Success Profile (as developed by Deloitte) and how it translates to our selection tools.

The Scholarship and Fellowship Selection teams also presented their 2013 awareness campaigns, with discussions around best marketing and awareness strategies, and what the selection and final decision making processes entailed. In addition, the Summit included workshops aimed at mapping key challenges and recommendations from Foundation Talent (staff) who regularly participate in selection processes.

Selection Summit 2015 was hosted from 29 to 30 September 2015. It contextualised the Foundation’s selection processes within the broader South African educational landscape and explored the notion of selecting for entrepreneurial potential.

The Summit included a review of the Foundation’s selection tools, and the alignment between selection and curriculum development activities. Leading experts, such as Professor Servaas van der Berg, presented the latest findings on the education landscape.

The audio recordings for the Summit will be available on the Foundation website by November 2015 when we launch the new Resources page on our site.

Peartree Photography | ERFIP 2015 South Africa | http://peartree.co.za/blog/

It isn’t everyday one receives an invitation to hang out with a group of influential philanthropists. So when one does, one jumps at the opportunity – elegantly and eloquently, of course.

Such was the case when the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation extended an invitation to Candidate Fellows and Fellows to introduce ourselves and our experience of the Allan Gray Fellowship to ERFIP (Empowering Families For Innovative Philanthropy) – a group of families from emerging market countries exploring more effective methods of philanthropy and inspiring other influential families to do similarly.

Not one to indulge in cult-fiction, I could only imagine a group of impeccably, if not royally, dressed European families with the most discerning evaluations of South Africa, its issues and its youth’s potential to address us. With little information about the group to be found online, this mental image was not too unrealistic.

However, the ERFIP members proved to be nothing like that high-brow stereotype. They were a group who seemed excited to be in South Africa, and curious to meet us young ones who are direct beneficiaries of Allan Gray’s philanthropy. I, for one, was very curious about their philosophies around philanthropy and why they saw it necessary to seek “more effective” models for it.

I soon learned that there is a concerted effort being made to reduce dependency relationships that too often form with big-brand philanthropy projects, an effort being led by families such as ERFIP members who are investing in longer-term development efforts that address deficits in human capital rather than its symptoms.

Through our breakaway discussions with smaller groups of ERFIP members, the learnings and insights were mutually beneficial. We Fellows and Candidate Fellows got an opportunity to share our journeys leading up to joining the Foundation, our experience of the Fellowship  and our aspirations in the Association.

In isolation, this was an excellent personal exercise and I’m confident each Fellow walked away with a renewed sense of gratitude, humility and resolve. In context, to have our journeys with the Foundation probed by ERFIP was both refreshing and enlightening.

Refreshing, because rarely do we have the opportunity to critically discuss the mechanics of the Foundation as an organisation fulfilling a philanthropic mission. The ERFIP members were very interested in the real experiences of Fellows in the programme for the purposes of designing their own successful programmes. This authentic interest created an ideal environment for the sharing of ideas and opinions about how philanthropic programmes can and should run. Enlightening, because we Fellows got to learn of numerous efforts underway around the world to address local issues not unlike South Africa’s issues. Such glimpses into the struggles of other people in other parts of the world are critical to local effectiveness with a sense of global perspective.

Given more time, we might have even chartered an interconnected strategy in aid of global socioeconomic development. But we’ll save that for next time and get on with our ground-work in the interim.

The Association of Allan Gray Fellows saw it fit to create the role of an Association Fellow-In-Residence (“FIR”) to act as a link between the Association and its graduated Fellows. The role has been structured to provide support for the Association’s Executive Committee and to develop special projects in line with the Association’s objectives to enhance efficiency, learning and entrepreneurial support for Fellows.

The FIR is expected to allocate 50% of her/his time to her/his own entrepreneurial venture, while providing the above-mentioned support for the remainder of the time.

Congratulations to Benjamin Shaw and Lesedi Kgaka – our FIRs for 2016!

Benjamin, an ex-investment banker who worked for J.P. Morgan in the M&A team in South Africa, graduated from UCT with a BBusSci in Finance & Accounting and founded several ventures as a student. He is currently getting his new company (HouseME) – which facilitates transactions between tenants and landlords via a mobile platform – off the ground. Ben spends what little time off he has refereeing rugby and playing games online.

Lesedi, also a former BBusSci Finance & Accounting student, is the owner of an estate agency, LRH Properties, which operates in Gauteng. It specialises in selling and letting residential property to investors seeking above average market returns. Lesedi has three years’ experience in the industry, working in Cape Town and in Johannesburg. She is currently registered for an MSc in Property Studies from her alma mater, UCT.

Both Lesedi and Benjamin saw the FIR opportunity as an ideal way to contribute to the Foundation and as a way to pay the bills while transitioning into full-time entrepreneurship. They aim to provide some perspective to the Association on how best to relate to and support Fellows, creating a better experience for them.

“I hope to leave a template for efficiency for the next FIR and also make a substantial contribution to Association literature and practical learnings,” says Benjamin. He is excited to contribute his passion for efficiency, practical tips for starting a business and skills in strategy and communication. Another focus area for him would be a more efficient working relationship between the Fellowship and e².

Lesedi intends to bring an enlightened perspective on how the Association engages with Fellows. She hopes to create better processes for future FIRs to operate from and improve the Association’s initiatives and systems.

They both realise that they stand to gain a lot from the experience. Lesedi’s goals are both practical – learning to improve her administrative and project management skills – and long term. “I would also like to improve my network within the Association with Fellows in the hope of developing useful business relationships.” Benjamin hopes to learn more about collaboration, teamwork, business processes, and entrepreneurial ideas around the world.

There is no doubt that having Lesedi and Benjamin as Fellows in Residence will be an all-round enriching experience.

The annual Global Entrepreneurship Week (#GEW), held between 16 and 22 November, always results in a hive of activity at the Foundation. Along with 43 other partner institutions in South Africa, we celebrated this initiative by covering various aspects of GEW in our blog, running our second #MakeAR100 challenge and speaking about it as often as we could. Our CEO, Anthony Farr, had an interview on eNCA’s Moneyline.

