Wendy Luhabe: Nominated for a FORBES WOMAN AFRICA award at WED South Africa

12 November 2015 By admin

Dear Wendy Luhabe,

#WomenWOW-SA: WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP DAY SOUTH AFRICA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FORBES WOMAN AFRICA

On behalf of the 2015 Women’s Entrepreneurship Day South Africa (WED-SA), in partnership with Forbes Woman Africa, I would like to thank you for your support of WED-SA.

To be held for the first time in South Africa, Women’s Entrepreneurship Day is observed annually around the world on November 19 to empower, celebrate and support women entrepreneurs. Thank you for joining us in this global movement to honour these entrepreneurs who work hard to bring their ideas to life, drive economic growth, and contribute to human welfare in South Africa.

Forbes Woman Africa and WED-SA will award these female pioneers, leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators at the event. Worldwide, WED awardees are women of excellence and industry leaders in Business, Philanthropy, Social Responsibility, Technology, Sports, Entertainment, Health, Fashion and Beauty.

The judging panel for WED-SA comprised Forbes Africa editors, and I am happy to inform that you have been nominated as a finalist in the Social Entrepreneurship category on your work for the ‘Economic Empowerment of Women’ in South Africa.

Last year at the UN in New York, an Education Philanthropy Pioneer Award was given to President Barack Obama’s grandmother Mama Sarah Obama, for her work in bringing gender equality to education in Kenya.

With a growing number of women making a sizeable difference in the communities they serve, it was extremely difficult deciding on a finalist for this award.

I would like to take this opportunity to extend you and guest an invitation to a luncheon celebrating Women’s Entrepreneurship Day South Africa on November 19 2015, 12h00, at the Saxon Hotel in Sandhurst.

Wishing you all the best and I look forward to welcoming you as a finalist for the award.

Do please feel free to contact me for any queries.

Sincerely,
Nola Mashaba
Country Ambassador – WED SOUTH AFRICA
ABN Group Head of Corporate Communications

Honorary Membership – Golden Key International Honour Society

15 August 2015 By Wendy Luhabe

Wendy Luhabe has been invited to be an Honorary Member of Golden Key International Honour Society.

Golden Key is the world’s largest collegiate honor society. Membership into the Society is by invitation only and applies to the top 15% of college and university sophomores, juniors and seniors, as well as top-performing graduate students in all fields of study, based solely on their academic achievements. As an international honor society with more than 400 chapters at colleges and universities around the world, Golden Key is committed to a high standard of scholastic achievement, and an ethos of integrity, innovation, respect, collaboration and diversity.

With more than 2 million members, including honoraries like Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel and Bill Clinton, Golden Key carries an esteemed legacy of achievement. Members are a community with a linkage to widely respected individuals and ideals … all part of the continuum of excellence.

Golden Key offers its members exclusive opportunities and connections through $1,000,000 in scholarships and awards, partnerships with major corporations, career advancement and graduate programs. The Society also works with university faculty and administrators to develop and maintain one of the highest standards of education in the world. https://www.goldenkey.org/

Letter To Wendy - Page 1 — Letter To Wendy – Page 1

Letter To Wendy - Page 2 — Letter To Wendy – Page 2

Wendy Luhabe – Lifetime Achievement Award – 12th Annual Standard Bank Top Women Awards

13 August 2015 By Wendy Luhabe

Once in a long while something unexpectedly amazing happens.

Strike a Pose Photography-1708 — Vuyokazi Dlamini

There’s absolutely nothing you’ve done to earn it. And you didn’t happen to be at the right place at the right time either . When it happens it feels like it’s just what your soul desperately needed but, you were not conscious of the need. This is how I felt when social entrepreneur extraodinnaire and mentor Wendy Luhabe asked me to attend the 12th annual Standard Bank Top Women Awards on her behalf where she was being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. I accepted her request without hesitation. It was Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg who said “if you are offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on.” and this is exactly what I did and I inquired about the details later.

On the evening of August 6 at Emperors Palace the stage was set for one of the biggest and glitziest event dedicated to celebrating women’s achievements in South Africa. It felt like a dejavu moment for me because when I was in my teens I used to watch live broadcast of the National Shoprite Women of the Year Awards and I imagined myself collecting an award just like the featured women. Fast forward to my twenties- I started feeling that the goal was unattainable because of the challenges I had faced along the thorny and rocky path to success. I was doubting whether I was still in the running to be a successful business woman.

The entire experience of the evening: from getting dressed at home to that moment when I walked to the stage to accept the award gave me taste of how it feels like to be recognised for one’s accomplishments. IT FEELS AMAZING! The experience will go down as a defining moment of my life.

Vuyokazi Dlamini received award on behalf of Wendy.

I realise that we need mentors and role models to inspire us so that our circumstances don’t eclipse our purpose, but we also need to lead at some point. In five or ten years from now I’ll pay it forward by sharing the stage with another young person when I’m accepting my award.A mentor is someone who sees the best in you even when you’ve given up on yourself. A mentor reminds you of the dreams that you once had and challenges you to pursue them relentlessly. I don’t have the words to articulate everything that this experience has done for me but all I can say is Thank You to Wendy Luhabe from the deepest and truest part of my being.

Congratulations on the Lifetime Achievement Award. The award appropriately reflects your life’s work as a champion for the economic freedom of women. May you grow from strength to significance!

Mentee, Vuyo
Pictures by Strike Pose Photography