Impact Report Lessons learnt from a VUCA year

THE WORLD STOPPED BUT OUR IMPACT CONTINUED

CONTENTS 01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRPERSON

NUMBERS SNAPSHOT

ALLAN GRAY ENTREPRENEURSHIP CHALLENGE LESSONS

TALENT MANAGEMENT LESSONS

INTRODUCTION BY CEO

SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME LESSONS

ASSESSMENT AND DEVELOPMENT LESSONS

PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND COMMUNICATIONS LESSONS

THE ALLAN AND GILL GRAY PHILANTHROPIC ENTITIES

FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME LESSONS

IMPACT ASSURANCE LESSONS

INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY LESSONS

THE ALLAN GRAY ORBIS FOUNDATION VALUE OFFERING

ASSOCIATION PROGRAMME LESSONS

FINANCE AND OPERATIONS LESSONS

CONCLUSION

1

Message from the CHAIRPERSON

PROFESSOR ZANELE BRIDGETTE GASA – CHAIRPERSON

There is general acceptance that 2020 was a difficult year not only for South Africa’s economy, but also globally. Immeasurable suffering and challenges were experienced due to Covid-19, throughout the year. That said, the damage wrought by the pandemic on our fiscus is staggering. Last year saw the GDP experience its largest annual contraction in seven years, with the result that economic activity for the year decreased by 7% compared to the same period in 2019, according to Stats SA. In keeping with this trend, unemployment rose by 1.7 percentage points, to reach 32.5%. South Africa’s youth has been particularly hard-hit by unemployment, with 63.2% of people aged between 15 and 24 and 41.2% of those aged 25 to 34 falling into this category. Those fortunate enough to be employed were, however, also not cushioned from the effects of the pandemic: 10.6% of South Africans who hold jobs did not receive a salary during the lockdown, while 16.5% of those who did receive a salary, were on reduced pay. 2

Clearly, there has never been a greater demand for entrepreneurship. However, while the number of people who believe that South Africa offers exciting entrepreneurial opportunities has increased from 43.2% in 2017 to 60.4% in 2019, and the percentage of South Africans who would consider entrepreneurship as a career path is also on the up. South Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem continues to present significant challenges to would-be business owners. In fact, the country has been ranked 49th out of 54 economies on the GEM Entrepreneurship Context Index, with only Croatia, Guatemala, Paraguay, Puerto Rico and Iran fairing below South Africa and viewed as offering more complex environments.

Equally significant is the fact that only 11.9% of South Africans (one in eight) are latent entrepreneurs who intend to start businesses in the next three years – and 49.8% fear that if they make this move, they will fail (GEM, 2019/2020). Clearly, if South Africans are to leverage the power of entrepreneurship, a drastic intervention is required; one which will equip young people with the skills they need to navigate this difficult terrain. The Allan Gray Orbis Foundation has identified entrepreneurship education as the solution, especially when centered around the development of an entrepreneurial mindset which fosters resilience and an ability to identify and exploit opportunities as they arise. In this report, the Foundation explains the progress it has made as it works towards its goal of developing a pool of High Impact Responsible Entrepreneurs who may just have the skills to effect positive change, while also frankly discussing the stumbling blocks it has encountered, and the learnings that have emerged as the Foundation uncovers ways to address these. In so doing, we hope to empower our partners within the ecosystem so that the overarching objective which guides all of us – to see a more entrepreneurial South Africa – is within sight.

3

Board OF TRUSTEES The Foundation’s Board of Trustees provides oversight and strategic direction to the leadership team as we cultivate our future entrepreneurs with a combination of formative education and entrepreneurial development programmes.

NICK KERSHAW

AYANDA NOGANTSHI

4

MALIK FAL

GARY MOROLO

THEMBALIHLE BALOYI

5

2

Introduction BY CEO

YOGAVELLI NAMBIAR As we look back on the past year, it is clear that our people – and the Foundation itself – are more different now than we were at the beginning of 2020. The turmoil of this period has left us far wiser, and while we do not pretend to have uncovered all the answers, we certainly know a lot more about operating in a challenging and uncertain environment than we did previously. This document is a reflection on what we have learnt, a record of our failures and triumphs. We hope that it will be useful to others working in this vital sphere – who may consider it a learning document; a guide that may help them avoid the pitfalls we have encountered, and benefit from our learnings as we dust ourselves off and march ahead. We at the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation have always concurred with Nelson Mandela’s assertion that “education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world”. However, as we watch the world evolve into an altogether more complex and challenging place, we would like to add an addendum: We believe that it is entrepreneurship education and, linked to this, the practical development of entrepreneurial potential, that will prove to be the real gamechanger. 6

This is especially true in a country where unemployment has had a profoundly deleterious impact on our youth, millions of whom find themselves unemployed and, more disturbing still, unemployable. If we are to transform this vital component of our population from a mass of people without hope, into determined individuals who have the agency, skills and personal attributes to lead the country forward, we need an intervention that is both compelling and efficient. Our conviction that entrepreneurship education is, indeed, the primary solution for dealing with a disruptive future and is backed by a number of studies that indicate its critical role in developing successful entrepreneurs. Based on our own experience, supported by social learning theory, it is clear that it is not enough simply to equip young people with business skills that enable them to run an enterprise, but rather, it is the inculcation of the right mindset that provides a different lens on the world; one that creates a greater sense of agency; a confidence that they can identify and respond to problems; and the tools to do just that. This is why the Foundation focuses intently on the development of an entrepreneurial mindset, which we believe provides a lens on the world that will support the growth, resilience and value creation of young people. What’s more, by instilling in individuals the confidence that they can change their world, we enhance their potential to do just that.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION: A HUMAN RIGHT At a time when rapid change and unexpected developments the world over have brought about massive uncertainty, the ability and agency to spot opportunity, create change and add value, and importantly, the belief that you can, is not a gift. Rather, it is an essential to cope with the volatility and chaos of the world. This is why we see entrepreneurship education as a human right; fundamental for young people to survive and thrive in the future that is our legacy for them. The World Economic Forum’s prediction on the skills required for the future, align directly with the entrepreneurial skills we have identified through research which emphasises the point that to be future-proofed, the next generation requires entrepreneurial learning. This insight is at the core of everything we do at the Foundation. We believe that entrepreneurship education serves as a fertiliser for a mindset that enables people to think differently about the obstacles they encounter and lets them see through the blur of what is happening around them, positioning them to sift through noise so that they can find the spark of possibility in what others deem hopeless. 7

ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS ACCESSIBLE TO ALL This understanding means that our view of entrepreneurship is necessarily different to commonly held perceptions. Stories of the hugely successful Silicon Valley mavericks, encourage people to think of entrepreneurship as a linear journey to success or a mysterious formula available only to a select few. In reality, this is a discipline that is far less glamorous, but also far less mysterious. Entrepreneurship is both an art and a science – the science is the skill and indicates you can learn it, and the art demonstrates your flair in implementing it. Entrepreneurship education brings these elements together, enabling learning by doing. This means that entrepreneurship is not out of reach to all but the privileged few. It is a skill that can be learned, and which will be grasped and developed as we teach the youth new ways to respond to their world. It is for this reason that we speak of democratising entrepreneurship education – making it accessible to all young people. We believe it will be the great equaliser. Irrespective of whether someone becomes an entrepreneur or not, they will have been equipped with the toolbox to think differently in whatever environment they find themselves.

