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He is an Extraordinary Professor of Practice at the North-West University Business School, and author of a very popular personal effectiveness book, “Servings of self-mastery”. The book was featured in Exclusive Books’ prestigious HomeBru Campaign in May 2024.

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His academic qualifications include BCom, LLB, MDP (Management Development Programme), EDP (Executive Development Programme), MBA, PhD, and he is in the process of completing a DBA (Doctor of Business Administration).

Alistair is a qualified Chartered Marketer with 26 years corporate experience. He’s a board member at the American Society of South Africa, a member of the Institute of Directors of South Africa, and a member of the Marketing Association of South Africa. He has received many industry awards over the years including the Runner-up in the MarkLives Agency Leader of the year award (2017), Global Brands Magazine’s Best Advertising and Marketing Leader Award in South Africa (2019), North-West University’s Alumni Excellence Award for Business Leadership (2023), and a Finalist in the IMM (Institute of Marketing Management) Marketing Excellence Awards (2023). 

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His previous roles include: Brand Manager at Unilever, Senior Brand Manager at Tiger Brands, Marketing Manager at SABMiller, Marketing Director at Mondelez, Head of Marketing at Absa Retail & Business Bank, Managing Director of FCB Advertising and Group CEO of Ogilvy South Africa where he spearheaded their digital transformation journey and presided over Ogilvy’s record-setting award wins.

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Alistair is a member of Council and a member of the Institute for Intelligent Systems at the University of Johannesburg, member of the Advisory Board at North-West University Business  School, a post-graduate supervisor and examiner at various universities. He previously served as Chairman of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Vice-Chairman of the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA).

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Dr Mokoena is an international keynote speaker on topics such as Leadership, Self-mastery, Effective teams, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Transformation, Digital Marketing and Advertising.

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He has published articles in academic journals, contributed book chapters, reviewed book manuscripts, delivered papers at international academic conferences, and given talks at prestigious business schools around the world such as The University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business, University of Washington’s Michael Foster School of Business, Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School, Harvard University Centre for African Studies and University of Oxford Said Business School.

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Alistair is also a philanthropist. He recently established the Dr Alistair Mokoena Education Fund at Rhodes University, North-West University and the Universityof Johannesburg. He runs the Johnny Magwegwe Mokoena Football Foundation which invests in grassroots football in South African townships. He mentors young professionals and coaches small businesses. He is passionate about bridging the digital divide and is an advocate for the role that responsible Artificial Intelligence can play in making the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development oals a reality in our lifetime. 

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Her extensive professional experience, expertise, and insight centres around Strategy Development, Leadership and Organisation Development, Capability Building, Succession Planning, Change Management and Culture Transformation. She is widely respected for her deep understanding of leadership and human resources in a complex world—influencing seamlessly across multiple cultures and geographies, contributing to more inclusive and engaged work cultures.

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Annie’s deepest professional ambition is to live out her personal values and purpose through her work. She is committed to using her considerable energy to help create a world where harmony, dignity and equitable abundance are the rule, not the exception. In the human resources arena, she has been dedicated to creating work environments that enable people to fully bring their gifts and passions to their work, while being in service to the global community and the world at large.  To this end, Annie runs her own coaching and consultancy business, in addition to working as a tutor for the Economics of Mutuality Executive Education Programme with the Saïd Business School of the University of Oxford. As a dynamic, resourceful and creative coach, Annie provides a safe and rich opportunity for coachees to step into a much larger story and bolder actions than they would on their own, and supports their transformation that lasts a lifetime.

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Annie holds a BA in English Literature from Jinan University in China and an MBA from McMaster University in Canada. She lives in Vancouver, Canada with her husband. When not at work, she enjoys reading, travelling, hiking and cooking for her family.

He has worked as a management consultant and executive educator with the Imagination Lab Foundation, Lausanne, the Universities of St Gallen and Bern as well as with Gemini Consulting.

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As a consultant and educator, his collaborations include Arvato, Bombardier, Celgene, CERN, LGT Venture Philanthropy, UNICEF Germany and University Children's Hospital Zurich, among others. He is also a co-director of University of Bern's KPM Centre for Public Management.

