One of Duke Corporate Education’s flagship events of 2025 saw a stellar line-up congregate in Johannesburg to discuss how women are shaping the future of business
The latest landmark conference in Duke CE’s eye-catching events program took place in South Africa in August 2025. An audience drawn from across a range of leading organizations gathered at the Women Leading Change summit to hear a host of speakers from business, media and academia sharing insights on the challenges facing women in leadership – and to explore how women’s leadership is changing society for the better.
A whisper to a roar
A series of leaders offered delegates inspirational words on the capacity of women in leadership to create change. “In every revolution, there is a whisper before the roar,” said Annika Larsen, news anchor at eNews Channel Africa (ENCA) opening the show. “A seed before the forest, a spark before the blaze. We are that whisper, that seed, that spark.”
Basetsana Kumalo, author and venture capitalist at Basetsana Women Investment Holdings, was equally powerful. “We are architects of tomorrow,” the former Miss South Africa said, “building with bricks of resilience and mortar of hope.”
Cisco Africa senior director, Charmaine Houvet, also spoke of resilience when she reminded delegates that – while huge challenges remain – vast progress has been made. “We have walked through storms that tried to break us,” she said. “Yet here we stand, unbroken, turning scars into symbols – and fear into fuel.”
One of the day’s highlights saw a touching tribute paid to the ‘First Mother,’ Zanele Mbeki. A feminist activist, Women’s Development Bank founder and former South African first lady, Mbeki was hailed as a leader, mentor, mother and institution builder. “You’ve lit the path of so many successful women in this country,” said Sindi Mabosa-Koyana, co-founder of the African Women Chartered Accountants Organization (AWCA). “We stand on your shoulders… We love you.”
Mbeki has “a rare gift of making people feel seen, heard, valued and encouraged professionally,” added Sharmla Chetty, Duke CE’s chief executive. “She reminds us that the future belongs to those that remain curious, adaptable and hopeful.”
Chetty herself recently received the Woman of Substance award from the AWCA. It was, she told guests, a humbling moment. “It speaks deeply to me because my own journey, like many of yours, has been possible because of courage.”
As delegates were reminded, courage takes many forms: it is required not only for confronting deep social injustices, but for handling sensitive moments within an organization both candidly and kindly. “The most courageous thing you can ever do is to be honest with a team member and tell them where they are developmentally,” said Duke University executive vice president Daniel Ennis. “That courage and leadership is about developing, cultivating, investing and nurturing others and showing the ultimate act of love – the hard messages.”
The human algorithm
Elsewhere, the growing impact of AI was a major theme. Fran Katsoudas, executive vice president and chief people, policy & purpose officer at Cisco, assured delegates that despite the huge advances in AI capabilities, core human qualities must remain preeminent. People must remain at the center of how we navigate disruption, said Katsoudas, and guide how we use AI. Bold leadership is required, with inclusion at its heart. “There’s a tremendous opportunity with AI, but a tremendous risk if we don’t include everyone,” said Katsoudas.
She urged leaders to commit to preparing their people and communities for what’s next. “If, at the end of the day, you demonstrate that you care for one another – that we want people to be the best they can be – it changes the environment and makes us better,” she said. Learning agility is emerging as a defining leadership skill. “The ability to constantly learn, reframe, and think about things differently, is essential,” added Katsoudas. “The learning we take on and the learnings we share will give us the ability to truly architect the future.” That is a huge responsibility – one that demands leaders to design progress thoughtfully, she cautioned. “This is the moment where we have to architect how we want to use AI. Ultimately, it’s about staying true to our values as we embrace this technology.”
Delivering change
The capacity of women leaders to shape a better future – and the strategies being pursued by companies to achieve greater equality – were also on the agenda.
Rizwana Butler, HR executive at Capitec, advocated a leadership model based on “humanness,” not command and control – which remains all too common. “The leadership models of today are based on power… on competition,” she said. “What the world needs is an opportunity for us to be more caring, to be more compassionate; for us to be working together despite our differences. That’s something that we as women are equipped to do.” The benefits will be widely felt, she added. “It’s not just about a better us and a better community. It’s for a better world.”
Taelo Mojapelo, chief executive of BP South Africa, revealed that more than half its leadership team are now women. Such “significant strides” were possible only with carefully-crafted recruitment, mentorship and sponsorship, she explained. “We’ve got a diverse recruitment panel,” she said, “making sure that as we recruit we are very clear about what capabilities we want to bring into the organization, making sure that we bring in competent potential, and that we are able to then develop [that talent] with mentorship opportunities, training opportunities – some of which take place with Duke CE right here.”
Creating change means unlearning old ways of working – including for women themselves, as delegates heard from Shirley Machaba, CEO, South Africa and regional senior partner, Southern Africa, at PWC. “There’s lots of aspects that women must ‘unlearn,’” she warned. “Why? Because of the way we grew up, the way we have been.”
New contexts demand new ways of doing things, she explained. “You find that now you are leading, you know partners who trained you, and you end up not having a voice. You are scared of speaking up,” said Machaba.
The challenge for women in leadership is clear, she concluded. “It’s about reinventing yourself, reimagining the possible – and making sure that your mindset is very different.”
Patrick Woodman is editor of Dialogue
