Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe, renowned South African entrepreneur, fashion leader & philanthropist

We were delighted to host a special online event on Wednesday 24th June 2020 with Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe, a renowned South African philanthropist, businesswoman and medical doctor by training. She is the Co-founder & CEO of the Motsepe Family Foundation, a leading African charity and was notably one of the first billionaires in Africa to make The Giving Pledge, donating over half of her and her husband's wealth to charity. Together with her husband Dr Patrice Motsepe, founder of African Rainbow Minerals, they are amongst the top 10 wealthiest black people in the world. The Motsepe Foundation has been commended for its success in empowering African women to be at the forefront of the continent’s development while its bursary program continues to provide funding for a first-rate education for disadvantaged African students, helping to overcome poverty on the Continent. Dr Precious is also the Founder and Executive Chairperson of African Fashion International, which empowers young fashion designers, proudly showcasing top African talent, and ran the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Brought to you by The Oxford Guild, its Collegium Global Network of top universities, Oxford ACS, Cambridge Guild, LSESU BIG, Imperial Finance Society, King's Business Club, Warwick Finance Societies and other leading university societies, the event is 100% FREE and open to all and supported by The Oxford Foundry.

Born in Soweto to teacher father and mother nurse she began her career in medicine, as a hospital physician and general practitioner. Dr Moloi-Motsepe authored a resource guide for women across South Africa, The Precious Little Black Book, and has produced the Gender Responsive Budgeting Initiative South Africa. At the start of 2020 she succeeded Graça Machel as Chancellor of the University of Cape Town and sits on Harvard Kennedy School’s Women’s Leadership Board and the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council.

Having grown up in the gross inequity of apartheid South Africa to become one of the most well known and inspiring philanthropists of that same country, Dr Moloi-Motsepe has seen and driven great change in both her personal life and the lives of those around her. As a result, she has a fascinating perspective on poverty, race relations and social impact. We were delighted to host her and it was fascinating to hear what she had to say about philanthropy and what lessons she thought the Black Lives Matter movement could learn from South Africa’s experience with deeply fraught race relations and subsequent reconciliation.

The event also served as special keynote event for The Oxford Guild's Infinity Diversity Speakers Series, supported by the Oxford Foundry. Since launching in 2017, this speaker series has welcomed some of the most inspiring people in the world across almost every field and has included high profile events such as our Global Female Leadership Conference and talks with renowned Nobel Prize winners. The series has always been about embracing diversity and targeted at encouraging women, LGBTIQA+ people and ethnic minorities to believe that they can succeed in any occupation they choose, and making sure that they have positive role models to which they can aspire.

In the wake of a recent surge in racial tensions and divisive policies, we are fighting back against discrimination and striving to create a positive culture of belief that students can do anything they want to, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, orientation or background. This is something that we really want to bring into focus, at Oxford and universities across the country and world, to ensure that everybody feels able to pursue their dreams and it is part of our wider drive to promote diversity and inclusion amongst students and society in general.

The core current focus is on systemic injustices, in light of the recent death of George Floyd under police custody and the subsequent anti-racism focussed global protests, outrage and growth in support for social justice movements such as Black Lives Matter. We seek to educate students, promote understanding, stimulate discussion and inspire them to play a role in combating injustice and prejudice and helping to build a fairer, better world for everyone.

It was a truly fascinating and wide ranging discussion that is well worth watching!