Anthony’s interview allowed him to express his deep concern about the state of entrepreneurship in South Africa. As a developing country, at least 20% of our population should be actively involved in entrepreneurship, but our country’s current involvement sits at only 7% – a third of what it should be.

He pointed out that one of the reasons for our lack of entrepreneurs is a lack of entrepreneurial intent – an inability to see that being a job creator is neither second class nor inferior to being employed. Secondly, the quality of our human capital is not as it should be. The higher-order cognitive activities of innovating are crucial to entrepreneurship and the development of this capacity is often neglected in our current education system.

Yet, despite these dismal statistics, there are those who are passionately striving to be job creators and those who work to discover and help these mavericks on their way. The Foundation’s efforts are all geared to move their beneficiaries from the job-seeking path to one where opportunity recognition and creating solutions are a way of life.

In response to the question of why, despite the many organisations and bodies promoting small business development and entrepreneurship, there is still a lack of entrepreneurs in this country, Anthony made an astute observation. He said that the myriad available opportunities, such as funding, cannot be harnessed without the human capital needed to sustain it. This is why the Foundation places such a premium on things like mentorship, mindset development and starting early.

In addition to starting early Anthony suggested that a shift is needed in the thinking that assumes entrepreneurship is only for a select few. It is precisely for this reason that the Foundation’s #MakeAR100 challenge (which tasks everyone to find a way of making a R100 by providing a service or selling a product) was so passionately pursued. As encouragement to see much more of this kind of entrepreneurship, Anthony said, “There’s a sense that entrepreneurship is this mystical thing that people don’t understand … but there’s a base level of entrepreneurial capacity that we can all bring to our society and it can only be for our benefit.”

The Foundation is proud to introduce the six Candidate Allan Gray Fellows who will form part of the 2016 Mandela Rhodes Scholar cohort. During their time in residence Mandela Rhodes Scholars pursue postgraduate studies and participate in customised leadership development programmes.

The Candidate Allan Gray Fellows in question are Ofentse Noko, who will be undertaking an MSc in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Cape Town; Lethabo Motswaledi, who will pursue an MSc in Engineering Geometrics also at the University of Cape Town; Nkateko Governor Manganye, who will commence with a BCom Honours in Economics at the University of the Witwatersrand; Nompumelelo Zinhle Manzini, who will pursue her MA in Philosophy also at the University of the Witwatersrand; Qaphela Mashalaba, who will be an MPhil student in Financial Mathematics at the University of the Western Cape; and Refiloe Kekana doing a BSc Honours in Statistics.

This is the third year that the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation has its beneficiaries added to the ranks of Mandela Rhodes Scholars – an achievement that leave us greatly encouraged about the future of South Africa. The joint efforts of organisations like the Allan Gray Orbis and Mandela Rhodes Foundations continue to inspire hope for the benefiting-all influence of high-impact entrepreneurial leaders in the near future.

“Anytime you leave what is familiar and comfortable, you are guaranteed personal growth.” This is what Nkgopoleng Moloi expected to happen when she joined 16 other Fellows on a week-long trip to Accra, Ghana, on 14 November 2015. What she did not expect, however, was the degree to which this would happen.

The Expand Your Horizons trip was facilitated by Dr Thabo Mosala from WITS Business School with the intent of exploring an entrepreneurial ecosystem in another African country. It was hoped that participants would get an idea of some of the challenges and opportunities facing their African peers and develop relationships with young entrepreneurs in Ghana.

The group’s itinerary included visits to universities, entrepreneurial hubs and an incubator. Besides their visits to the city’s major historical landmarks they also engaged in a little street salsa dancing! Here are some of our intrepid travellers’ experiences and reflections:

Lowell Martin Scarr

South Africa isn’t the only place on the continent where things are happening. Maybe that’s obvious, but it needed visiting the place to properly understand. It took a few days to relax in the new environment: smells, sights, thoughts. Stimulation. Suddenly I found myself in a place where I didn’t feel the colour of my skin. People hustling. Alive. Despite the oppression and lack of support.  

Being with the Fellows, who share so much of my history, it was impossible to avoid speaking of things we usually can’t. Our dreams for the future, for home. What it is that’s holding us back and what we can do about it. We can’t keep waiting for the answers to be given to us, we need to make our own.

Mbali Sikakana

Ghana was a chance for me to think away from the noise of South Africa’s very loud problems of race, class and corporatism. It distilled entrepreneurship for me into a simple paradigm of enterprising and self-determination from your available space, resources, labour and moving to greater systems and collaboration. It showed me that society can be differently ordered from what I’m used to and that possibilities exist to shift the macroeconomic issues we have at home with good decisive governance.

I learnt that young people everywhere are concerned with similar things and that we can have conversations that help all of us navigate our spaces with new thinking. Most importantly, we can inspire each other. 

Nkgopoleng Moloi

I was energised and inspired by the sense of urgency, hard work, focus and dedication from some of the entrepreneurs we met. This had such an impact on me that upon my return, I met up with another Fellow to discuss a business idea we’d both like to work on, actively setting up meetings and making plans on how to make this happen. I was also moved by the obvious passion for Africa that we experienced through our interactions with Kobi (the lecturer from Ashesi), artists at Accradotalt as well as the ordinary guys we met on the streets.  

What was interesting and relevant to my portfolio in the Association’s Executive Committee was the stance that Ashesi takes on leadership. I found it interesting that leadership is considered a core pillar of the university and is integrated in the curriculum throughout the university degree. The four facets of leadership; (i) intro to leadership, (ii) ethics, rights and rule of law, (iii) economics of leadership and (iv) community and service seem like a relevant approach on how we can nurture responsible individuals of high impact. This is something I will be exploring more in the hopes of incorporating the learnings into leadership activities planned over the next two years.

Zayne Imam

The trip to Ghana reinforced something about West Africa that I had seen previously while working in Nigeria: that West African citizens have a tenacious sense of enterprise. It’s incredible to witness just how ferociously people will find a way to create a space for themselves to participate in the informal economy.

