IWFSA strategy - Our strategic priorities
These priorities are implemented through the board subcommittees led by various board members and have drafted six strategic priorities to be implemented during the next three years.
The pillars are;
- Advocacy and Brand
- Catalytic Strategy
- Funding and Sustainability
- Leadership Development
- Member Affairs, and
- Strategic Alliances
Over and above the six sub-committees, the Board resolved to have an additional sub-committee of Audit and Risk, in order to ensure good governance.
Advocacy and Brand
Funding and Sustainability
Leadership Development
Member Affairs
Strategic Alliances
Advocacy and Brand
Focus area
- Develop and maintain a consistent brand aligned to our vision
- Engage external stakeholders to create visibility and strengthen our presence
- Implement measures to protect the organisation from reputational risk
The Brand and Reputation Committee, chaired by Basetsana Kumalo, is a small yet very effective committee. The core mandate of the committee is to:
- Develop and maintain a consistent brand & reputation aligned to our vision;
- Engage external stakeholders to create visibility and strengthen our presence;
- Engage IWF International to create visibility and strengthen our presence;
- Implement measures to protect the organisation from reputational risk
- Have our finger on the pulse of all current issues, develop positions and statements and ensure timeous coverage across all media; and
- Media recognising IWFSA as the primary source for commentary on all issues pertaining to women leadership.
The key focus of the committee over the first half of 2020 has been to position IWFSA as the voice of women leaders in the public domain and to encourage dialogue and communication within the membership of IWFSA. In a relatively short space of time the committee, with the kind assistance of pro bono support from leading consultants, has effectively positioned IWFSA as the de facto voice of women leaders in South Africa. The launch of the new Board of Directors of the IWFSA which took place at the JSE was the catalyst for the start of the campaign, followed swiftly by hard-hitting opinion pieces on GBV and the economy. Extensive media coverage was obtained, directly from the broadcast from the Union Buildings, of the IWFSA dialogue with His Excellency President Ramaphosa in early 2020 where the IWFSA was officially recognised.Every effort has been taken to ensure that the IWFSA is positioned correctly at events of national importance and in particular the State of the Nation address and the Budget Speech of 2020 was attended by the IWF President, with the support from Board Members. For example, live commentary from these events took place on the steps of parliament which fully entrenched our position as the voice of women leadership. A number of news flashes, opinion pieces and press releases have been issued.
These articles received prominent coverage in leading publications and can be found on website under news.
Funding and Sustainability
Focus area
- Ensure we are able to sustain business as usual functions through membership subscriptions
- Source funding to enable us to optimally deliver on specific programs
- Implement robust measures to ensure proper management and allocation of funds and improve the operational efficiency of the organisation
The Committee’s main role is to provide oversight and where applicable review and make recommendations to the Board on the organisation’s financial sustainability.The Committee is charged with reviewing the following:
- The planning and performance of initiatives, as defined mainly by the leadership committee, with respect to improving the financial sustainability of the organisation;
- Opportunities to increase revenues including grants, membership fees and donations;
- Opportunities to reduce expenses through improving business process efficiencies and clinical effectiveness;
- Identification and management of financial risks, including budget forecasts and budget management strategies;
- Advise the Board on fundraising opportunities and strategies.
The composition of the committee:
- The IWFSA Office Bearers
Member Affairs Committee Chair, Adv. Thandi Orleyn
Strategic Alliances Committee Chair, Ms Audrey Mothupi
Leadership Development
Focus area
- Empower our members through structured leadership development programmes
- Build a pipeline of the next generation of women leaders
Committee is chaired by Ms Charmaine Houvet – Chair: Leadership Development Committee / YLC/IFWLP and IFWLP Alumni.
Deputy Chair: Ms Shirley Machaba
The Leadership Committee was established in order to execute the “Leadership Development” strategic pillar and is chaired by Futhi. It has been mandated by the Board to:
- Provide a platform for leadership development through a number of programmes to be approved by the Board and
- Build a pipeline of the next generation of women leaders.
