On 20 March 2025, Braintree hosted Accelerate Action: A Creative Brunch for Women in Business Leadership – an intimate gathering celebrating female leaders who are rewriting leadership narratives. We challenged leading South African female executives to rethink leadership and legacy.
Research shows that companies with diverse leadership outdo their competitors by up to 25% (McKinsey, 2023). This could be owing to the fact that “female managers tend to outperform their male counterparts in driving employee engagement” (According to a Gallup survey of 27million employees worldwide). Yet globally, women remain severely underrepresented in C-suite roles. Statistics like these emphasise why events like this one are so necessary. This event directly addressed the gender disparity in business leadership, offering actionable insights and solutions based on real-world experiences.
Some highlights from the event:
- South Africa’s first black female winemaker and founder of Aslina Wines, Ntsiki Biyela, set the tone with a powerful keynote, delving into exactly how she rewrote her story. She expressed how she is cementing her legacy by now paving the way for others.
- GirlCode founder, Zandile Mkwanazi, shared her formidable journey into STEM, demonstrating how a pivot in the right direction changed her life and the lives of everyone in her orbit. She also facilitated a vibrant, interactive roundtable, fostering collaboration around solutions to challenges faced by female leaders. Her contribution had a room of C-suite leaders on their feet, dancing to Beyoncé.
- Powerfleet’s Catherine Lewis and Menar Capital’s Zimkita Jilingisi added their voices, each sharing inspiring personal experiences and practical wisdom.
- Personal insights from some of Braintree’s leading ladies, namely: Angela McMean, Analicia Paul, Hayley Blane, and Vanessa Reddy, established the event as a masterclass in resilience, vision, and the redefinition of leadership.
To further demonstrate Braintree’s commitment to these discussions under the guidance of Angela McMean, Braintree is proudly sponsoring a young woman’s enrolment in GirlCode’s April intake. This action will create pathways for the next generation of female leaders, particularly in STEM.
Every woman present on the day, offered her story as a powerful guide for those who follow. The room was filled with practical wisdom, genuine connection, and a shared commitment to reshaping the future of leadership in South Africa.
Missed out this time? Share your details with us and we’ll place you on the waiting list for the next Women in Leadership event. We’re planning more of these meaningful gatherings in the near future – and we intend on keeping them intimate and exclusive to cultivate true connection.
We invite you to join the movement towards a leadership landscape defined by female leaders who, like you, are ready to accelerate action, reclaim their agency, and build lasting legacies to uplift the future leaders watching them from the wings.
#AccelerateAction #WomenInLeadership #LegacyBuilding #GirlCode #Braintree #FutureReady