A REVOLUTION IN EDUCATION This inclusive way of thinking about entrepreneurship takes on new importance when we consider that, in the twenty-first century – a time where all content is available on a nearby screen and where artificial intelligence (“AI”) renders almost everything we had learnt prior, obsolete – that the ability to learn new skills is the only one that counts. Consider that often quoted statistic which highlights that 85% of the jobs the current cohort of school leavers will find themselves doing in 2030, have not been invented yet. It becomes obvious that much of the content currently taught in schools is very limited with regards to future proofing our youth. The methodologies have also undergone little disruption – still employing the “sage on the stage” approach and testing based on memorisation. There is very little learning which draws the learner into a journey of proactive discovery as well as limited real-world application of concepts. In a world of disruption, the lack of change in the education system is a sad and cruel irony.

8

The Foundation is working hard to ensure that we are equipping our young people for a world that will look fundamentally different in future, rather than one that no longer exists. Far more valuable is to arm them with skills to think through these changes, to entrench a mindset that turns immediately to critical thinking and problem solving, enabling them to view situations with curiosity and a determination to find a solution when hard times hit. In a word, we want our young people to be “agile”.

Achieving this requires an entrepreneurial revolution in education. It requires that we move away from seeing entrepreneurship as a “market day” or as a separate subject but rather as the framework that holds together all other aspects of learning and is integrated across the curriculum. We are grateful to have partnered with many educators and academic institutions who are similarly energised to find new ways forward; people who believe in the power of both high quality education while embracing the need for entrepreneurial mindset development.

A LONG-TERM UNDERTAKING We understand that a long-term approach is required – both in the individual mindset and in the overall education system – which is why we start working with young people who we believe have entrepreneurial potential even before it is fully recognised as such. We then nurture and support them holistically over the long-term because we understand that a sustainable solution to generational poverty takes time. Our model provides access to high quality education at leading institutions, matched with personal mastery and psycho-social support, combined with entrepreneurial mindset development. This carefully designed model which is applied to a Scholar aged 13, through to a Fellow who has graduated from university at age 22 and who may start a business eight to 10 years later, is biased towards depth rather than breadth. Obviously, not everyone will respond to entrepreneurship education in the same way. There will be those who will, indeed, go on to establish businesses that may change the way we live our lives. Some will distinguish themselves as changemakers in other spheres; after all, an entrepreneurial mindset is an asset that is valuable in many different environments. The story of Allan Gray Fellow, Suzie Nkambule, illustrates this point: although Suzie initially decided on a corporate career, she used the skills she had been taught through our programmes – the ability to identify opportunities, resilience and problem solving – to purchase a failing entity and turn it around, and in so doing, saved thousands of jobs. Our point is this: in a class of ballerinas, not everyone is going to become a prima ballerina. Some may find the steps easier than others. Some will take to the style easier than others; dancing with a grace and fluency that appear exceptional. But the other ballerinas will still leave having developed a certain amount of skill that will turn them into better performers overall. Perhaps they will also be able to translate what they have learnt into other areas, so that they enhance their general athleticism or become more disciplined. When those ballerinas are, in fact, young people learning how to think as entrepreneurs, they may put their skills to use at different life stages and in different ways – at the very least, they will use the mindset they have developed to make space for others, and to strengthen the community of proactive changemakers around us. It is this community with a propensity for entrepreneurial action, in different environmental contexts, that will create the country and world we all hope for. We must waste no time in developing it.

9

WORDS INTO DEEDS I’m proud to say that it was the entrepreneurial mindset we actively promote, which helped us move through a very difficult year. It enabled us to see that we could innovate new ways to do our work, so that we were able to continue delivering on our mandate without diluting the quality of our work. It showed us that we are able to be agile and adaptable; the very qualities we work hard to inculcate with our beneficiaries. We have no intention of allowing these organisational competencies to dwindle, even if our circumstances become less onerous. Interestingly, even before the advent of the pandemic, we had selected A.G.I.L.E as a theme to carry us through 2020: Achieving Growth In Lean Environments. Our focus was on finding new ways to support each other effectively in the face of an ever increasing constrained economic environment – but, as Covid-19 has created even more rigorous strictures, this theme has become especially significant and relevant. The lessons learned during 2020 and contained within this report, will guide us as we work towards this sustainability. With this in mind, our Covid-19 Response & Planning Team – initially formed to help us respond as events unfolded – continues to meet, helping us find ways to integrate these learnings in our daily operations. We hope that our efforts are apparent in our more nuanced offerings, our communications, the way we measure impact – in fact, in everything we do. Finally, as we work towards these changes, we are also working to strengthen the overall entrepreneurship ecosystem. Ultimately, we hope to see the achievement of our founder, Mr Gray’s vision of entrepreneurship, as a force for the common good, creating meaningful employment and attacking poverty in our beautiful country. 10

Executive Committee

Meet our Executive Committee who act together, lead as one, and steer the Foundation in alignment with its mission, vision and values. They oversee our ecosystem of partners and Programme Participants, and set the infrastructure in place to produce the high-impact, game changing entrepreneurs that South Africa needs.

Karen Gabriels Head of Finance

Dr Nontobeko Mabizela Head of Impact Assurance

Nontando Mthethwa Head of Public Affairs and Communications

Lolo Mini Head of Talent

Caleb Dlamini Scholarship Director

Buhle Dhlamini Fellowship Director

Deon White Head of Information Systems and Technology

Jalal Ghiassi-Razavi Association Director 11

3

The Allan and Gill Gray PHILANTHROPIC ENTITIES

When Allan William Buchanan Gray established Allan Gray Proprietary Limited, it was with an eye to wealth creation, not only for his clients, but for the greater South African community too. This ambition was the driving force behind many of the philanthropic entities he went on to establish in an effort to address the unacceptable levels of poverty, inequality and unemployment, pervasive in Southern Africa. The Allan and Gill Gray Philanthropic Entities’ intention is to foster High Impact Responsible Entrepreneurship for the common good which creates sustainable employment.

12

The Allan Gray Orbis Foundation was established in 2005. It is funded by a percentage of the taxed profits from Allan Gray Proprietary Limited and supported by an endowment trust capitalised with over R1 billion, which was donated by Mr Gray in his personal capacity. South African youth are served by the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation residing in South Africa, while the entity that resides in Namibia offers the same opportunity to citizens of Namibia, Botswana and Eswatini. The Foundation functions as a nurturing force throughout an individual’s entrepreneurial journey via four programmes. The Scholarship Programme awards scholarships to high school learners with financial constraints who display a curious, entrepreneurial mindset and have the potential to excel academically. The Allan Gray Entrepreneurship Challenge is open to all high school students in South Africa and is formulated as a series of online weekly challenges through a 2D game. The Fellowship Programme awards university scholarships to those high academic achievers with entrepreneurial potential. After graduating, these candidates join the Association of Allan Gray Fellows, which serves as a platform for creating and leveraging entrepreneurial and personal development opportunities, while also being part of a support network. The E² Trust was established in 2007 and provides funding and support to value-aligned entrepreneurs that build and scale responsible businesses with a positive impact on our society. The Trust was established in 2007, when it purchased shares in Allan Gray Proprietary Limited from the Allan Gray family through a loan guaranteed by the Allan Gray business. Allan Gray subsequently donated the proceeds of this sale to the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation Africa Endowment (later the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation Endowment). E² is a 17.8% owner of Allan Gray Proprietary, together with the Staff Trust (14%) and other shareholders. The Allan Gray Orbis Foundation Endowment was established primarily to ensure long-term financial security for the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation. The Endowment has three focus areas – Education, Entrepreneurship and Employment. The Jakes Gerwel Fellowship which seeks to create a pipeline of outstanding teachers; Funda Wande is an NGO, which promotes reading for meaning in learners’ home languages; while 10KJ aims to create 10 000 jobs for unemployed youth. Finally, the Allan and Gill Gray Foundation, established in 2015, implements the family’s intention to devote the economic benefit of the controlling interests in the Orbis and Allan Gray groups of asset managers exclusively to global philanthropy.

