ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND LEADERSHIP
With twenty three years of experience in the Small Medium Enterprise development sector, organisational development, management and leadership sectors, Ms Vani Moodley has designed training models, manuals, trained, mentored, coached and interacted with women and men in urban and rural areas, in federations, corporate and government, nationally within South Africa, in six countries in Africa, the USA, Phillipines, Sweden, Switzerland, Bangladesh (engaged by the World Bank IFC), India, Belgium, and Dubai. From the "rural" to the "boardroom", she has trained and consulted as an internationally accredited trainer of trainers on entrepreneurship and leadership using experiential and action learning methodologies extensively.
Ms Moodley held national leadership positions in institutions for over thirteen years and founded and directed Vuka Uzithathe, an Institute for Gender and Economic Development for eight years. Ms Moodley is a recognised and accredited service provider to various government departments, projects and corporate including the Seda National Learning Academy, the DTI national offices and has been appointed as a service provider for the coastal regions by Shanduka Black Umbrellas. Ms Moodley served as the Chairman of the Businesswomen's Association in Durban and on the national board of the organisation from December 2004 to April 2009.
I have trained my mind to look beyond challenges to that which can unfold as creative and realistic solutions.
Twenty two women entrepreneurs were selected, coached and mentored in KwaZulu-Natal over a period of seven months.
The Women Enterprise Coaching model was based on the SAPLATO model that Vani Moodley, with the support of Seda improved, adapted and redesigned with a focus on the South African Context. Some of the unique features of the mentorship and coaching intervention are linked to designing strategy based on a problem analysis, scenario planning, and addressing the holistic needs of the entrepreneur and the enterprise. The qualitative and quantitative impact has placed the model on the map in SA and Belgium. Twenty of the twenty two entrepreneurs achieved a 123 % growth in turnover and an increase in employment by 21%, creating 53 new jobs in 7 months. Vani Moodley is currently evaluating this intervention, 12 months later, as part of a master's thesis at the University of Witwatersrand.
As a direct result of the impact of the above intervention, Ms Moodley was invited to Belgium and was subsequently introduced to a Belgian production company (by the SA Embassy in Brussells) to coordinate stakeholders for the implementation of an entrepreneurship reality television series for South Africa - Starter SA. Starter SA is due to be launched at the end of October 2014 in the Eastern Cape.
Ms Moodley serves on various committees. She is a member of the Monty Naicker Commemorative Committee, is a friend of the KZN Blind and Deaf Society and sits on the provincial advisory board of Shanduka Black Umbrellas, a business incubator.
Ms Moodley is an invited associate of United Success, a worldwide network of women business owners. She currently serves as Chairman of the Women in Business Forum within the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry and serves on the Council.
She co-hosts an International Leadership and Management Development Summit in some part of the world with PBG Consulting every year.
What have the highlights and challenges been in establishing yourself in the business environment?
Having to raise an incredible child with outstanding sporting potential as a single parent, was a critical driving force that shaped my life purpose. My life experiences, involvement in key and multi-faceted social and developmental anti-apartheid organisations and communities in youth, ignited a deep passion for the economic empowerment of people of South Africa. People are the fiber of the economy and it is in their achievements that economies thrive.
The highlight of my career is that I am living my passion and can positively impact on, beget a difference and influence life journeys' and success in business. The international exposure has provided key insights, diverse and expansive proficiency and holistic economic, political and social perspectives with alternatives that influence the design and implementation of training interventions.
