Dr Shirley Zinn has more than 30 years of experience in education and Human Resources Management. She is the former Group Head of Human Resources at Woolworths Holdings Limited. Prior to this, she was the Head of Human Resources of Standard Bank. She also was head of HR at Nedbank, SARS, and Reckitt (Africa & Middle East).
She was also an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences, and former Adjunct Professor at the University of Cape Town.
She hails from the Cape Flats in Cape Town, and started her career as a secondary school teacher of English, then moved to the University of the Western Cape where she lectured in Teacher Education. She currently serves as an independent non-executive director on several JSE listed Boards (Sanlam, SpurCorp, Spar Group), and private Boards (Boston Consulting Group, MTN-SA, Tuesday Consulting, Empowerment Capital). She also serves on Academic Advisory Boards, Trusts, Foundations and NPOs (WWF, Business Engage). She also served on the University of Cape Town Council and is the Past President for the Harvard Alumni Association, South Africa. She is also currently the Chairperson of the V&A Waterfront and the Chair of provincial agency, WESGRO.
In 2015, she wrote her autobiography, a best seller, entitled “Swimming Upstream” which focuses on her personal and professional journey. She holds a BA (University of the Western Cape); Higher Diploma in Education (University of the Western Cape); B.Ed Honours (UNISA); M.Ed (University of the Western Cape); Ed.M (Harvard), and Doctorate in Education (Ed.D) (Harvard).
She has been awarded several Top Women in Business and Government awards, the most recent being the Inspirational Leader award for 2024 and the Good Hope FM Warrior Woman 2024 award in the Women in Business category (October 2024). She is a mentor to several young women and has spoken at many local and international conferences, She has completed 9 Two Oceans Half marathons.