13

4

The Allan Gray Orbis Foundation VALUE OFFERING

OUR BELIEF

We believe that it takes one High Impact Responsible Entrepreneur to change the reality of a city, or even a country, by creating longterm, meaningful job opportunities.

VISION

An empowered, prosperous, productively engaged African citizenry thriving in ethical societies with dignity and hope.

MISSION

To foster a community of high-impact, responsible entrepreneurs. 14

The Allan Gray Orbis Foundation has been carefully designed to move individuals from potential to actualisation. Four programmes form the basis of the value offering – the Scholarship Programme, Allan Gray Entrepreneurship Challenge, Fellowship and Association Programmes. The programmes focus on the development of an entrepreneurial mindset, while the latter portion of the Fellowship years and the Association Programmes are leveraged as channels for skill set development and entrepreneurial training. The ultimate goal is to aid individuals in becoming High Impact Responsible Entrepreneurs, that will effect wide-spread prosperity in their spheres of influence. Therefore, to intentionally aid those Fellows who start businesses, we ensure that they are equipped with the skills and knowledge that will enable them to secure funding for their ventures. Our  sister organisation and funding partner, E2, may also provide funding assistance to identified viable ventures. The entrepreneurial journey embarked on by Programme Participants has different onramps: by way of the Scholarship Programme and the Allan Gray Entrepreneurial Challenge at high

school level, as well as the Fellowship Programme at Gr.12 level and 1st year University level. Although financial support for education is a key component of our Scholarship, Fellowship and Association programmes, the primary benefit is access to resources that help individuals cultivate the mindset that distinguishes them as entrepreneurs, while also building on the skills and knowledge required to run a business. In this way, our programmes are geared to expand the pool of potential wealth and job creators in southern Africa, while also assisting entrepreneurs at an individual level. With this in mind, the Foundation’s curricula centres around the following elements: Class (group sessions, hosted both nationally and regionally); Crew (peer-to-peer learning); Cyber (through our online campus) and Coaching. The Foundation embraces an holistic approach to entrepreneurship development with a focus on the theory and practice of entrepreneurship, personal mastery, leadership, ethics and academic excellence.

SCHOLARSHIP This programme targets Grade 6 students who undergo a selection programme so they are ready for onboarding in Grade 8. The programme funds scholarships at partner high schools throughout the country, while also offering social and emotional support that helps students develop their entrepreneurial talents. The Allan Gray Orbis Foundation’s Scholarship Programme is open to financially deserving individuals who have achieved academic excellence and have displayed an entrepreneurial mindset underpinned by curiosity.

ALLAN GRAY ENTREPRENEURSHIP CHALLENGE The Challenge is open to all high school students in South Africa and is formulated as a series of online games. These help participants to acquire entrepreneurial skills while forging a mindset that enables them to identify and recognise opportunities and apply knowledge and concepts to real-world situations.

FELLOWSHIP The programme aims to identify young individuals who are in grade 12 and in first year university, who show the potential to become High Impact Entrepreneurs and will ultimately benefit their communities and countries. Programme Participants receive funding to study at one of the Foundation’s 11 partner universities as well as access to support structures to facilitate their entrepreneurial development.

ASSOCIATION Candidate Fellows who successfully complete the Fellowship Programme become a part of the Association of Allan Gray Fellows. This is a trusted community and peer network in which Allan Gray Fellows are provided with advisory, support, training and engagement to enable them to use their skills, knowledge and mindset to create business and social value.

15

LESSONS LEARNT

IN A VUCA YEAR

16

5

Numbers

Snapshot SIMPLIFIED THEORY OF CHANGE

PROBLEM

PROGRAMMES

OUTCOMES

IMPACT

Socio-economic inequality due to apartheid legacy

Identify, assess, select programme participants

Education-graduation and academic attainment

Access to quality education

Lack of access to quality education

Provide tuition and academic support

Self development (EQ, growth mindset, ethics, resilience, leadership)

Youth unemployment

Personal development support

Lack of promotion of entrepreneurship as a career

Career support

Slow economic growth

Entrepreneurial development learning support

Responsible and ethical entrepreneurs

Supporting others in their journey Network of support

Contribution to household income Employment

Career mobility Entrepreneurial competencies

Starting of businesses Poverty

Entrepreneurial coaching

Entrepreneurial intent and action

Job creation

Creating societal value

17

DEMOGRAPHICS 589

209 Scholars

1 319

239

41

2008

205

183

244

222

262

241

151

320 325

276 289

245

192 199

178

432

157

149

145

209

177

54

24

8

2010

2009

399 383

98

94

12

227

150

135

458

589 Fellows

209

182

504 513

541 Candidate Fellows

2021

541

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

AGEC DEMOGRAPHICS 18 000 16 000 14 000 12 000 10 000 8 000 6 000 4 000 2 000 0

AGEC Registrants Numbers Over Time

Learners

Schools

Teachers

  2017 

NGO’s

  2018 

  2019 

Mentors

Other

Total

  2020/2021

PROGRAMMATIC SPEND

Academic Vs. Programme Costs 0.02

100%

0.02 0.05

Association Programme

0.29 0.62

Scholarship Programme Growth 86%

80%

Fellowship Programme

60%

Scholarship Programme

40%

Entrepreneurial Education

20%

Entrepreneurship Challenge

0%

12%

2% FY2019

  Selection  80:20 between Programmatic VS. Operational cost. In favour of our Programmes

18

81%

Our spend is 50% on Educational Fees, 30% Talent and 10% each on Programmatic and Operational Costs Programmatic Spend split is as follows: • Spend per activity: Selection 1% ; Programmatic 9%, Wrap-Around Support 20% and Academic Fees 70%

14%

5% FY2020

  Academic 

  Entrepreneurial We invest on average R703k on each Scholar over a five year period and R629k on each Candidate Fellow over a four year period

SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME SCHOLARSHIP

MP:

WC:

Penryn College St Thomas Aquinas High St Andrew’s School Bloemfontein St Michael’s School for Girls

157

145 149

177

JHB:

Alexander Road High Clarendon High School for Girls Collegiate Girls’ High Grey Boys High Hudson Park High Selborne College St Andrew’s College The Diocesan School for Girls

2020

2019

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2008

EC:

Bishops Diocesan College Rhenish Girls’ High Rondebosch Boys’ Rustenburg Girls’High St Cyprian’s School The Settlers High Westerford High

2011

White

2010

10

41

2009

4

12

Indian

male

Coloured

36%

Placement Schools

FS:

170

94

Black

female

199

150

28

64%

222

2018

209 scholars

183

205

2017

Scholarship Programme Growth

167

KZN:

King Edward VII Pretoria Boys High Roedean School St Alban’s College St Andrew’s Girls St Mary’s Girls St Stithians BC Boys’ St Stithians GC Girls’ Parktown Girls Greenside High

Epworth Independent High School for Girls Maritzburg College Michaelhouse Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High Durban Girls Kingsway High

2020 NET PROMOTER SCORE

NPS Over Time

NPS 2020

77

76

83

NPS Zoom In   Bad 

93

75

  Ok 

  Good 

61%

56%

93

45%

36% 0% 2016

2017

2018

2019

18-point improvement in the NPS

39% 23%

17%

15%

11%

1%

0%

2018

2020

  Wow

2019

2020

84% of Scholars who responded to this survey had a positive experience

THEORY OF CHANGE OUTCOMES

Theory of Change index scores for the Scholarship Programme 67.0%

67.0%

67.3%

67.1%

64.9%

“I consider myself a leader”

63.0% 67%

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

1.9% decrease in the Theory of Change 2020 compared to 2019. This is influenced by a disrupted learning experience brought about by successive lockdowns throughout the year.

