In celebration of women’s month, Betway South Africa and Forwardzone rolled out the first ever Betway Women’s Month Thought Leadership conference, which took place on 24 and 25 August.
The two-day online event saw Betway SA bring together some of the country’s most iconic women in sport and business over an engaging thought leadership discussion, geared at recognising and celebrating the achievements and excellence of South African women.
In line with its brand ethos of being at the forefront of positively contributing to amateur and elite sport, Betway SA has pulled out all the stops in putting together an exceptional panel of experts from various fields to share their inspirational journeys and achievements in both sport and business.
Speaking ahead of the ground-breaking initiative, Betway South Africa’s Marketing Manager, David Rachidi said while acknowledging the severe hardships and challenges faced by women, the brand had taken a bold and deliberate direction of choosing to celebrate iconic women who have and continue to defy the odds that continue to be heavily stacked against them.
“Women’s month is a very special occasion on the South African calendar, marking the important sacrifices that were made by women for the country. While we as a brand recognise the immense injustice that women are continuously subjected to, we felt that it was equally important for us to provide a platform where we can draw inspiration from great industry leaders, who continue to prove that women are more than capable of being leaders in business, sport and society. Through this webinar, we want to help showcase their inspirational journeys and inspire more women and the youth to follow in their footsteps,” said Rachidi.
The two-day programme opened with Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis, Netball SA President Cecilia Molokwane and Central Gauteng Lions President, Anne Vilas sharing their achievements that were preceded by them overcoming different adversities in their highly demanding senior roles.
The second session of Day-1 tackled the important subject of women building strong brands for themselves. This will be led by a panel of strong women in sport and business such as Jade Kirkel (Marketing & Branding Expert), Motshidisi Mohono (Media & Broadcast personality) as well as Lauren Duncan who is co-founder of South Africa’s fastest growing women’s football club, JVW FC.
The final day of the webinar saw Betway inviting the audience to delve deep into a discussion on media and sponsorship for women in sport. Fahmeeda Cassim-Surtee from DSTV as well as long-time servant of the game, Fran Hilton-Smith were joined by the brand’s very own Marketing Operations Coordinator and former Hockey player, Vuyisanani Mangisa, who represented the country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2014 Hockey World Cup.
The final session of the webinar concluded with a way-forward mapping discussion titled “Future Proofing the Women’s Game”. The topic was spearheaded by SA U17 national team coach, Simphiwe Dludlu, FC Bayern München defender Claudia van den Heiligenberg and other strong business women putting forth their recommendations of how the women’s game can be preserved and taken a level higher across all spheres.