Wendy Ackerman is a Non-Executive Director of Pick n Pay Holdings Limited. She is recognised by SA Nature Foundation for outstanding achievement and contribution to environmental conservation. She is also acknowledged by WWF (SA) as a Diamond Custodian of Table Mountain.
Wendy was born in Cape Town and studied at the University of Cape Town, the University of the Witwatersrand and UNISA.
From 1963 to 1967 she taught at the English Academy in Soweto and was involved in teaching English to the black community at night school during her student years.
She joined her husband, Raymond, in Pick n Pay when he acquired the company. Whilst raising a family, Wendy has been totally involved in the Pick n Pay Group’s development of employee benefits and their welfare. She was appointed a Director in 1981 and is responsible for Employee Liaison, Staff Benefits and Welfare.
Wendy has always been deeply involved in promoting education amongst the needy and underprivileged of South Africa. She is a Trustee of the Ackerman Family Educational Trust Fund which assists students from all over the country with bursaries for tertiary education.
She is also a Trustee of the Pick n Pay Bursary Fund which assists children of employees. In addition, she instigated AIDS Awareness programmes throughout the group.
Wendy has always had a great love for the cultural arts and has personally assisted several needy individuals to further their musical and singing careers.
She is well known for her work amongst the underprivileged and is very involved in developing company-assisted housing schemes for staff in the black and coloured areas around the country, one of the first being “Wendyville” in Soweto.
Wendy has numerous involvements outside of her role at Pick n Pay. These include:
- Life Governor – UCT Foundation
- Board Member of the AIDS Foundation
- Patron of the WHEAT Trust
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
- Trustee of the Cape Town Holocaust Centre
- Trustee of the Cape Philharmonic Endowment Trust
- Director of the Cape Philharmonic Endowment Trust
- Patron of the Union of Jewish Women
Wendy has received a number of accolades throughout her career, among which was the B’nai B’rith Humanitarian Award; Woman of the Year, Union of Jewish Women, 1982. In June 2000 she received the Paul Harris Fellowship Award from Rotary International. In August 2008 Wendy received an award from CEO Magazine in recognition of her achievements in the consumer business sector: SA’s Most Influential Women in Business & Government.
Wendy’s hobbies include music, reading and gardening.