79% 53%

Grade 8

69% 63%

Grade 9

  2019  77%

Grade 10

87% 67% 62%

Grade 11

  2020 75%

Grade 12

There was an overall 8% decrease in the percentage of Scholars that considered themselves as leaders in 2020, compared to 2019.

19

THROUGHPUT RATE

94

59% 41%

2017

2015

2015

2014

22% 25%

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

100%

48%

17%

41

2013

12

55%

53%

145 149

61%

2020

157

209

2019

150 183

205 222 199 170

2012

All but 1 Scholar passed with Bachelors exemption

Scholarship Throughput Rate

2018

Scholarship Programme Growth

ENTREPRENEURSHIP RATE Overall entrepreneurial intent

– 5%

Understanding what a High Impact Responsible Entrepreneur is

+ 26%

“I intend to become an entrepreneur in the next 10–15 years”  No 

  Yes

90% 10% 2019

20

85% 15% 2020

Entrepreneurship Intention Rate Per Grade   2019  Grade 8 Grade 9

  2020

  Grade 8 (2019)    Grade 10 (2019) 

89% 83% 77%

  Grade 9 (2019)   Grade 11 (2019)

93%

Grade 10

75% 85%

Grade 11

83% 77%

Grade 12

“I understand what a High Impact Responsible Entrepreneur is”

100% 100%

There has been a decrease in the percentage of Scholars who would like to become entrepreneurs in the next 10–15 years in 2020, compared to 2019, with the exception of Grade 10 and Grade 12 Scholars.

100%

100%

95%

94% 92%

90% 87%

2019

2020

Percentage of Scholars with an improved understanding of High Impact Responsible Entrepreneurship.

FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME FELLOWSHIP

Fellowship Programme Growth 408

135

320

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2008

White

male

270 239 227 244 241 262 209

48

16 Indian

37%

female

Coloured

63%

Black

49

182

2009

541 fellows

399

458 504

Placement Universities 250

International Universities

200 150 100 50 0

UCT

WITS

UP

US

UFS

UWC

RU

UKZN

NMU

TSIBA

Harvard (2) Cornell (1) Yale (1) University of Amsterdam (1) University of Edinburgh (1) University of Pennsylvania (2) University of Wollongong in Dubai (1) Columbia (1)

2020 NET PROMOTER SCORE

NPS Overtime

NPS 2020 66

73

84

68

86

Outcome

86 2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

18-point improvement in the NPS. Highest NPS achieved since 2016.

Theory of Change index scores for the Fellowship Programme 65%

2015

Increase across most Theory of Change Index Outcome Scores in 2020 except for Outcome 9 (Beneficiaries work collaboratively on entrepreneurial activities). Highest recorded score since 2016.

68%

2016

65%

2017

66%

2018

64%

2019

67%

2020

The Fellowship Programme Theory of Change Index score improved by 3% compared to 2019. It is 1% higher than the average score over the past six years. It is also the highest score since 2016.

O2: Beneficiaries have a greater self-awareness and awareness of themselves in relation to others O3: Beneficiaries achieve academic excellence O4: Beneficiaries value collaboration O5: Beneficiaries value the Allan Gray Orbis community O6: Beneficiaries understand and value responsible entrepreneurship O7: Beneficiaries have developed an improved sense of entrepreneurial mindset and competencies O9: Beneficiaries work collaboratively on entrepreneurial activities O10: Beneficiaries intend to become High Impact Responsible Entrepreneurs

2020 (n=417) 2020

Change from 2019 to 2020

79%

1%

52%

2%

67%

3%

82%

4%

40%

1%

80%

1%

74%

–3%

85%

8%

67%

3%

21

THROUGHPUT RATE

Percentage of Total Applications for Postgraduate Funding Fellowship Throughput Rate 2020

  Fast track    Graduate Programme    Professional Qualification 4

2

82%

12 10 6

1

2008

2009

2010

4

3 2 1 2011

2012

12

10 7 6

4

3

6 4

8

5 1

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2 2019

Throughput Over Time 100%

94%

80% 60%

0%

84%

77%

73%

80% 60%

48%

40% 20%

66%

63%

58%

77%

75%

100%

98%

40%

19

66

68

87

71

64

44

52

47

64

91

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

20% 0%

Graduation Rate

  Number of Candidate Fellows onboarded   Percentage throughput of onboarded Candidate Fellow Cohort

South African Average

AGOF Average

53%

84%

ENTREPRENEURSHIP RATE

Pipeline

25 20

19

17

20

10 5

16

14

15

32% 6

7

26%

23%

2008

2009

28%

  Number of entrepreneurs per onboarded cohort   Percentage of cohort who are entrepreneurs

21 15

17

12 27%

31%

32%

2012

2013

2014

22%

27%

23%

11%

0 2006

2007

Outcome 10: beneficiaries intend to become High Impact Responsible Entrepreneurs

+16% 85% of Candidate Fellows intend to become a High Impact Responsible Entrepreneur within the next 7 years.

22

2010

2011

2015

2016

IVC Participation (Ideation, Validation, Creation) 65 Participants in 2020

116 Participants in 2021

50 40 30 20 10 0

Engage

Equip

New Equip

  Ideation 

Explore

  Validation/Creation

Experience

Post Programme

FELLOWSHIP ENTREPRENEURIAL IMPACT Candidate Fellows Celebrations Denislav Marinov Novatech

Thandolwethu Dlamini The Knowledge Institute

Has been chosen to consult with the Senegal Smart Cities Board

Has been working with MTN Educare in Swaziland to provide exam prep and tutorials on the MTN zero-rated site. They also are providing WhatsApp tutorials via WhatsApp groups for matriculants.

Batandwa Bula Online Digital Library

Sitholile Sithole Pantsula with a Purpose

Made it to the Regionals of the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education Intervarsity Pitching Competition

Now creating workshops and tutorial content for WhatsApp and sharing it with the matriculants in their network.

Ndabentle Ntshangase Airstudent

Khensani Hlaise Ti Huku

Made it to the Regionals of the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education Intervarsity Pitching Competition. AirStudent also received a contract with SA Canoeing.

Established a village business, informal not yet licensed but doing well in revenue terms and has now grown her stock from 200 chickens to 400 a month.

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ASSOCIATION FELLOWS

Association Programme Growth 513

192

43% male

Allan Gray McKinsey & Company First Rand Group Standard Bank ABSA Group

12%

10% Indian

Black

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

57

85 14%

4%

Community is giving back to Mentoring in Fellowship and Fellow Peers

Entrepreneurial conversion rate

(42 increase from 2019)

Top Employers

female

380

325

33%

Entrepreneurs

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

289

432

68

174

589 fellows

245

2015

2013

2010

54

2012

24

151

98

2011

8 2009

32

2014

NPS 2020

57%

65%

White

589

379

589

Coloured

Fellows

10%

Fellow Community sits in Senior Leadership in some of the top companies in South Africa and abroad.

