AFRIEL
Paying it forward
Being of Light protecting that which is youthful, tenderly growing in each of us
Collaborating,having fun, encouraging adventure,newness and exploring possibilities
Who are we?
Charmaine Houvet Founder
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My love and passion for the ICT industry comes from over 24 years’ telecommunications experience working with private and public sector across Africa. In November 2016, I was named South Africa’s Top Woman in ICT. In August 2017 I was awarded the Ministerial Recognition Award, at the MTN Women in ICT awards SA.
​I am passionate about working on the continent, collaborating with government, private and public sector, female and community development. I serve on various boards and trusts whose objectives are close to my heart especially education. I was recently appointed as a member of the invitation only South African Chapter of the International Women’s Forum of South Africa.
​I am the co-founder of The Mentorship Circle, a partnership with the African Women Chartered Accountants (AWCA) and Duke CE University that mentors young professionals and start-ups. I mentor Girl Codeza a NPO that works with government, private and public sector to empower young girls seeking a long-term career in ICT by teaching girls in rural areas how to code and design.
​I have always been a dreamer and am deeply grateful for the opportunity to live my dream of freely sharing my skills and knowledge with future leaders. My journey has shown me that vulnerability is essential to our connection with each other and I am excited to share my personal journey in the one on one mentorship sessions.
Sonwabise MZINYATHI
Acting) Chair of the Board, South African Women in ICT Forum, Councillor, B-BBEE ICT Sector Council, Senior Manager, Global Policy and Government Affairs at Global Citizen
Founder: Source Creations
MBA Candidate: African Leadership University School of Business
Sonwabise is passionate about the potential for technology to help governments and industry bridge the global inequality gap. She is the (Acting) Chair of the Board of Directors for the South African Women in ICT Forum, a Forum that services to create opportunities for women in South Africa’s ICT sector and ICT-enabled industries. She is also the founder of Source Creations, an impact investing company focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) innovation in the technology space.
Sonwabise serves as a Councillor on the B-BBEE ICT Sector Council.
She has a post grad in International Relations and is pursuing her MBA with the African Leadership University School of Business.
Sonwabise’s career has led her to leadership roles with global tech companies; namely:
Networking and software company Cisco Systems where she was also a Board Director, data analytics company Refinitiv, and media and data company Thomson Reuters. She has also been a Diplomat of South Africa based at the South African High Commission in New Delhi, India.
Currently, she looks after Global Policy and Government Affairs for Southern and East Africa at Global Citizen, which curated Mandela 100 in 2018, in April 2020 curated the One World-Together At Home global broadcast which raised $127 million towards the COVID-19 response, and in June 2020 curated the Global Goal- Unite For Our Future campaign which received support from AU Chair President Cyril Ramaphosa and raised $25 million in COVID19 response initiatives from the ECOWAS region. She is a speaker and a columnist on the topics of economic benefits for diversity and inclusion with a focus on women in tech, ESG investing, sustainable go-to-market strategies and ESG investing.
Mentoring young people is something she is deeply passionate about and pursues it in her spare time.
IRISHA LUHANGA
Executive Director Redefine Human Capital, Founding Member of Visions of Joy, NGO & Board Member for the South African Women in ICT Forum, BA Hons Degree from the University of Johannesburg and BTech Degree from University of South Africa as well as NLP™ Master Practitioner and Integrative Enneagram Practitioner Accreditation
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Creating environments inspired by love to empower and support humanity to achieve greatness is what Irisha Luhanga stands for. Irisha is an entrepreneur on a mission to even the odds for future generations by building organizations, bringing people together, and speaking up. Since graduating, Irisha Luhanga has climbed positions in Human Resources, and has had an exceptional career with the country's foremost Multi-National Financial Institutions. She currently is an Executive Director of Redefine Human Capital, as well as a Founding Member of Visions of Joy, which is an NGO providing basic needs to underprivileged youth and facilitating infrastructure projects to improve their lives.
As a Board Member for the South African Women in ICT Forum she ensures that STEM Training and Development are on the agenda to tackle youth unemployment in South Africa in order to stay competitive in the face of rapidly changing workforce skills requirements in the ICT sector and ICT-enabled industries.
Irisha has also been working as a facilitator in the field of Diversity and inclusion, STEM and Leadership Training since 2009. She has also been a sought-after speaker on matters relating to Graduate Development, Challenges Facing Women in Corporate as well as Entrepreneurship in SA. One of her major interests which she is extremely passionate about is Women empowerment. She has been mentoring and coaching women in and out the workplace for a few years now.
GROWING TOGETHER
CONNECT AND GROW
We are always learning and evolving.The business world can be an exciting, exhilarating space filled with amazing opportunities; a rollercoaster of emotions. This space allows you to connect with leaders (Ambassadors) who are active in your respective industry
TABLE OF PLENTY
Apply to be part of these by invitation only gatherings which provide the opportunity to transform the table from a space for sharing food to a protective space to talk, connect and share our respective journey's , goals and aspirations
GET INVOLVED
Sign up as an Ambassador or as a contributor to the blogs , participate in discussions on a variety of topics relevant to the growth objectives and goals of our mentees