What I found special about this trip was that I had a chance to deconstruct this notion with a group of likeminded individuals who also intend on having a massive impact on South Africa. 

We explored different reasons that could be attributed to West African entrepreneurial flair that simply hadn’t translated the same way in South Africa. Was it cultural differences? The way their leaders chose to approach the transition to democracy? Their political history?

It’s a deep question that requires further discussion, but it’s nice to know that there’s a great deal for us to learn from our big brother in West Africa!

Lerato Shai

A highlight was meeting Hamza Moshood at the talk party with artists from Accradotalt and realising a few minutes into the conversation that we had a mutual friend. He is a writer and passionate reader of African literature with a wealth of knowledge to share and so much to teach. I have a long reading list as proof. Our conversations left me in awe of his passion for writing and how he is chasing it like it is the most natural thing to do. I’ve since realised it actually is and I need to stop making excuses for not doing the same. 

Ofentse Mareka

The biggest learning point was seeing the Ghanaian culture in action. I think that we were shielded quite a bit given where we stayed and the places we visited, but I do believe that the individuals we spoke to or interacted with gave us a real glimpse of what Ghana is about. I liked that the people in Accra were really entrepreneurial but also conscious of their place in Africa (the world). People there seemed to have urgency about them and took initiative to change their situations (even if it was out of necessity). Looking at the platforms and opportunities we have here in South Africa I left feeling that we should be doing more. We should be more enterprising and should be striving for excellence.  

Sujay Vithal

Going to Ghana has opened my eyes to the challenges that much of Africa still faces. In the same breath I experienced the hope that exists there and the amazing culture of being self-sufficient. I learnt a lot about the history and culture of Ghana, but it also provided me with more appreciation of being a South African. We have very high standards in terms of what we expect of ourselves and that comes through with people being discouraged as a result of corruption and a lack of support from government. South Africa needs to give itself more credit but at no point become complacent – we have all the puzzle pieces; we just need to fit them together properly.

Towards the end of each school year learners are acknowledged for their contributions and achievements throughout the year. Parents’ hearts swell with pride and grateful nods are extended to the educators. Like any other parent, the Foundation basks in the successes of its Scholars and we wish to take this opportunity to congratulate them, their parents and their respective schools for all the effort that went into producing such excellence in 2015.

Bishops Diocesan College

The boys excelled in academics, leadership, sport and culture.

• Sihle Kahla (Gr 9) was elected to the Student’s Representative Forum while Dean Jacobs (Gr 9) received Academic Full Colours.

• Erin Solomon and Bulelani Nqquka (both Gr 10) were invited to play for the UCT Philharmonic Orchestra and train with the Western Province and National hockey teams, respectively.

Clarendon High School

• Nokubonga Mhlongo, Monalisa Johnson and Sibabalwe Matshikhiza (all Gr 10) – were acknowledged for their academic performance. Nokubonga and Monalisa were added to the Merit List while Sibabalwe took first place in her grade for Business Studies

• Simphiwe Malaza (Gr 11) was acknowledged in the area of service for attaining a top-three finalist spot for her community project at Enke Camp

• Yolandi Sloti (Gr 11) was appointed Hostel Prefect

Collegiate High School for Girls

The girls walked away with several awards apiece.

• Precious Gumbo (Gr 10) was elected to the RCL and as the Head of the Hostel Entertainment Committee

• Owethu Ndaza (Gr 10) was acknowledged as the Best Actress in House Plays and was elected to the Hostel Entertainment Committee and Eastern Province Cricket team

• Somila Mavuso (Gr 11) was elected Deputy Head Girl, the Deputy Head of Hostel and received the Sam Beyon Hostel Fellowship Award (for being the most approachable and exemplary hostel senior)

• Gabriella Mogale (Gr 9) was appointed Library Monitor

• Mbali Titi (Gr 8) was acknowledged for being the most improved netball player and took first place for isiXhosa and History in her grade as well as eighth place for her overall in the grade

Epworth High School for Girls

• Amukelani Ndlovu, Lereku Mohlabeng and Obakeng Lethlage (all Gr 11) excelled in leadership

• Amukelani was elected Hostel Prefect, School Prefect and President of Interact

• Lereko was elected Hostel Prefect, School Prefect and Vice President of Interact

• Obakeng was elected Deputy Head Girl, Deputy Head of Soccer and Head of Marimba

Grey High School

• Keeran Bezuidenhout (Gr 11) of took the first position in his grade for Computer Applications Technology

King Edward School

• Zawadi Shiwane and Oyama Mdladla (both Gr 9) were added to the Merit List

Michaelhouse

• Aphiwe Mthalane and Luvuyo Magwaza (both Gr 11) were elected as Farfield House Prefect and West House Prefect, respectively

Pietermaritzburg Girls High School

• Sima Thord-Gray (Gr 10) received a Karate Brown Belt

Rustenburg High School for Girls

Four girls were acknowledged for their leadership ability.

• Jade Benton (Gr 8) was elected to the Habitat for Humanity Committee
• Buhle Mcengwa (Gr 10) and Quratul-Ain Parker (Gr 11) were appointed as Head of Jabulani Cultural Society and Head of the Computer Centre, respectively
• Rebecca Plaatjies (Gr 11) was elected as School Prefect and member of the Interact Committee

Selborne College

Leonardo Doolooa (Gr 10) and the following Gr 11 Scholars were all added to the Merit List for their academic excellence:

• Lungelo Dlamini
• Ntobeko Ndimande
• Lupumlo Kwesaba
• Lutho Beza
• Leonardo was also one of two students to go on an exchange programme to the UK.

St Andrews School for Girls

Thembelihle Tshabalala and Kagiso Modiakgotla (both Gr 11) ­– showed excellence in leadership and were elected as Head and Deputy Head of Public Speaking, respectively. Kagiso was also elected as Head of the Marketing Committee.

St Cyprians School

• Laaiqah Taliep (Gr 11) was elected Head of Community Partnerships, received Gold and Bronze Medals at the Western Cape and National Science Fairs and was one of two students selected for the 2015 Round Square Project to India

• Busisiwe Siyo (Gr 11) was elected as Head of Boarding and as a member of the Public Relations Portfolio Team

St Mary’s, Waverly

The girls excelled in several areas.