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Claus has been contributing to the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme (OSLP) since 2005 as faculty and tutor. Together with his OSLP colleagues, he has explored the role of critical thinking for leadership development in the Oxford Answers series. He has also reflected on the pivotal role of metaphorical reasoning in strategy work in 'Crafting Strategy: Embodied Metaphors in Practice' (Cambridge).

He is known for his ability to lead global teams through diversity and inclusion, understanding the importance of empathy in collaborative work with people in matrix organisations. He was nominated 18th out of 100 LGBTQ+ leaders in the Financial Times in 2014.

His passion for coaching and mentoring others to reach their full potential led him to professional and executive coaching. Faried founded equarius8coaching, helping Rising Stars/ Future Leaders and professionals from the LGBTQ+ and BAME communities and allies recognise and harness their unique gifts, gaining clarity to focus on what matters most and achieving success and prosperity.

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Faried is a qualified Chartered Accountant with several degrees and certifications.

Fiona works to deliver tangible outcomes to individuals (through coaching), or groups (through facilitation). She has designed and facilitated leadership, relationship management, talent development and interpersonal skills interventions for financial and professional services organisations globally. Fiona has worked with senior teams to establish new values/operating practices, and with Boards to establish strategy. Additionally, Fiona provides career coaching for students at London School of Economics, as well as professional skills sessions for Masters programmes.

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Her prior roles have included 4 years at HSBC, initially as Global Learning Manager then as Regional Head of Learning and Talent Development (EMEA) Global Functions and GBM. She was also Vice President at Lehman Brothers as Director of Leadership and Learning.

Fiona has an MSc in Occupational Psychology from the University of London and is a qualified coach.

Previously, Grant held a number of CEO positions at SABMiller, a FTSE top 10 company recognised for its focus on fixing and expanding acquired businesses globally, which contributed to its ranking among the leading firms on the index. Grant specialised in business turnaround and has successfully led efforts in various countries.

More recently, he managed the Asahi Holdings businesses in Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, which were significant contributors to Asahi's international turnover and profits.

Originally from South Africa, Grant has lived and worked in countries including Hong Kong, India, Czechia, Mozambique and Zambia.

Grant is a qualified accountant with various other certifications from Harvard Business School, The Wharton School, University of Oxford and University of Cambridge.

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Jack Barron grew up in the NorthEast of England, and has a PhD in English from the University of Cambridge, where he now teaches. His writing about literature has appeared in various magazines and academic journals, including The London Magazine, PNReview, and Textual Practice. His own poetry has been published by StillPoint, Shearsman Magazine, and CounterText.

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By taking the time to understand the individuals in her team and what made them special, she found she was able to maximise their potential both as employees and for their future career. 

She now draws on this corporate leadership experience (as well as a BSc in Psychology) in her own coaching and consulting practice,working with businesses to effectively develop their people. Laura is Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coaching Federation as well as retaining her Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) qualification with the ICAEW.

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Mike took the entrepreneurial plunge to start a company called Cerebra in 2006. With a specialist focus on digital content and engagement, Cerebra won numerous multinational accounts and grew quickly to become Africa’s leading social media agency. In his role as CEO of the business, he worked with executive teams in Coca-Cola, Samsung, Toyota, Vodafone, AB InBev, Ford, Huawei, Barclays, and more to build digital capability and agility, and to equip their leaders for success in the social and digital era of business. Cerebra was acquired by global advertising giant WPP in 2013.

In 2007 he co-founded a web start-up called Afrigator.com that was acquired by Naspers just 18 months later. Around the same time, Mike began hosting a popular networking event called the 27dinners, which went on to catalyse business collaborations and relationships through hundreds of successful events.

He also holds a British Academy Innovation Fellowship through to June 2024, which will enable closer collaboration between the V&A and the National Trust.

He joined the V&A from the University of Oxford where he was Heritage Engagement Fellow and Co-Lead of the Oxford University Heritage Network responsible for the University’s research and engagement projects with partners in the UK and international heritage sector.