6. Deloitte 7. Boston Consulting Group 8. Bain & Company 9. Discovery 10. ENS Africa

ENTREPRENEURSHIP RATE

The last two inducted cohorts of Fellows had the largest concentration of entrepreneurs for Fellows that were successfully contacted (n=84).

2020

5

2019

3

2018

6

2017

6

2016

1

2014

2010

3

2013

3

2012

3

2011

2

2015

9

8

2009

Overall entrepreneurial rate increased by 3%

21

2008

+ 33%

Number of Fellow entrepreneurs

Pipeline

Entrepreneur Breakdown

42

New Fellow entrepreneurs •  34 from incoming class of 2019 •  8 from earlier cohorts

6

Entrepreneurs stopped running ventures

85

Full-time Entrepreneurs

83

Part-time Entrepreneurs

Fellow entrepreneurs 63% Of contacted who are black Fellow entrepreneurs 53% Of contacted who are female

74% of Fellows (n=39) who provided information on their business, indicated that it was registered (n=53). 24

Jobs created by Fellows that were contacted

573 368 175 x2

full-time jobs part-time jobs R1b businesses

TURNOVER AND INVESTMENT

+ 33%

Business Development phase

Overall entrepreneurial rate increased by 3%

Total external funding have you raised

Number of Fellow run businesses

Ideation

R395 000

10

Creation

R8 700 000

10

Validation

R350 000

11

Mature

–

–

Scaling

R19 358 000

8

Grand Total

R28 803 000

39

Turnover Range R0–R10 000

Ideation Validation Creation Scaling Mature Grand Total 8

5

3

1

17

R10 500–R50 000

1

3

1

5

R50 500–R100 000

2

1

3

R100 000–R200 000

2

2

R200 000–R3mil

2

3

R3mil–R32mil Grand Total

8 Funding source

12

9

1

E2

E2, Jamboree

6

2

2

8

1

2

5

2

1

3

1

1

1

1 1

1

1

4 1

1 1

Social change organisations; consulting revenue

1 1

1

1

3

3

3

9

3

3

2

8

1

1

Self Funded, Boots strapping Miscellaneous Funders

3

67 CEOs

1

2

1

TIA, E , Others

1

2

1 1 4

8

1 1

FNB, AGOF Varsity Pitch, GSEA Walling Walls Foundation regional competition winner

5 1

The National Empowerment Fund

Grand Total

38

2

Equity Investment through an Angel, Grants

Self Funded

1

1

Bank

Self-funding

5

1

AGOF

Grants (Specify)

1

Ideation Validation Creation Scaling Grand Total

Allan Gray Philanthropic Entity

Funder not specified

ASSOCIATION

Figures based on a sample of Fellows

1 1

6

5

23

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VENTURE IMPACT Leading Fellow Ventures High impact ventures developed by Fellows Melvyn Lubega

Doug Hoernle

Melvyn is a technology entrepreneur, investor and Forbes Listmaker. He is a co-founder and director at Go1 which is a company focused on the provision of the largest curated e-learning library from top training providers. The Go1 team raised $40m from Microsoft and Salesforce in 2020 and continues to grow its impact across the globe.

Karri app is currently being used by over 650 schools in South Africa and focuses on making schools safer through mobile technologies. Donated R500 000 to schools in February 2021 to assist with relief related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thandeka Xaba

Bradley Wattrus

Thandeka believes that entrepreneurship is a force for good and subsequently formed South Africa’s first female led and managed, black venture capital firm. She managed to raise R30m through support from the SA SME Fund and E2 and is looking to develop early stage technology based businesses.

Bradley is the co-founder and CFO of Yoco, one of South Africas rising technology-based entities. Yoco is focused on building tools that help small businesses get paid and grow. The team is focused on helping entrepreneurs succeed in a bid to thrive and drive the economy forward. The Yoco team reached the R1bn monthly transactions milestone in March 2021 and boasts over 110 000 merchants and customers.

Several other standout Fellow ventures include:

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INTRAPRENEURIAL AND LEADERSHIP IMPACT

There are numerous Fellows in the corporate sector that are creating significant impact through the entities they serve Michael Fargher (class of 2009) Managing Director  Goldman Sachs

Kihisha Suleman (class of 2012) Delivery Lead Yum International/KFC Africa

Creating new responsible and high impact ventures on the Goldman Sach’s balance sheet – a $30m venture.

Developing new distribution channels for the organisation focused on job creation and value added services.

Sizwe Nxumalo (class of 2012) Vice President Strategy Vitality Group

Heloise Greef (class of 2012) PHD Researcher Oxford University

Member of the Vitality Group Executive Committee and responsible for strategy.

Heloise Greef – Two patents under her name focused on solving significant problems in developing economies. Application of machine learning techniques for the condition monitoring of large-scale distributed networks in rural infrastructure.

Nava Anvari (class of 2010) Investment Manager LGT Venture Philanthropy

Melvin Lubega (class of 2012) Co-founder of Go-1 & Adcorp Group Board Member

Leading various deals in healthcare, education and environment sectors across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Elected to the board of Adcorp Group. Living and exhibiting the Foundation values through representation on a JSE listed entity.

ASSOCIATION

The High Impact Responsible Corporate Intrapreneurs & Board Participation

The High Impact Responsible Entrepreneurs in Mail & Guardian and in Cinematography Mail & Guardian 200 Young People celebrated 4 of our Fellows, contribution to society through their 2020 publication. A Fellow also produced a social commentary film in 2020. Phumi Morare (class of 2009) African Film Maker, Storyteller and Strategist Focused on redeeming black and feminine identity through cinema. Created the movie Lakutshon’ Ilanga with financial support received from other Fellows within the community.

Hope Ditlhakanyane Venture Partner, MEST Africa Mail & Guardian 200 Young People

Esethu Cenga Co-Founder, Rewoven Mail & Guardian 200 Young People

Thando Gumede Social Activitst and entrepreneur Mail & Guardian 200 Young People

Rufaro Samanga Academic and Writer, WITS University Mail & Guardian 200 Young People

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PERIPHERAL IMPACT Top Employers of Fellows 100% placement rate within 6 months for Fellows that seek employment opportunities. This is supported by the Association’s “Careers” portfolio.

FELLOW ECOSYSTEM PARTICIPATION

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6

Scholarship PROGRAMME LESSONS

SELECTION Most of the learnings we gleaned throughout this tumultuous period highlighted the fact that we need to tailor our selection process so that it does not disadvantage learners from schools that have fewer resources. We came to understand the true challenges faced by our previous cohorts, while also gaining insight into the real cost of the loss of learning and teaching days in 2020. We further gained insight into how important it is to be flexible in order to accommodate learners from different backgrounds and came to see just how crucial it is to see our learners in a holistic light, as part of an ecosystem that includes custodians and schools.

The lesson Improving accessibility for our selection process Because we target learners predominantly from areas in Quintiles 1, 2 and 3 (a statistical value of a data set that represents 20% of a given population, with the first quintile representing the poorest fifth), we recognised that the families of our potential programme participants faced severe financial constraints. However, we did not immediately grasp just how deeply this would impact learners wishing to take 29

part in our selection process. Faced with a choice between purchasing a loaf of bread and buying data so that a child can apply to our Scholarship programme, it is not surprising that families chose food. The digital divide was evident in the number of incomplete applications we received. As  a result, we were forced to leave no fewer than 800 children out of the process due to incomplete applications rather than their inability to access the opportunity. We are urgently seeking to rectify this issue by entering into an agreement with service providers, so that our application site becomes zero rated for data. We are also exploring channels such as WhatsApp as an application platform, as it is easier for applying families to send a message to the Foundation than to send an email or visit a website.