• Aobakwe Selebi (Gr 11) received Half Colours for Art and Choir, Full Colours for Technical Service and Community Service and was elected as Deputy Head of Boarding and Deputy Head of Clayton House

• Lerato Kubeka (Gr 11) was elected Head of Peer Counseling

• Keitumetse Pule (Gr 10) was elected as Vice Captain of Basketball and as member of the following committees: Diversity Committee, Events Committee and Environmental Club Committee

• Khethiwe Sibanyoni (Gr 10) received Half Colours for Technical Skills, Commitments to the Environmental Club Committee, the Best Trinity Solo (for Drama) and was acknowledged as having made the most progress in Tech Club. She was also selected to go on exchange to Sherborne College in the UK.

Well done to all our Scholars – we are very proud of you! Enjoy your well-deserved rest with your friends and family.

‘I have had worse partings, but none that so

Gnaws at my mind still. Perhaps it is roughly

Saying what God alone could perfectly show –

How selfhood begins with a walking away,

And love is proved in the letting go.’

• Day Lewis

This last stanza of the poem, ‘Walking away’ aptly describes the atmosphere at the recently held Grade 12 Scholar Graduation ceremony. The 44 graduating Scholars were part of 5354 Grade 6 learners who applied for the Scholarship opportunity in 2009.  They join a community of 70 other Scholars who have graduated from the programme since 2012.

This ceremony marked a significant milestone in the lives of the Class of 2015, offering them the opportunity to pause and enjoy their achievements before stepping up to their next challenge of achieving Higher Education success.

The Class of 2015 completed the programme successfully and received Bachelor passes in their Grade 12 examinations, amassing 133 distinctions in the process. We commend all Scholars for a job well done. Five Scholars who obtained distinctions in all their subjects deserve special mention:

91% of the Class of 2015 will be pursuing their studies at various tertiary institutions across South Africa in 2016, while 28% of them will be transitioning into the Fellowship Programme. We are confident that even more graduates will become Candidate Allan Gray Fellows in their first year of university.

The guest speakers at the event all commended the Scholars’ success thus far and gave advice and encouragement for achieving their future goals. Seema Dala, a member of the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation’s Board of Trustees, encouraged them to become architects of their destiny, using what they have learned during the Scholarship Programme as a springboard for future success. Sabelwa Matikinca, a former Scholar and currently a Year Experience (4^th year) Candidate Allan Gray Fellow, urged them to pursue their passion courageously and unapologetically and to never give up because there would always be somebody watching and drawing inspiration from them. Lesedi Kgaka, an Allan Gray Fellow, warned them of distractions that would deter them from their goals and shared practical advice for flexing their entrepreneurial muscles.

The four Scholars who spoke on behalf of their graduating class, Karabo Shai, Tristan Brandt, Thabang Mokoena and Vuyolwethu Mahlangeni, expressed a sense of feeling empowered and great gratitude for the strong bonds of friendship they had developed over the last five years and vowed to take these into the next phase of their lives.

The Allan Gray Orbis Foundation’s annual Circle of Excellence has become synonymous with recognition and reward of excellence. The initiative was launched to increase the pool of applicants for the Allan Gray Fellowship and resulted in a network of feeder high schools that we refer to as our COE partners.

Several of these COE partners have succeeded in consistently delivering quality Candidate Allan Gray Fellow applicants over the last few years. In some cases the overall number of successful applicants from COE partners are now in the region of 40 and 50. These figures bear testament to the passion and excellence with which entrepreneurial practices and thinking are encouraged at these institutions.

The 100 schools that will be receiving acknowledgement for their efforts in developing exceptional individuals with high entrepreneurial potential come from every corner of the country. 84 of them are returning COE partners, while the remaining 16 will be welcomed in our ranks for the first time. They are, in no particular order, Crawford College La Lucia, Theodor Herzl High School, Prestige College, St Stithians Boys College, Milner High School, Hoërskool Pretoria-Wes, Selly Park Secondary, Westering High School, Potchefstroom Boys High School, Victoria Girls High School, Hoërskool Randburg, Camps Bay High School, Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, Taxila Secondary School, Tshivhase Secondary School and Northcliff High School.

Besides the acknowledgement of excellence that each of these 100 schools receive, they will also be invited to send a representative of theirs to the Foundation’s Circle of Excellence Principals’ Conference later in the year. A weekend away will be spent in the company of like-minded individuals, engaging each other on the topics of entrepreneurial best practice and development strategies. The conference thus serves the dual purpose of exposing our COE partners to thought leadership on entrepreneurship and thanking them for the integral part they play in cultivating high-impact entrepreneurship in South Africa.

33 new Allan Gray Scholars and 105 new Candidate Allan Gray Fellows have been inducted into the Scholarship and Fellowship Programmes respectively. They were welcomed and introduced to the Foundation, the Programme teams and Programme curriculums during that orientation events that were held in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng.

The Scholarship Orientation

The new Allan Gray Scholars were joined by their custodians, current Allan Gray Scholars, their custodians and graduated Scholars as well as their custodians. The mixture of new, current and former beneficiaries allowed for a lot of personal engagement with the experience of the Scholarship Programme and Placement Schools.

During one of the five orientation sessions, current and former Scholars and custodians shared their personal stories. The other sessions were dedicated to acknowledging the new Scholars’ Grade 7 results, introducing the Foundation’s Scholarship Team, discussing the curriculum content and listening to the new Scholars’ presentations about their Placement Schools. (They were tasked to do research about their chosen school.)

The 2015 Orientation also marked the first official engagement between the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation and Standard Bank. Their Tutuwa Programme’s eight Tutuwa Scholars and custodians also joined the orientation event.

