JA South Africa is proud to announce the appointment of Ms. Zodwa Pakade as the new board chairperson. Prior to this appointment, Ms Pakade has been an invaluable Board member of JA South Africa for the past five years and has been acting in this role since the last quarter of 2021.
“We look forward to further embracing her stewardship and support as we continue to build thriving communities and chart new pathways to take the organisation to the next level”, says Nelly Mofokeng, MD at JA South Africa.
Zodwa Pakade is co-founder and CEO of ZPM Ventures, an investment company focused on assets along the digital value chain. She has over 19 years’ experience in Strategy, Deal Making and ICT across the African continent. Prior to this, she was Executive Director for Corporate Affairs at Pearson South Africa, the world’s largest education company.
She has held various leadership roles at organisations like Dimension data, Microsoft South Africa, and served on the boards of MTN Foundation and Pearson Institute. A seasoned social entrepreneur she has worked with numerous international donor organisations and local development financial Institutions implementing and promoting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and serving on the Board of the MTN Foundation.
“When I left Pearson, I did it to launch my tech startup, ZPM Ventures. I wanted to change a lot of peoples lives. At a large scale. I feel privileged to have he opportunity to impact learners at such a young age with 21st century skills, employability and access through the work of Junior Achievement. In South Africa, we have built strategic partnerships in financial services, technology and education, and created a roadmap designed to prepare our youth for entrepreneurship and productive employment. Over the next three years, as we emerge from the lockdown period, we expect to accelerate our reach and impact of our schools’ programs. I look forward to working with the board, staff, and communities“, says Zodwa Pakade.
JA South Africa is a youth development organisation that provides financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurial skills. JA South Africa is a non-profit organisation affiliated to JA Worldwide, one of the largest youth serving organisations in the world, operating in over 100 countries. For over 40 years JA South Africa has been providing essential entrepreneurial, financial literacy and work readiness programmes to young people from age 10 -35 years across the country, in both rural and urban environments. JA’s unique, experiential programmes ignite a spark in young people to experience and realise the opportunities of work and life in the 21st century.