As the custodian and repository for the development of ethical women leaders in SA, the Leadership committee within IWFSA supports the Board’s vision to develop 200 women leaders by 2025.It is structured around four foundational pillars being:
- Self-leadership – Enhance the development of members through local and international content.
- Fellowship programme – Develop emerging and aspiring leaders through dedicated and specifically designed programmes with institutions of learning. The local programme is being designed through the engagement of various leading institutions. The international programme is run by IWF global whereby IWFSA nominate candidates to participate in the programme. Participants will study at Harvard and Insead as part of their learning.
- Young Leaders Connect (YLC) – Through IDEAL, an acronym for Identify, Develop, Empower, Accelerate and Leadership, the YLC identifies and develops aspiring young women leaders into ethical leaders.
- Conversation series – These are self-development and awareness discussions on topical issues impacting society, business and the world at large. These conversations will be held monthly on a digital platform and quarterly on a physical contact basis, once the Covid-19 pandemic is under control.
The YLC in particular, has received focused attention in the period under review. It has been relaunched in August 2020 and reignited as a mechanism to build the next generation of women leaders.
For more details on YLC go to www.ylcideal.co.za
Member Affairs
Focus area
- Attract and retain the membership of best of breed, like minded, accomplished women.
- Foster meaningful engagement and connectivity between members
- Create seamless, consistent and reliable experiences for our members
The mandate of the Member Affairs Committee, Chaired by Adv. Thandi Orleyn and Ms Totsie Memela-Khambula (Deputy Chair), is to recruit and increase the membership of IWFSA with the right calibre of women leaders in accordance to the guidelines set out by IWF.
The committee’s other goal is to focus on member retention, and provide oversight of member eligibility processes, membership outreach, and advice to the Board on member contribution and benefits. The other key deliverable for the committee is to ensure that successfully recruited members are inducted and ushered into the IWFSA in collaboration with the Communication Sub-committee.
The committee fully embraces a diversified membership base and is pro-actively looking at attracting women leaders coming from various economic segments of the South African Economy. To remain relevant to our existing members, we organise monthly Dine Arounds. These are hosted by Board members for both members and non-members. The member affairs committee remains committed to identifying and inviting other pre-eminent women into the IWFSA fold.
Strategic Alliances
- Cultivate mutually beneficial alliances with other organisations in South Africa
- Drive collaboration amongst organisations to achieve a cohesive outcome for women
- Develop and sustain partnerships that go beyond sponsorships for our members
The mandate of the committee is to provide a platform for the formation of strategic alliances and substantial partnerships with selected external organisations, companies and stakeholders, advance the strategy and objectives of the IWFSA to raise the profile of the organisation.
In a short time the committee, chaired by Nolitha, has implemented a number of key strategic partnerships including entering into a strategic partnership with the Women’s Development Bank Investment Holdings (WDBIH) and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, to harness women’s potential for economic growth and social justice, particularly to decrease the gender pay gap and increase the number of women in leadership positions.The WDBIH has commissioned research through the University of Stellenbosch and a capacity building programme is being developed. Industry influence and shareholder activism is also underway.
After engaging with the senior leadership of CISCO and IWFSA in early 2020, a strategic partnership has been entered into with this leading multinational technology giant. The IWFSA board and members have complimentary access to the CISCO Webex platform and through the influence of IWFSA the Webex services have also been extended to AWCA and other leading women organisations. The committee extends their gratitude to Charmaine Houvet for enabling this partnership.The IWFSA President is driving the strategic alliance with the South Africans Chapter of the BRICS Business Council on anchoring women alliances. The advent of Covid-19 has impacted on the planned activities of the Council and in particular the global events planned. We are also building strategic partnership with Government on the implementation of the National Strategic Priorities on Gender Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF).
The committee is chaired by Ms Audrey Mothupi – Chair: Strategic Alliances.