The Fellowship Orientation

Unlike the orientation event held for Scholars, the Fellowship Orientation events are mandatory for both new and current Candidate Allan Gray Fellows. In addition to encouraging cohesion between the old and new beneficiaries, the attendance of the annual orientation event throughout the four years of the candidate’s journey with the Foundation encourages the beneficiaries’ consistent engagement. It also allows the Foundation to keep beneficiaries informed of any Programme and process changes made in the quest to stay on the cutting edge of the latest entrepreneurial trends.

This year the Fellowship cohorts engaged regionally, at Belmont Square, Rondebosch, in the Western Cape and at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, Johannesburg, in Gauteng. A total of 264 Candidate Allan Gray Fellows attended both events. New beneficiaries were formally awarded the Fellowship and received certification. A special awards ceremony was also held to acknowledge existing Candidate Allan Gray Fellows who have excelled beyond the mandatory requirements of the Fellowship Programme by making the most of the iShift Cognician and Ignitions programmes.

A new, refined Fellowship Programme curriculum were also introduced at the event. The new curriculum’s alignment to the Learning Outcomes and Success Profile were discussed. Based on the lively interaction between beneficiaries and their questions during the various information sessions, there’s no doubt that all the orientation events were successful.

If you would like to be one of the Foundation’s beneficiaries in 2017, be sure to send your application before the following dates:

Fellowship applications

• South Africa: Grade 12 learners should apply before 29 April 2016.
• South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia and Botswana: 1st Year University students should apply before 31 August 2016.
• Swaziland: Grade 12 learners should apply before 31 May 2016.
• Namibia: Grade 12 learners should apply before 1 June 2016.
• Application forms are available on our Fellowship webpage.

Scholarship applications

• Current Grade 6 learners can only apply for placement in 2018. Applications will open in June this year. Please visit our Scholarship webpage for regular updates.

It is not often that one has the pleasure of doing what you love for a living. Joining the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation allows me to extend that pleasure beyond working with startups to making a small contribution towards the development of high-impact entrepreneurship in South Africa. This is the first time that I am joining a public benefit organisation and it is such a privilege to play a part in a journey that can take a deserving individual from the dusty streets of a rural town to the corridors of power in corporate South Africa. My personal story is not much different from such a journey and this makes it easy to relate to our mission.

My own journey with entrepreneurship capacity development started in 2009 when I was part of the inaugural team at Wits Business School’s Centre for Entrepreneurship. We installed the first management team, drafted the first programmes for delivery and hosted the 13^th MIT Global Startup Workshop. This experienced inspired me to make an active contribution in the local entrepreneurship ecosystem and I started the South African Startup Index (SASi) to track startup companies for venture capital investment readiness. SASi opened up many opportunities to take entrepreneurship capacity development to the rest of the continent with collaboration in Namibia, Kenya, Tunisia and Ghana. A definite highlight of this work emerged through the launch of the African Startup Index (ASi) at the Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2011.

Before joining the Foundation, I had the pleasure of working in the public sector as an executive at Africa’s first international accredited science park, The Innovation Hub. My portfolio, which included the Maxum Business Incubator, The Climate Innovation Centre, mLab and CoachLab, offered an exciting combination of commercialisation and skills development. My work there gave me a different perspective on long-term investment for innovation and some practical experience around practicing innovation.

I am extremely excited about the challenge that lies ahead as the head of Impact Assurance at the Foundation. Given the good fortune of joining a highly competent and professional team who are all passionate about their work and their personal contributions towards entrepreneurship capacity development, it will be hard not to succeed. Our long-term focus and desire to be the best in the world is what excites me most about our mission and I am committed to ensure that our work makes a contribution that will be globally significant.

Stepping into her new role as Fellowship Director, Dr Nontobeko Mabizela, decided to immerse herself in entrepreneurial knowledge by learning from international counterparts and exposing herself to as much entrepreneurial excellence as possible.

A whirlwind tour of America’s East Coast with stops in Boston, Wellesley and New York ensued in December 2015. Her mission was threefold: to sharpen her entrepreneurial knowledge, to connect and offer support to expatriate Candidate Allan Gray Fellows and to seek out the best practice for running a mentoring programme.

In Boston Dr Mabizela met with Candidate Allan Gray Fellows and was surprised to find that they were already forming a small community – they knew of each other and were connecting independently before. “They appreciated that we were on the ground,” said Dr Mabizela of their response to her visit. The meeting allowed them to share their experiences and difficulties on the one hand and offer hope and potential solutions on the other.

Boston also proved an ideal location for sourcing support for these Candidate Fellows since it is home to so many incubation hubs for startup companies. Dr Mabizela connected with two such launch labs that expressed great interest in inviting the Candidate Fellows there, free of charge. Throughout the remainder of her tour, she would find similar offers of in-person support for the Candidate Fellows, be it in the form of mentoring or invitations to attend programmes.

One such offer came from Emzingo’s co-founder, Drew Bonfiglio. He not only volunteered his time as mentor, but also welcomed the Foundation’s beneficiaries to join in the training offered to pre-graduates, that is, young people who are on their way to the job market but who are not quite ready for it yet. Emzingo’s programme empowers young people to do what Americans call “climbing the ladder.” Their approach to leadership, however, can be described as quite African. “They align with us in that they focus on leadership that builds and seeks to empower communities,” explained Dr Mabizela.

In Wellesley, she visited Babson College to discuss matters of curriculum design and facilitation training – further efforts to offer on-the-ground support to the Fellowship Community’s expats. The team at Babson had already offered significant support to her colleagues with curriculum design for the Association of Allan Gray Fellows.

The three highlights of her trip all occurred in the big apple where Dr Mabizela was introduced to Endeavor. Here she found the cost-effectiveness with which their entrepreneurship programme was being run quite astounding. “Even their offices are modest.” They have an impressive monitoring and evaluation process in place and are able to track the progress of every single individual they have ever worked with. They also only work with entrepreneurs who were ready to launch their business. In contrast, Echoing Green’s offering to their Fellows, while much more lavish, expects them to do business while studying. They also do not make use of a standard entrepreneurship programme but instead tailors a programme to the individual’s needs. Both these organisations proved that there is no one way of training entrepreneurs. The only requirement and common denominator between the two is a rich knowledge base.