The lesson Addressing 2020’s loss of learning The true impact of 2020’s loss of learning and teaching days is manifesting in applicants’ academic performance. In the past, our applicants’ performance in exams has been excellent; to the point that we would not consider a potential programme participant who achieved a score of less than 70%. With as much as 60% of teaching and learning time lost during 2020, according to the Department of Education, it’s not surprising that the performance of last year’s applicants was well below this standard. We have acknowledged that the best way to address this issue is by introducing remedial teaching to the candidates selected for grade  8 in 2022, especially since most of the schools in our target group are still implementing rotational timetables as a measure to allow social distancing in classrooms. Appointing tutors will help to bridge the gap in their grade 7 year, but we will also have to work to help Scholars to get used to a fulltime school term once more.

The lesson A need to entrench and reinforce ethics and values Disappointingly, we found that an increasing number of custodians who would like to take advantage of our offer of a Scholarship, but whose household income makes them ineligible, are resorting to deliberate misrepresentations on their applications. We have found that some custodians are excluding the salary earned by one partner on their application to ensure that the household income is below the qualifying threshold. In other cases, a grandmother earning a pension is listed as the custodian, or an affidavit is signed to the effect that the custodian is unemployed. We find this particularly distressing due to the example set for our potential beneficiaries. Moreover, it is often professionals, such as engineers, lawyers or actuaries, who follow these practices. These professionals are typically required to adhere to a code of conduct within their organisations, which we would expect to be applied in their personal lives too. Such behaviour is also keenly at odds with the Foundation’s values and the brand of ethical, responsible entrepreneurship we espouse and entrench in all we do. 30

The lesson Flexibility with digital programme interactions With the schools closing before the formal announcement of lockdown, it was critical for us to pivot our programmes at speed. One of the key stumbling blocks experienced was the shift from face-toface interaction to digital, particularly in the case of our Courageous Conversations. Traditionally, these sessions have provided a safe space for Scholars to voice their concerns on a wide variety of topics, however it was clear to our Programme Officers that they did not feel comfortable discussing such issues in an area or platform where they may be overheard. This understanding led us to one of the biggest learnings of the year: the need to remain flexible if we are to accommodate learners with different home or school environments. The need for flexibility was also highlighted through the problematic access to learning content. Although we provided videos, some Scholars were unable to watch them because of connectivity issues. Others simply felt they understood more when they were able to attend class with a teacher whom they could address directly. Some Scholars mentioned that they found it difficult to keep up with the pace of work. The feeling was that teachers assigned extra work because they were concerned Scholars weren’t keeping up their studies at home. Obviously, the transition to online learning was easier for those Scholars attending well-resourced schools which were better able to provide for this transition. Learners in urban areas also adapted more easily as connectivity was more stable and they enjoyed stronger bandwidth for live lessons.

The lesson Shifting our view from seeing Scholars as individuals to them being at the centre of an ecosystem We found that one way we could help ease the transition to online learning was by seeing the Scholar as one part of an ecosystem which included their families and schools. Each element within this ecosystem had its own specific needs, and we had to make sure these were addressed. For example, for the family, it was important to provide financial support where personal circumstances were desperate while allowing them to maintain dignity. With this in mind, we established a new WhatsApp group for custodians. We also took care to include families during our activities and activations. For instance, during Entrepreneurship Month, we invited Scholars to make videos or podcasts featuring their family members and friends, talking about how they had addressed the challenges they experienced during lockdown. Financial support was not only provided in the form of cash as the provision of data was operationally important. We also worked closely with schools to assist in the delivery of online learning.

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The lesson The importance of supporting mental wellness Our understanding that our Scholars are whole beings meant that we did not focus solely on academics. Being aware of the Covid-19 pandemic’s toll on mental health ensured that we stepped in to provide wellness support by engaging psychologists to offer counselling. In fact, wellness was one of the three pillars we engaged Scholars around during DigiJam (the Foundation’s annual flagship event that aims to celebrate ideation and inspire entrepreneurial action), along with lifelong learning and an entrepreneurial mindset.

The lesson Helping learners embrace technology The shift to online learning meant that we had to fast-track our plans to roll out an initiative which would see every Scholar granted a smart device. This initiative had already been planned, with a budget allocated, but had to be expedited in the face of school closures. The value of the connectivity afforded by devices cannot be underestimated. After all, it was almost impossible for a learner or their custodian to access the support we offer due to lockdown protocols without it.

The lesson Extending our relationships with different types of partner schools enables us to support programme participants more effectively This speaks to the far broader issue of access. We have made every effort to make our intake as inclusive as possible, which is why we have recently moved to partner with day schools and co-ed schools rather than boarding schools and single-sex schools only. This has allowed us to include families who would prefer their children to attend such schools and may otherwise choose not to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Foundation. Moreover, it is often difficult for children from underresourced schools to adjust to life at highly privileged private schools. The choice of attending a school close to home closes this gap, and therefore strengthens that all important ecosystem surrounding the child. It also becomes easier for custodians to identify any challenges the child may be experiencing, so that we can address them more swiftly.

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7

Fellowship PROGRAMME LESSONS

TOWARDS A MORE HOLISTIC VIEW OF CANDIDATE FELLOWS A key learning, following on from the year’s experiences, was that we cannot base our assessment of a Candidate Fellow’s application for renewed participation on their academic performance alone.

The lesson Candidate Fellows are more than their academic performance This observation was prompted by our understanding that an increasing number of Candidate Fellows are electing to embark on their entrepreneurial journeys while still studying: in fact, the number of university-based entrepreneurs grew from 34 in 2019 to 65 in 2020. This year, 116 Candidate Fellows advised that they are planting the seeds of their ventures. We also achieved our highest retention rate in five years which equates to 95%, against a target of 90%. This accomplishment is even more noteworthy given that the rate usually stands at around 85%. We attribute this positive development to the amendments made to our renewals criteria- which included two new categories in our renewal process.

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We now give consideration for a degree extension, to those Candidate Fellows who did not meet the academic renewal benchmark and are required to repeat any majors or prerequisite courses, or take on additional courses to bridge any gaps identified, or to complete additional courses which ensure the relevant credits are achieved in order to complete a degree/graduate. It is encouraging to note that our score for entrepreneurial intent to start a business within three years is 34%, which is higher than the national average of 11.90% (GEM, 2020) for the 18-64 year old population in South Africa. Our Candidate Fellows have also indicated that they feel confident they have both the skills and support to follow this goal; an endorsement of the financial and non-financial support we offer. In addition, a significant number of Candidate Fellows are acting on this intent where 87% of those, included in a recent survey, had gone on to establish businesses within three years of graduating, while 39% did so within their first year out of university. As hoped, these businesses are having a noteworthy impact on job creation. The businesses established by our Candidate Fellows have resulted in 113 direct and 286 indirect jobs.

