Some of the finest women inside and outside South Africa will participate in Social Media Week Johannesburg 2014 this September.
We’ve got Bassey Ikpi, Nicola Cooper, Britni Danielle, Kisha Mays, Awesome Luvvie, Amy Ford, Taryn Gill and other.
Read about some of the speakers below;
Milisuthando Bongela is a writer, blogger and consultant based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Although her background is Journalism and Media Studies, having obtained a BA Journalism Degree from Rhodes University, she spent 7 years working in the fashion industry in South Africa. In 2010 she won the Sanlam Fashion Journalism Award for breaking the story of the Smarteez in Elle Magazine and a year later, opened popular local designer clothing store Mememe in Johannesburg, with business partner Doreen Southwood.
Having created a wide-ranging vocational framework, her ability to adapt her skill to any creative endeavor, keeps her extremely active. Mili was featured in CNN’s Quest Means Business series ‘’The Millenials’’, where for six months, CNN followed her career progress. In September 2012, she was interviewed by Richard Quest in London as the series came to an end.
And she will be speaking at this event during Social Media Week, Jo’burg
Sarah Jane Boden is the founder of Soul Providers. She is passionate about entrepreneurship, innovation and storytelling, Sarah-Jane is the founder of Couture Content and Social Media Marketing agency SoulProviders, based in Johannesburg and Swaziland. SoulProviders’ talented team focuses on telling great African stories online and offline and building and nurturing online communities across multiple channels on behalf of a range of South African, pan-African and Global brands.
Big, bold and beautiful Vuyo Sokupa is the Head of Programming at Mzansi Magic channels for M-Net based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She obtained her BA Journalism degree from Rhodes University and has since worked at Mail & Guardian, African Leadership Academy and Red Pepper Pictures before joining M-Net in 2012. She manages the creative commissioning output for the Mzansi Magic channels; providing strategic insight and encouraging increased market share for the company’s channels. Commissioning television shows that have high resonance with audiences creates great social engagement.
Lola Pedro has been engaged in industries as diverse as magazine publishing, events production, consumer research, virtual reality and corporate film, whilst working on projects for brands such as Trace, the European Space Agency, Abu Dhabi TV and Sony. She has been featured on CNN, and her trend thinking can be seen in publications such as the Telegraph online and Conde Nast Traveller.
She is the Africa Regional Director at trendwatching.com.
Michelle Atagana has been hanging around the internet since she was eleven, back in the days of Netscape. Later on, her interest lead to her graduating with a Masters Degree in New Media and Journalism, and her position as Managing Editor at Burn Media. She was named one of Mail & Guardian’s top young South Africans in 2012, writes a column about technology in Africa for CNN, judges occasional startup competitions and spends her free time working on the final draft of her PhD. But Michelle says she’s just a girl, standing in front of a startup, asking them what their business plan is.
Amanda Sevasti has contributed to a variety of publications, including Memeburn, BizCommunity, Saturday Star and Mail & Guardian. She has spoken at a number of conferences, including IT Web’s Social Media Summit and the Fuseware Social Media Landscape Report. She also appeared on the Oscar Pistorius Trial Channel to analyse social media trends.
Amanda understands how the future of advertising is inextricably linked with social networking and believes it has the power to create truly meaningful work. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Politics from Rhodes University, a diploma in Copywriting & Marketing Communications from the AAA School of Advertising, and an IMM Certificate in Marketing.
Luvvie Ajayi is an award-winning writer, humorist and digital strategist who believes in using the power of technology for social change. A ten-year blogging veteran, she is the voice behind Awesomely Luvvie, an entertainment and humor blog that covers everything pop culture – from TV, movies and technology to life’s random adventures.
Luvvie is also the Executive Director of The Red Pump Project, a nonprofit that raises awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls using red shoes as a symbol of empowerment.