The third highlight and final stop for Dr Mabizela was the Mentoring Partnership of New York where she was able to attend a day-long workshop about managing mentorship programmes. The organisation is a government initiative in the States aimed at providing free support to the many entrepreneurship programmes being run in the country. An invitation to attend was recently extended to African organisations and it was an opportunity that Dr Mabizela had to seize. The workshop covered many aspects of mentoring, including how to recruit, situations to be avoided, what to include in a mentorship contract and how to structure the programme so that a minimum number of engagements are guaranteed.

Dr Mabizela was especially excited about how her new-found knowledge could impact the Fellowship’s Mentoring Programme in future. In essence, her whirl-wind tour was more than just a trip abroad; it was an empowering experience that is bound to leave an indelible mark of excellence on all Dr Mabizela’s endeavours at the Foundation.

One’s body can do strange things when you have just received news that you are a World Debating Champion. This is what Candidate Allan Gray Fellow, Fenelesibonge Maswhama, realised soon after being heralded the 2016 Debating World Champions along with debating partner Bo Seo.

“An odd mix of relief, exhaustion, and excitement,” is how Maswhama described sensation of winning. The tournament followed a British parliamentary style format and competitors received debate topics 15 minutes in advance of each round. “You’re asking your body to do a lot, like concentrat[e], think very fast, b[e] anxious between decisions, so I think we just collapsed,” Mashwama said. “It is physically exacting.”

This year’s competition was held in Thessaloniki, Greece; its winners hail from Australia (Seo) and Swaziland, respectively; and they entered the competition as members of an American university’s debating team. A cosmopolitan mix indeed. What’s more, Mashwama and Seo met in Cape Town before they both decided to go to Harvard University. One of the reasons Maswhama chose Harvard was because of its debating team – quite strategic since Harvarders have already walked away with the World Champion title twice before. Seo credits their diversity as the reason for their success.

Photo caption: Bo Seo ’17 (right) and Fanelesibonge Mashwama ’17 in the octo-finals of the World Universities Debating Championship in Greece earlier this month. The pair ultimately won the tournament, which is the world’s largest debating competition.
Credit to: James Laird-Smith

The duo from Harvard competed against hundreds of students from more than 250 institutions across the globe. They had the advantage of having been finalists at the previous year’s competition. They knew what to expect. Kind of. In the final round of this year’s championship, Seo and Mashwama argued that the global poor would be justified in pursuing a Marxist revolution. “We certainly hadn’t prepped for the poor having a Marxist revolution as a topic,” said Seo. However, being a political major and having a philosopher as partner was especially helpful because they understood the big ideas.

One of the team’s coaches, Sarah M. C. Balakrishnan, attributes their success to the chemistry they share: “Bo is a really eloquent and probing speaker who is great at excavating big ideas; Fanele, on the other hand, is best at attacking the opposing side’s claims and exploring in detail the arguments on the table … I’ve never seen them not on the same page.”

Having spent so much time in the debating trenches, sharing the same anxieties and pressures to think on one’s feet cannot but forge a great relationship. It is no wonder then that Mashwama believes, “We’ll be close friends for the rest of our lives.”

What happens when you take a couple of 20-year-olds in their second year of university to Hermanus and ask them to talk about two things: significance and community? You get a mixed bag of cold showers, constructive conflict, creative collaboration, moments of clarity about oneself and a deeper appreciation of and desire to impact community.

Between the 1st and 3rd of April 2016, groggy Year Equip Candidate Fellows travelled to the Habonim Campsite. Aside from the excitement that travelling usually brings, there was also the anticipation of seeing the entire Year Equip group (from all over South Africa) again – after almost a year. In the words of Pfano Nevhutalu, a Year Equip, “It was refreshing … I felt more connected and integrated into the Foundation community.”

A key focus during this Camp Connect would be discussing, understanding and learning to life one of the Foundation’s Five Pillars, the Spirit of Significance. We would learn how crucial connecting would be to future socially impactful entrepreneurs. That is, connecting with ourselves, our fellow Candidate Fellows and the greater community, both within the Foundation and the greater society.

And thus we embarked on a three-day ideation and relationship building experience. We developed a camp programme for the Grade 8 and 9 Scholars that would ease their transition from primary school to high school and inspire them to eventually become Candidate Fellows as well – all in a day’s work! After a rather fun and successful interaction with the Scholars, we had to put our thinking caps back on for the next objective – working on our Legacy Project. After hours of working, putting egos aside and midnight reconfigurations of the democratic institution of voting, we finally agreed on and pitched the Legacy Project we would undertake in the next year.

With any collaborative effort comes the temptation of forgetting that one is dealing with fellow human beings. It was quite appropriate then that one of our last sessions was dedicated to sharing our defining moments – the stories of moments that turned our lives around. It granted us the opportunity to connect on a more empathetic level and realise that we are all deserving of greatness.

Despite or perhaps because of the constructive conflicts, late nights and freezing morning showers by the sea, we gained a better understanding of what the Spirit of Significance encompasses: getting to know yourself in your entirety and how you can use yourself to empower others.

by  Foyin Ogunrombi & Olerato Mogomotsi

Packed like a sardine on a Mango aeroplane, I awaited take off with a childlike excitement for the Association Admissions Event that was taking place on Saturday the 23rd of April. My eager anticipation was interrupted by a train of thoughts – surely it is only a matter of time until Mango will “go vrot” (start to rot). Their service was slow, it cost R65 for a chicken sandwich that wasn’t guaranteed to have chicken and the flight attendant was old enough to make me feel guilty for not standing up and offering her my seat.

This is a common occurrence for a Fellow – spotting inefficiencies and thinking of potential solutions has been engrained into the way we view the world. In some ways the impact that the Foundation has had on our lives is quite obvious. There have been endless opportunities, invaluable friendships, quality events and inspiring mentorships. Yet, the most indelible mark left by the Foundation has come in a less obvious form, that of changed paradigms.