The lesson Support for Candidate Fellows needs to take diverse formats We have identified the three main challenges facing our Candidate Fellows in pursuing and maintaining their businesses, as cash flow, provision of support and access to specialist skills. In turn, we have partnered with E2 to offer grant funding ranging between R50 000 and R150 000, to businesses led or co-led by Candidate Fellows, through a joint initiative called Varsity Pitch. It is inevitable that the Covid-19 crisis would impact our Candidate Fellows where as many as 75% indicated that they will be negatively affected by the pandemic, while 55% told us that they have been unable to open their business due to the crisis. They have also indicated that the new remote learning environment poses several challenges, from family issues to a heavier work load and disrupted connectivity caused by loadshedding and inadequate connectivity.

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8

Association PROGRAMME LESSONS

While the pivot from face-to-face interaction to digital mode helped the Association achieve a broader reach – given that Fellows are located all around the world – it also highlighted the need to provide highly customised content.

The lesson The more we customise our offering, the more likely we are to achieve engagement The nature of the Association means that Fellows are not bound by programmatic obligations to stay in communication with the Foundation, as is the case for Scholars and Candidate Fellows. Rather, our Fellows have the option to take part in our activations – but, while they have every intention to do so, their ability may be affected by professional and personal obligations such as full time jobs and family responsibilities. As a result, we have always struggled with questions around how to adequately engage the community, communicate our offering and provide the right type of support. Our move to an online model has made it far easier to find answers to these questions, making it possible for people as far afield as Dubai, Los Angeles, Tokyo and London to engage more, attending masterclasses and even taking part in one-on-one sessions that made for deeper interaction. That said, we understand 35

that the human element – which is so central to successful engagement – is missing from these occasions. As a team, our goal is to provide an offering of exceptional quality. We have come to understand that one of the primary drivers of engagement for an alumni community is to be able to add value to the various participants. This is understandable, given the different contexts and pressures facing each of the Fellows. The solution can be summed up in a single word: bespoke. We need to make sure that the support we provide each Fellow is customised so that it is appropriate to their particular context and journey. Of course, this in itself is challenging. We serve a cohort of age groups between 23 and 34 of age, each with a different qualification, working in a different industry and with different hobbies. It is critical that we know each of these individuals well enough to speak to their interests, which is a big ask – even in a pre-Covid world.

The lesson We need to tailor our programme to meet Fellows at the different points of their journey Our establishment of five different portfolios ensures that we are well placed to offer appropriate support, no matter where on the entrepreneurial journey a Fellow might find themselves. This enables us to keep our Fellows close, and ensures they see the Foundation as a home base they can turn to whenever they are in need of assistance, no matter what form that might take. For example, the Career Portfolio is for those who are applying their entrepreneurial mindset in a corporate setting. Our Leadership portfolio focuses on supporting and guiding Fellows through an increasingly grey business landscape, concentrating on entrenching the values and ethics we hold dear. The Capital Portfolio is dedicated to providing assistance of a financial nature, such as teaching Fellows how to structure deals, how to access funding and how to develop a pitch. Our IVC (Ideation, Validation and Creation) Portfolio provides a platform for those testing ideas for a venture. We have also created an IVC Lite programme, offering the same content in a more flexible format, for Fellows who are unable to dedicate a full six to eight weeks to the IVC programme. This offering has helped ensure we do not lose Fellows who would otherwise have to leave the programme due to other obligations. Our assistance here ranges from mentorship to weekly meetings with a private coach who can provide insight about building a start-up, gained through first-hand experience. Finally, our Entrepreneurship Academy provides a rare opportunity for entrepreneurs to dedicate their time to structuring their venture, offering a stipend so that they can step away from any other responsibilities that may require their focus.

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We tweak and adjust these offerings on an ongoing basis, as we uncover more about the true needs of our Fellows. We regularly conduct surveys to help us understand these demands and challenges.

The lesson To meet our Fellows at their level, we too must operate as entrepreneurs Obviously, the nature of their environments changes constantly – as we have seen with the Covid-19 pandemic. We work hard to make sure that our Fellows understand the continuous evolution of the business landscape, because we have come to see that in a post-Covid world, it’s not simply about establishing a business that can withstand difficulties, remaining relevant and adapting to change is critical. We accept that we are not always the best resource for our Fellows, however the size of the entrepreneurship ecosystem means that there will most certainly be a stakeholder who is able to help. We value the opportunity to create a linkage between these parties, and appreciate that our ability to do so hinges significantly on our understanding of each individual Fellow and recognise their needs. This poses a challenge for us since our team comprises only three members, we must work hard to make sure our information about each Fellow is up to date. Therefore it is important to stay connected with our Fellows, and we achieve this by tracking each Fellow as they progress through their careers. We know the extent to which each Fellow has engaged with us during the past year, and the level of that engagement – whether it was opening an email or attending a masterclass. Tracking this engagement helps us build a profile for each Fellow, so that we can better answer their needs and ensure the information we send them is useful. We are exploring the possibility of gamifying engagement, so that they are incentivised to take part in our activations. We are also looking forward to engagement becoming increasingly digitised and automated and, to this end, we are leveraging the process of digital transformation within the Foundation. We keep learning as we go. In this way, we mirror a start-up ourselves, operating according to a lean approach which sees us discard concepts which are shown to be inefficient once we have tested them. This experiment, with a validated and measured approach has helped us maintain the flexibility we need, especially when it comes to developing budgets – if we were locked into plans, we wouldn’t be able to achieve the shifts which allow us to meet our objectives.

The more connected we are, the more we can achieve Going forward, we understand that connection and communication are the tools that will help our Fellows thrive – we need to be able to leverage our power as a network. We saw this recently when one of our Fellows, a filmmaker, needed funds to complete a project – and received them from another Fellow. Social media is proving extremely useful here, and is helping us prove our long-standing belief that individually, our Fellows are powerful. As a collective, they are an incredible force.

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9

Allan Gray ENTREPRENEURSHIP CHALLENGE LESSONS

We spent much of last year building a brand-new gaming platform to deploy AGEC as a 2D curriculum-based game for high school learners in the longer term. While this initiative successfully allowed us to engage young learners in a novel, innovative manner, we also found that there were some interesting and unexpected outcomes.

The lesson Gamification is a powerful mode of development but implementing it comes with premium level complexity Our experience has been that risk, change and complexity in this particular context, is not a once-off incident to be managed neatly – rather, it is a part of the DNA of a gamification unit. In hindsight, this has required us not just to cultivate entrepreneurial skills and mindsets within the population of learners that we serve, but further, to be highly entrepreneurial and resourceful ourselves in delivering these outcomes – all within an environment characterised by consistently high levels of risk, complexity and volatility. In stark contrast then, to the more traditional methods of delivering education which thrive off programmatic means of delivery. Platform-based gamification has required us, as its makers, not just to accept these occurrences, 38

but also to harness them well, in the course of successfully delivering gamified learning for the common good that is topical and reflects the real world. At worst, this can be viewed as being highly stressful. At best, it is an opportunity, a call to orientate ourselves with an entrepreneurial mindset in doing this line of niche, specialised, non-traditional work.

The lesson Iterative progress – not perfection – can be beneficial amidst conditions of change and complexity The changing school calendar was a prime example of a challenge faced that required us to become increasingly comfortable with changing market conditions – especially since it had undergone many changes and shifts amidst the pandemic, making it difficult to plan our timing optimally. What made it more complicated was the diverse spread of timing expectations witnessed in our base of stakeholders. These included teachers: some thought it best for the Challenge to take place during the term, so that they would be available to support learners within the classroom. Others felt that it would be better timed to coincide with school holidays, so that it didn’t add on to the burden of homework and other pre-existing activities. Still others asked that it take place at the beginning of the year, so that it didn’t clash with exam season occurring towards the end of the year. In establishing the optimal option amidst such diversity, we have found that this requires an evidence-based approach in evaluating options through the lens of the target market – which, in our case, included teachers and parents as well as learners. In some ways, this has felt like taking that leap when we needed to move forward – then, based on surrounding responses, checking how close to our market we may have landed and retracing our steps wherever necessary in iterating for progress. This has required us to look back on our work frequently, which we feel is precisely what enables us to intelligently take a more informed and forward-facing next step towards our true north.

