Champion of women’s empowerment delivers Standard Bank Top Women Conference keynote address

Gloria Tomatoe Serobe

Champion of women’s empowerment delivers Standard Bank Top Women Conference keynote address

Gloria Tomatoe Serobe’s keynote address at the 2021 Standard Bank Top Women Conference focused on driving women enablement and empowerment. An iconic South African entrepreneur and businesswoman, she is a pioneer in the field of broad-based black economic empowerment for women, and is renowned for creating platforms which drive women’s economic participation.

In a lifetime of remarkable achievements, she is, perhaps, best known for her role as one of four co-founders of Women Investment Portfolio Holdings (Wiphold) - the first women’s group established post-1994 to list on the JSE - and for her current role as CEO of Wipcapital, a subsidiary of Wiphold focusing on operational financial services.

Gloria is Chairperson of the Solidarity Fund which was created in March 2020 in response to the COVID pandemic in South Africa. President Ramaphosa appointed her to this position in acknowledgement of her astute resource stewardship. The Fund is a platform for the public and private sectors and the general public and civil society to come together and contribute to the funding of various initiatives. While the Fund works closely with government and business, it is, however, independent and Old Mutual is the pro bono administrator. Apart from her leadership role within Wiphold and Wipcapital, she serves on several boards of directors including Old Mutual, Nedbank, Denel and Safin and is Chairperson for Adcorp Holdings Limited (Employment Services). Gloria is an honorary member of the Actuarial Society of South Africa and serves on the advisory council of the South African Institute for Chartered Accountants (SAICA).

In 2021, in honour of her being “a resolute advocate of social equity, fairness, justice, and equality, as well as for her fight against poverty, creating jobs, reducing unemployment and building a stronger economy”, Nelson Mandela University conferred upon her the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (honoris causa).

Sources Wiphold Solidarity Fund Nelson Mandela University