Catching up with Mosidi Modise: insights from our go-getting SA and UK board member!
We touched base with Mosidi Modise, who serves on GWF’s South African and United Kingdom boards, to gain her insights into the current social impact and philanthropy landscape. Mosidi brings her extensive expertise in financial services and management consulting to GWF, and we are thrilled to have this dynamic go-getter on board!
How did you get involved with GWF?
During my time at [investment management firm] Allan Gray, I spearheaded a number of initiatives for the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community. This community believes that our future generations will become leaders and shape their communities and their countries, and has thus forged a successful model of how to create social impact at grassroots level. I was involved in establishing its Stellenbosch hub and felt quite restless in the corporate environment; I had this pull to start effecting change in communities.
So when I left Allan Gray in 2020, I really wanted to create a business [her strategic communications firm Moop] that was at the intersection of helping companies that are doing well and those that are doing good. When the opportunity arose to sit on the GWF board, it also fulfilled that need – and I jumped at it.
How do companies benefit from investing in social impact causes, such as education?
There is a growing need for businesses to comply with environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements. In other words, there is a drive to be a well-run company that has a positive impact and does not create harm in the process of driving profits.
But more than that, companies have a social responsibility to help create a talent pool for the future. We have plans to link GWF with esteemed companies in the tech ecosystem that prioritise social impact – and we will then benefit from their skills and experience.
What is your vision for GWF?
In countries like Ireland, with sophisticated tech ecosystems, there is a huge need for customer success managers to help onboard and guide clients to use technology effectively. What if we could come up with a working model to build an academy in Hazyview, South Africa, that creates market-responsive solutions for international clients looking to outsource certain business processes?
We are already offering BPO services to local clients, through our VillageUp Impact social enterprise, and I think it would be an amazing game-changer for GWF to also tap into economies where there is a big skills gap and roles that can be outsourced. In Africa, with our growing youth population, we are at an excellent inflection point for those jobs. Technology can be the great equaliser in that respect.