Olly is a historian by training, and received his undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Oxford. His recent publications include contributions to The Country House: Past, Present and Future, Sport and Leisure in the Irish and British Country House, along with journal articles exploring the politics of horseracing in eighteenth-century Britain, the importance of Jewish histories to country house studies, and the challenges of interpreting eighteenth-century spaces for twenty-first century visitors. He also writes regularly for Apollo and is a frequent contributor to television and radio programmes.

Outside of the V&A, he is a Trustee of the University College Oxford Old Members Trust and was appointed by Her Majesty the Queen as a Trustee of the Churches Conservation Trust in March 2022. He also sits on the Grants Committee for Historic Houses. He previously sat on Arts Council England’s Designation Panel, chaired The Heritage Alliance’s Digital Learning and Skills Advisory Group, and was a member of the ‘The Devonshire Inheritance: Unlocking the Chatsworth family papers’ Advisory Group for the Chatsworth House Trust and a Trustee of Compton Verney House Charity.

She teaches Management Communication at Wharton and serves as Associate Director on the Communication Program at the Wharton Business School. Her leadership experience spans continents, countries, and cultures.

Reima specialises in building communities of belonging within organisations.

Her current interests centre on management and higher education, specifically organisational culture and communication, innovation in education and business innovations, sustainability, and the complex relationship between business and society. She is a brand strategist for artists in the music and performing arts industries. Reima’s extensive leadership experience in business, organisational research design, organisational change, DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging), and execution informed the strategic roadmap and operating model for one of the world’s most recognisable global organizations, the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations, where she served as Chief Operating Officer for one of their flagship programmes: The Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship. Through her formal academic research and practical on-the-ground execution, Reima is committed to creating more inclusive, high-quality education systems and corporate spaces at large.

Reima’s doctoral research focused on the lived experiences of minority women in higher education and corporate spaces. She earned her ALM  (English) from Harvard University, where she was awarded the Dean’s Academic Achievement Award and the Derek Bok Public Service Award. She has a BA in English and Comparative Literature from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt. Reima completed Executive Education with Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK, Essec Business School in France and Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management (in Innovation and Design Thinking), Cornell University. She earned her doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education with double distinction.

She is also a published poet and author.

Robert was elected to a Fellowship by Examination (‘Prize Fellowship’) at All Souls College, Oxford and was awarded a Doctorate in Philosophy in 1991. While a Fellow of All Souls, he also held lectureships at both Mansfield College, Oxford, and Hertford College, Oxford, as a member of the English Faculty. Robert sits on the board of the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology and of the Institute of Art and Ideas.

He is a founding faculty member of The School of Life. Robert is the founder of Dynamics of Power - focusing on power dynamics in business, family, government, society and relationships.

Sarah has deep experience in leading remote cross functional teams on large scale complex change programmes. Sarah has worked across countries ranging from South Africa, India, Kenya, Malawi, to UK and Saudi Arabia and across sectors from financial services, manufacturing, retail, public sector to mining. Her clients have included GLC (Lufthansa), SABIC, Reserve Bank, ABSA Barclays, Volkswagen Africa, Shoprite, Cape Town Tourism, amongst many more.  She is part time faculty with leading business schools and enjoys the combination of real world impact with research and publishing. Sarah has an entrepreneurial flair, and with systemic thinking and an adaptive mindset, she thrives in working to find impactful lasting solutions with clients. 

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She began her career as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, advising large corporate and government clients in Australia. She has since led operations for an education start up in India, managed a social enterprise accelerator in New Zealand and run various environmental campaigns.

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Shruthi has been recognised as a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum, and was a semi-finalist for the Young New Zealander of the Year Award. She completed her Masters in Business Administration on full scholarship at Oxford University.

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Prior to URC, Thami co-founded Makers Unite in 2016, an award-winning social enterprise dedicated to fostering the inclusion of refugees in The Netherlands and Turkey.

A TEDx speaker, Thami's journey in social innovation stems from his background in product design, with education from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, ENSCI-Les Ateliers in France, and Santa Clara University in the USA. Before co-founding Makers Unite, he played a pivotal role in developing Kibo Africa, a social venture providing moto-taxi services and products in Kenya.

Thami's work revolves around fostering collaborations among individuals, organisations, and stakeholders, all towards realising a sustainable and socially responsible future.