Our stories first became entwined with the Foundation’s back in 2011. By the time I took my seat on that Mango flight, it had already been four years since that weekend of intensive Candidate Fellow selection at the Cradle of Mankind. Our admission into the Association of Allan Gray Fellows signalled the ending of the first action-packed chapter of being a Candidate Fellow as well as the beginning of a new chapter as fully fledged Fellows. This progression of chapters was blissfully celebrated at the Sandton Holiday Inn. Many parents and Talent (Foundation staff members) were present to witness the jubilant occasion of being admitted into the Association of Allan Gray Fellows.

The ceremony was kicked off by a beautiful and energetic performance of Pata Pata by our very own Nkateko Manganye. I could hardly keep from singing along but politely considered my fellow guests and decided against subjecting them to sounds of a walrus giving birth. There were also joyous reflections on how far we had all come and masterfully crafted video, capturing our Foundation journey, including snippets right from our very first interviews. Our parents were visibly emotional, bursting with pride and a sense of hope for the future of our country. We were also able to thank the Foundation through heartfelt speeches for their immeasurable influence on our lives.

Anthony’s Farr speech was particularly moving and sprinkled with thought-provoking stories. With chills running up my spine and tears rolling down my cheeks, he ended his speech with an extract from Robert Frost’s poem – the same poem was presented to us at our very first orientation event, back when our Foundation stories began:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less travelled by

And that has made all the difference.

What a memorable day. What a memorable journey. We are now Fellows.

by Dominic Koening

It is with some sadness and almost disbelief that we come to the end of an era with our Chairman of the Board, Futhi Mtoba, finishing her final allowed term as a trustee.  She was one of the founding trustees of the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation and the last woman standing, so to speak. After serving a full decade we bid farewell to her at the end of April.

Futhi has overseen the Foundation’s growth from its first 20 beneficiaries all those years ago to the current pipeline of nearly 750 high-potential individuals at all stages of life from attending high school through to crafting careers and heading up enterprises. There can be few better ways to capture her seminal contribution to the Foundation than to reflect on the reality that it is very difficult to even imagine the Foundation without her wisdom and leadership.

We have been fortunate as an institution to be served by a person of such character, energy and determination. There is a powerful dynamic created when the overall leader of the Foundation serves as such a significant role model for the values and impact to which we aspire for our Allan Gray Fellows. Futhi’s entire life has been about pioneering new possibilities, whether it be in the accounting field or, more recently, in education. We could not have found a more appropriate leader as we sought to pioneer greater entrepreneurial capacity in South Africa for the common good.

We wish her well as she concludes her Foundation journey but know that she will always be part of our family. The impact of her legacy will continue to live on in the endeavours of our Allan Gray Fellows.

A Scholars’ Development Camp was held from the 1st to the 4th of April this year. Both the Grade 8s and 9s within the Scholarship Programme spent the weekend together at Haboniem Campsite in Hermanus. The camp provided the ideal setting for working on the Scholars’ entrepreneurial mindsets. They visited various sites to learn about the day-to-day lives of real-life entrepreneurs and worked with tutors to improve their study and reading skills. They also listened to presentations by Candidate Fellows and entrepreneurs and gave presentations themselves.

Imitha Gala, one of the Scholars described the experience as follows: “It was a significant weekend … certain people were called to help us with our academics and our reading speed and we did all the activities in groups, which taught us team co-operation, fast thinking and confidence. I learnt that being an entrepreneur is not easy because you will have challenges along the way, but the only way to overcome them is if you have passion for what you are doing and persevere through it all and … [ask] for help when you need it. I also learnt that being an entrepreneur is not only about sitting in your office and being on your computer but also about exploring the world around you, coming up with ideas and doing some presentations to let others know about what y ou are doing. The [different speakers’] presentations really stood out for me … It was very fascinating to listen to those confident speakers and their wonderful ideas.”

Sammi Smith, also a Scholar had the following to say about the experience: “… Many [of us, the Grade 8 and 9 Scholars] met for the first time at the camp. We did countless presentations, which was tiring, but when we had eventually perfected them or at least showed a great improvement, it was all worth it. We got a chance to interact with the Candidate Fellows, some of whom had been Scholars too. [They] understood what we were going through and they gave some great advice on how to survive high school; this was my highlight of the camp. It was a remarkable weekend because it was not just [about getting] training in the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. It became a camp where we as the Grade 8s and 9s had a chance to engage with older and wiser versions of ourselves. I learnt so much at the camp. It added realness to my dreams of becoming a Candidate Fellow and entrepreneur.”

by Imitha Gala and Sammi Smith

Kholofelo Mashego grew up with a desire to see people not being defined by their past struggles. Her passion for social justice started at a very young age – even though she didn’t quite know that it was called “social justice”. After a while Kholofelo also started asking questions about sustainable change – what it looks like and what a journey towards it would look like.

These attitudes and questions led her to the development sector where she worked with young people for a number of years. Her efforts were driven by the belief that “development work … can never and should never be planned or executed without the young minds of a nation.” Now her position in the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation ensures that she continues living out this belief. As a Scholar Development Officer she helps young people from financially needy homes become the voices, hopes and faces of sustainable change. “For me this is one of the many steps towards social justice,” says Kholofelo.

The Foundation’s Scholarship Programme aims to develop the untapped potential within young learners so that they can become eligible for the Foundation’s Fellowship Programme. Her role, she explains, is to groom that young person by developing their personal mastery skills during their high school career and ensuring that through the programme offering they develop the necessary entrepreneurial mindset and are able to successfully transition into university.

Kholofelo recognises that each Scholar comes with a story that is reflective of the South African reality. They come broken, they come as adults denied the chance to be a child and they come carrying the dream of a better future for their families. In their brokenness there lies hope; in their adult-like minds lie the ability to innovate. She believes that her role at the Foundation is to “ensure that the Scholars we have in our programme know how to articulate their generation’s struggle and [become] the solutions to those struggles through entrepreneurship.”

What drew Kholofelo to the Foundation is a dream that is also driving her to leave her mark or as she puts it, “[her] footprint in the African soil.” When she first read about the Foundation and saw all the YouTube videos about what the Foundation’s activities and beneficiaries, she couldn’t deny wanting to become part of such a long-term legacy. She recognised the Foundation as being a place where one can see transformation happen before one’s eyes and live out a South African dream.

