Global South Africans

GSA has heard from many groups in South Africa how they would be thrilled to have our members deliver lectures or address roundtables when you visit South Africa. Universities, Chambers of Commerce, Business support groups etc. have all said they would welcome your insights into best practices, models, business or professional challenges. So, if you are planning a visit, please let us know so we can coordinate with them to have you share your experiences.

GSA will join with Homecoming Revolution — www.homecomingrevolution.co.za on their upcoming Canada/North America trip to host several events in Chicago, New York and Washington, DC.

Homecoming Revolution tries to encourage South Africans living abroad to return home and provides support for their return. GSA recognises that some South Africans have made the US their home and will not be returning. We aim to encourage goodwill toward the country by facilitating the provision of your assistance to South Africans at home.

The objectives of the two organisations have synergy. We have thus decided to host events at which we meet you, talk to you, hear from you, exhange ideas etc. Details of event dates, times and venue will follow by invitation and on this website soon.

The Colleges of Medicine South Africa (CMSA) was founded in 1954. It has provided support for doctors since then specifically by offering specialist qualifications (fellowships) recognised by the Health Professionals Council of South Africa and by offering financing, governance and infrastructure support for academic medicine. Read the full article

Steven Dubner, one half of the Freakonomics team, asks what Houston pensioners and South African schoolchildren have in common. The answer is Cyril Wolf, a GSA. The explanation.

Geoffrey Bradfield was raised on a farm in South Africa. He proved himself as a star designer in Johannesburg before arriving in New York. Now he designs interiors for the elite in the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe. His work has included the Kennedy Library in Boston, the residences of Queen Noor of Jordan and the late King Hussein. His portfolio includes a major design overhaul of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitnet’s estate on Long Island and he recently was commissioned to restore the gallery in Edith Wharton’s former country estate, The Mount.

Geoffrey’s work can be viewed at www.geoffreybradfield.com. A superb brand ambassador for the country, he is also exploring ways with GSA to include aspiring South African designers in a scholarship program he has developed. He was honoree at last December’s gala dinner in New York to raise fund for the Phelophepa health care train.

GSA members may be interested in adopting a South African school. We have been looking at options and will help members make the necessary connections. One approach is to work through the National Department of Education’s 400 Schools program, which has identified excellent candidate schools for adoption. Another is SchoolTrade, an NGO based in Kwazulu Natal. Read the full article

Michael Spicer, CEO of Business Leadership South Africa and member of the IMC’s board of trustees, offers the following sober assessment of what Jacob Zuma’s election to the presidency of the ANC means for SA. Read the full article

The Financial Mail ran a cover story just before Christmas profiling successful South Africans overseas. Here are links to each of the individual profiles: Stanley Bergman, Vincent Mai, Gail Kelly, Manfred Gorvy, Sean Killa, Clive Calder, Marius Kloppers, Mark Weinberg, David Potter, Roelof Botha, David Altschuler, David King and Sidney Brenner. For some reason, Elon Musk did not make the FM’s list. He did, however, get named as Inc. magazine’s entrepreneur of the year. You can read the Inc. profile here.

It’s a pretty stunning group, though the list only scratches the surface. Vincent Mai and Stanley Bergman, both in New York, have agreed to be part of the GSA initiative.

When my colleague Simon Barber visited South Africa in October, he met with some of our potential partners, including Wits’ Business School Dean, Professor Ncube and Charisse Drobis, director of WBS’ International Office. One of the ways they envisaged the GSA network helping was to support South African students in co-research opportunities and “cyber mentorship” exchanges . So, for example, if one of our members was working on an immunology research project they might want to bring in a South African student to assist in that research. Read the full article

GSA Richard Rabins is Co-Chairman of Alpha Software in Boston. The company has developed an easy to use e-commerce software package, AlphaStore 2007. As part of the GSA project, Richard is interested in donating the software to help small businesses in South Africa market their products online. Read the full article