10 South African Entrepreneurs With Impactful Non-Profits
10 South African Entrepreneurs With Impactful Non-Profits. These entrepreneurs have made significant contributions through their non-profits, addressing various social issues including education, healthcare, environmental conservation, and economic empowerment. Here are ten South African entrepreneurs who founded their own non-profit startups, significantly impacting various social sectors:
Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman
In 1992, he founded the Gift of the Givers Foundation, and has since then delivered more than R160 million in a 13-year period to 22 countries, including South Africa. The organisation is impartial and apolitical, and aims to serve with compassion, kindness and mercy. One of the notable gifts that he organised was the donation of a well-equipped field hospital first used during the Bosnian War.
Tracey Chambers
She is the co-founder of Taking Care of Business (TCB), a non-profit social enterprise. The NPO’s purpose is to empower the people raising the next generation. It does this by equipping aspiring entrepreneurs with the skills and resources needed to unlock their potential and access the economy.
Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah Foundation (SA) is a separate independent nonprofit company registered with the South African Revenue Service as a public benefit organisation.
Adine Roode
Adine Roode is the founder of the Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development (HERD) Trust and MD of JABULANI. The mission through the creation of HERD (Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development), is to care for and rehabilitate orphaned elephants, to give them a new family, and a second chance of life with another herd. The orphanage lies adjacent to the Jabulani Herd stables on the Kapama Private Game Reserve, which allows HERD to assess and integrate each baby elephant into the herd according to their individual emotional needs.
Kevin Richardson
The Kevin Richardson Foundation is a non-profit conservation organization with nature’s most majestic creature, the lion, at its heart. Founded in 2016 the foundation is committed to changing and reversing the state of Africa’s declining lion population by purchasing habitat and raising awareness to create safe, natural spaces where lions and other native species can flourish. By partnering with specialized organizations and engaging with impoverished communities on the fringes of these protected areas, the foundation also aims to minimize human-wildlife conflict whilst improving living conditions for local villages.
Taddy Blecher
He is the founder of The Maharishi Invincibility Institute (MII), an accredited and registered non-profit South African skills-to-work educational institution. As a registered Private College created in 2007, Maharishi aims to make high-quality, holistic education accessible to all. MII has won 34 local and international awards.
Namritha Sivsanker
She is the founder of Hope SA Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering communities and transforming lives in South Africa. Education and sustainable solutions are key to breaking the cycle of poverty and creating a brighter future. Its programs focus on providing access to education, skills training, healthcare, and other basic needs to underserved communities.
Nomzamo Mbatha
Established in 2015 by actress and UNHCR ambassador Nomzamo Mbatha, the Nomzamo Lighthouse Foundation’s work is inspired by the plight of South Africa’s most vulnerable and marginalized. Through its partnership networks within the public, private and civil sectors the foundation has established scholarship and youth empowerment programmes, positively impacting youth and changing the course of many lives. The foundation has a growing national footprint spanning seven out of nine provinces (i.e. KZN, EC, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Free-State, WC and Gauteng) and is set to expand to all nine.
Siya and Rachel Kolisi
The Kolisi Foundation was founded by Siya and Rachel Kolisi in March 2020 with a vision to change narratives of inequality in South Africa. By working alongside others, they are adding their story to the stories of communities and individuals who are changing the world. The Kolisi Foundation seeks to support people living in under-resourced communities in South Africa, by providing resources, facilitating capacity-building and horizontal learning exchanges, and mobilizing and advocating for systemic change.
Patrice Motsepe and Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe
The Motsepe Foundation was founded in 1999 by Mr Patrice Motsepe and Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe. In 2013 the Motsepe family were the first on the African continent to join the Giving Pledge, started by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet. The Foundation was founded on the philosophy of ‘ubuntu’, the African concept of giving and caring for your neighbour and other members of your community.