For Kholofelo that dream is to one day see South Africa as a country where even the ordinary person’s story matters, where quality education is not a matter of affordability and where families no longer need to send their children out to beg on the street and become invisible to the successful eye. She wants to be part of a South Africa where the world’s greatest inventors and solution makers are birthed, where entrepreneurship is valued and people’s dignity is restored through work. “Through the Foundation I have a chance to influence the South African story one Scholar at a time.”

The Foundation celebrated its 10-year anniversary at the end of 2015. To mark this achievement we hosted a celebratory dinner.. The event was held in Johannesburg, with the Foundation’s beneficiaries, Talent (Foundation staff) and Board members in attendance.

The guests were addressed by the Chairman of the Board, Futhi Mtoba, who had served on the Board of Trustees for 10 years and finished her tenure as Chainman in April 2016. See more details about her contribution here:

Fellows reflected on the significance of the Foundation in their lives. Siphesihle Kala told of how she gained courage to launch into entrepreneurship, Loretta Magagula and Sechaba Selialia shared how being in this community had made them bigger thinkers and more entrepreneurial, while Lwandle Gaga and Mangaliso Nxasana described how the Foundation had inspired them to be best they can be. Sabelwa Matikinca, a beneficiary who has journeyed with the Foundation for the last nine years – as a Scholar and Candidate Allan Gray Fellow – shared how the opportunity had changed her and her family’s lives.

Zimkhitha Peter, the Head of Programmes, who has served the Foundation for more than eight years, paid tribute to CEO, Anthony Farr for leading the organisation with integrity and courage. She noted that it had also been just over 10 years since Anthony left a promising career in finance, to make the intentions of Mr Gray possible. He has grown an organisation that today is 60 Talent strong and has touched hundreds of lives.

Words fall short of expressing how profound the journey over the last decade has been. The following experiences, captured on film, might do a better job of it:

Every year the Foundation holds a Scholars Development Camp is a development camp where Scholars in the same grades from across the country meet in one place for a few days to enrich ourselves by learning skills and soaking up valuable information provided by the Allan Gray Talent, Fellows and guest speakers. The camp for Grade 10 and 11 took place in Franschhoek this year from 14–17 July. The following excerpts come from the reflections we’ve had about the camp to give you an idea of what we learned, what stood out for us and what we will forever remember.

Hlumelo Seyisi
St Cyprians School, Grade 11
Extra-mural activities: Debating, Model United Nations (MUN) and Presidents Awards

Our camp was centred around the idea of exploring a future as a Candidate Allan Gray Fellow. We also explored the entrepreneurial mindset and looked at typical entrepreneurial behaviours. The opportunity to listen to amazing influential speakers and interact with them allowed me to stretch beyond wanting to be good to wanting to be great!

Visiting the 2016 Jamboree, where I spent some time with the Candidate Allan Gray Fellows and participated in some activities with them, made the Fellowship feel like something more tangible and less abstract. I felt closer to my goal of becoming a Candidate Allan Gray Fellow than ever before. This experience reassured me about being enough for the Foundation. It taught me that all these years as a Scholar I had been groomed to be a Candidate Fellow and I was more than ready.

Nkanyezi Ngcobo
King Edward VII School, Grade 11
Interests: my environment, profitable things and entertainment

I believe that the Foundation hosts the camp in order to further mould Scholars for the Fellowship Opportunity. It allows us Scholars to engage with each other and the learnings provided so that we can nurture our goals and ambitions and become effectual thinkers who can later be advantaged recipients of the Fellowship.

I learnt that the many things that happen in my life are the result of my behaviour: from my friends to my work ethic. I learnt that I should be aware of what I want for myself and how I get it, even if going for what I want means losing the people around me. I also learnt that being a cool kid doesn’t get you anywhere and your future might not be cool after all. Most importantly I learnt that humility can take you places.

Khanyisile Xaba
Pretoria Boys’ High School, Grade 11
Aspirations: to study Architecture or Engineering

A development camp for me is an experience more then a date in my calendar.

What stood out from the 2016 Scholars Development Camp was being able to explore our strengths. I did not see myself being dominant in some aspects of life and less so in others. Instead I thought of myself as someone who could adapt to any surroundings and as the StrengthsFinder test showed, I am indeed a very interactive person with four other strengths: wooing, communicating, maximising and futuristic.

Katlego Nameng
King Edward VII School, Grade 11
Aspirations: to study BCom PPE (Politics Philosophy and Economics)

The Foundation hosts the development camp to DEVELOP scholars. To develop is not to create or invent but take something that is already existing and then to help it advance. That is what I believe the camp is about: helping us advance, grow and become mature.

I learnt to truly be myself. I always hear people telling me to be comfortable in my own skin, but I never truly understood the depth of those words. As disparaging as it may sound it was only through hearing about other people’s insecurities and inadequacies that I was able to get over mine.

Miarah Cader
St Cyprian’s School, Grade 11
Interests: reading, pottery and changing the world one step at a time

This year’s camp gave me a chance to explore my leadership qualities and find out what my strengths were and when to use each of them to the best of my ability. I got more insight on what it means to be a Candidate Fellow by attending the Jamboree and experiencing pitches and ideation by people I look up to. It was an inspiring experience and definitely got me thinking of ways I can make a difference in others’ lives. The guest speakers gave us an insight on their lives and how they overcame challenges by having a goal in mind and persevering.

If there’s something I can take away from this camp, it’s the engagement we had with Dr Buhle Zuma. His story and observations were inspiring and left us awestruck. He allowed us to do introspection and share our life-defining moments, which served to unite us as Scholars even more. His humble personality and very accurate observations shook us and inspired us to become more than we ever thought we could.

This camp was by far the best camp I have attended and an experience I truly appreciate having had.

On behalf of all the Scholars at Camp

Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this the most amazing camp we have had with the Allan Gray Foundation. This camp showed us how much of a family this Foundation is. So many people have seen greatness inside us; it’s only time we started seeing greatness in ourselves too.