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Allan Gray Orbis Foundation

Future agents of change

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:58

A silent hush fell across the room as Anthony Farr CEO of the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation congratulated the first eight Allan Gray Fellows for their excellence in education and successful completion of the intense three year programme.

The Allan Gray Orbis Foundation graduates’ ceremony was hosted at the BMW Pavilion in Cape Town on Saturday, 21 February.

“After three years of intense mentorship from South Africa’s top business minds, the Allan Gray Fellows have not only completed a degree, but have also graduated from the Allan Gray Fellowship Programme. The programme aims to develop Fellows as potential future entrepreneurs through its focus on education, skills development, work experience and mentoring,” comments Farr.

The Foundation spends a great amount of time recruiting and identifying applicants who they believe have the desire and ability to become South Africa’s future change agents today. Applicants that are assessed must not only demonstrate their academic ability, but also indicate personal initiative and a passion and natural flair towards entrepreneurship.

“From the 109 interviews that the Foundation initially conducted in 2005, only eight candidates have emerged from the highly demanding Fellowship programme which offers students a fully funded scholarship at university, covering tuition and board and lodging. All eight have successfully completed their degrees along with the extensive entrepreneurship programme setting a high benchmark for future Fellows to meet,” continues Farr.

With a firm belief that entrepreneurial thinking is the key to unlocking economic growth and creating a vibrant and sustainable economy tomorrow, the Foundation was established in 2005 with the aim to bolster job creation and alleviate poverty by harnessing the power of pioneering, young bright sparks with entrepreneurial potential. There are currently just under 200 of these Allan Gray Fellows at 7 universities across the country.

Farr moves onto say that the entrepreneurial development programme focuses entirely on the individual, identifying capacity and orientating them into a deep understanding of and belief in the entrepreneurial spirit, gearing them towards becoming the Mark Shuttleworths of tomorrow.

Continues Farr, “Graduates of the Allan Gray Fellowship Programme who wish to start their careers as entrepreneurs after some period of work experience are eligible to apply to E2 for funding. This is the empowerment vehicle of Allan Gray Limited that provides the potential start-up capital for their viable new businesses on successful submission of their proposed business plans. We hope that this privilege will be used wisely and that Fellows will use their resources to add value to our country and make a positive impact on our collective futures.”

The 8 Allan Gray Fellow graduates are as follows:

• Cheryl Lynn Freeman a graduate from the University of Cape Town, boasts a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Financial Accounting;

• Caron Bramwell excited by the business world decided to follow the Chartered Accountant route, enrolled at the Witwatersrand University has graduated with a Bachelors degree in Commerce;

• Gerard Govender completed a Bachelor of Accounting Science at the University of the Witwatersrand. 2008 marked the completion of his final Certificate in the Theory of Accounting (CTA) Honours, graduating within the top ten percent of his class at Wits;

• Nishant Lalla, born and raised in Gauteng, studied a Bachelor of Business Science degree majoring in Information Systems at the University of Cape Town;

• Patrick Mann, graduated with a degree in Business Science Finance, he is currently enrolled with the University of Cape Town’s Post Graduate Diploma in Accounting (PGDA) class – a one year program designed to equip students to proceed to their Articles towards qualifying as a Chartered Accountant;

• Batwanda Alperstein grew up in Transkei and has graduated from a Business Science degree in Economics from the University of Cape Town. He finds the paradigm of deductive thinking used in the discipline as a good lens through which to analyse human’s individual and collective actions;

• Siphesihle Buthelezi from Newcastle, KwaZulu Natal, now lives in Johannesburg, received a Bachelor of Accounting Science and graduated in a Higher Diploma in Accountancy from the University of the Witwatersrand;

• Phathiswa Mdladla from Nyanga, Cape Town graduated from the University of Cape Town in 2008 with a Bachelors degree in Commerce.