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The lesson Human contact supplements virtual contact well In 2019, we were fortunate to have brand ambassadors present at schools, driving uptake. However, due to the pandemic, we moved all interaction online. While we are fortunate to be able to aid and support virtually, we found that learners can still benefit from a human interface, most especially as learners are accustomed to being taught by a teacher, face-to-face inclass. The platform can, and has, worked well as a fully online solution in delivering immersive learning, but added benefit manifests wherever it is supplemented by human contact (through parents and teachers) offering them support, guidance, mentorship and encouragement in their unique context.

The lesson The current generation of learners that we serve is already largely orientated towards entrepreneurial action The game has seen learners at high school level start up businesses online and then, over the course of five virtual years, manage business risks, generate revenue, harness technologies, and manage people as well as finances in their role as the Chief Executive of a business. This has required learners to demonstrate mastery over a range of core functional business disciplines that many may imagine is beyond the abilities of a high school student. However, we have found that these young people have learning abilities well beyond what most may give them credit for, making them far more suitable as high potential candidates for a rigorous, realistic business education than we may have previously presumed. This realisation has also been a call for us as, the developers of the game, to deliver learning at levels that are more closely aligned to their true capabilities in readying them for their real-life journeys in business.

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The lesson Strategic partnerships are needed to solve systemic problems A key challenge impacting many of those willing to play the game was limitations around data access and connectivity – essentially the digital divide in the country – directly affecting a high proportion of schools, willing but unable, to participate in the Challenge. This was recognised as a systemic issue that necessitated the formation of strategic partnerships which collectively, could serve to improve this situation over time. An example of a strategic partnership formed was with the Department of Education which allowed us to start looking at ways in which partnerships are serving public schools well in other digital-centric initiatives. Another benefit derived from this partnership was the recognition of AGEC as a government-endorsed programme, positively impacting the way in which the programme was received and implemented in the market. As such, an endorsement of this nature demonstrated the potential held by strategic partnerships – to expand market access to innovative solutions in entrepreneurship education.

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10

Assessment and DEVELOPMENT LESSONS

We have recently conducted research to understand the competencies that lead to an entrepreneurial mindset and eventual entrepreneurial action. The outcome of this research saw 14 key entrepreneurial competencies that are measurable but most excitingly, developable. Therefore we found a need to align the outcome of this research to our selection tools. In embarking on the redesign we have found that a co-creation model – which is based on the input of a diverse team has multiple benefits, from encouraging creativity to ensuring a more balanced view when designing new, selection assessment tools.

The lesson Tension gives rise to creativity This was an important learning emerging from the online assessment simulation we developed last year to replace our face-to-face selection camp, which took place in February this year, due to Covid-19. We called this new selection tool, the Individual Online Entrepreneurial Simulation Assessment.

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Additional Scholarship selection interview tools, were tailored in line with lockdown protocols. That is, gaming simulations were developed, which included a physical game board that measures entrepreneurial mindsets and competencies amongst school-age children. It was amazing to witness how young children could be engaged and playful while being assessed for the Scholarship Programme. We also developed a situational judgment test (SJT), which we have named the Entrepreneurial Readiness Quiz (ERQ), based on the competency framework, which complements the tools used by our Assessment Centre. Having recently proved validity and reliability, this selection tool is now ready to use. This tool enables the Foundation to assess a candidate or programme participant’s level of entrepreneurial readiness in the Fellowship and Association programmes. One of the central features of the process leading to the development of these new tools was broad consultation with several multidisciplinary teams. Our design team, for instance, was made up of selection managers, futurists, educational and research psychologists, coaches and serial entrepreneurs. This team was guided by a reference team, created to provide constructive criticism, which included both internal and external stakeholders. This diversity was useful, because it ensured we considered matters from several different viewpoints. It was the first time the Assessment and Development team had implemented a co-creation model of this nature. In the past, we have outsourced this task. We took great care to ensure that the interests of both internal and external stakeholders were included, leading to a sound balance of skills and viewpoints. There are several advantages to this approach. Apart from cost savings, we have created a process that the Foundation now owns. Moreover, having been through this journey, we have increased our internal capabilities. We found that the diversity of the team added tremendous value because it allowed for multiple perspectives and prevented siloed thinking. In addition, the inclusion of people who have lived experience with our target groups means that we are better able to understand them. An interesting learning to come out of this process is that although diversity often leads to tension, we should not try to stop this: it is often through this discomfort that innovation emerges, and where we find the most creative solutions.

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The lesson We need to be aware of our inherent prejudices Importantly, we looked to redesign our selection tools so that they do not disadvantage learners from schools in Quintiles 1, 2 and 3, as we have learned that this may inadvertently have been the case. The new design of the selection tools was developed around an understanding of personas and the target audience we potentially select, using specific selection data. To gain a better understanding of where we needed to improve, we made an assessment of the candidates who had applied successfully, as well as those who were unsuccessful in their application. We then asked for input from both a research psychologist and a futurist, requesting their insight into contextual factors such as the background schooling system, language, behaviour, needs, goals and motivations. This data was then incorporated to gain a better understanding not only of our target market, but also of how we can design and develop new assessment tools that do not disadvantage potential applicants. This process challenged our own prejudices and, by making us aware of the lens through which we view candidates, has made it possible to give candidates a fair chance. We have been eager to share our learnings with the rest of our stakeholders, so that they gain an understanding of the complexity of the selection process.

The lesson Piloting ensures fairness and validity Shifting our entrepreneurship campus onto an online platform was, of course, an opportunity for learning. One of the first insights we gathered was that the scoring system we use makes a significant difference to assessors, and it is vital that they are comfortable with the system in question. This understanding emerged when we tried to switch from the Behavioural Anchor Rating Scale (BARS), a five-point rubric featuring descriptors under each behaviour indicator, to the Behavioural Observation Scale (BOS). Moreover, although we thought that the new scale would create an equal playing field and add more rigour to the scoring process, we found that Assessors were not comfortable with the new scoring system and had to revert back to BARS. The key take-out here, therefore, was to remain flexible and open to finding the most effective solution. We also realised that some applicants may find the online simulation more demanding than a physical selection camp. Team members found that this was true, too. Moving online required far more planning and greater care was required to ensure that all systems were aligned. To ensure that this was, indeed, the case, we underwent a robust piloting test. While this helped to allay some concerns, this mode of working resulted in enormous time pressures, and all involved were affected by online fatigue which ultimately impacted on Talent wellness. 44

The lesson School interviews for young learners require extra sensitivity It took us almost 10 months to design and develop our school interview simulations; a process which is necessarily rigorous because of the young age of applicants. Validity and reliability, always crucial, assume an added importance, and it is critical that our tools are applied responsibly and fairly across all cultures. The first stumbling block we encountered here was language, leading us to call on the assistance of language specialists to ensure the process was both simple and accessible. We found that gamifying the process led to improved engagement, as candidates had more fun and enjoyed the experience. Another finding involved the importance of piloting the tools extensively. The tools were piloted in all the areas in which candidates were recruited. Although this was easier in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, Covid-19 restrictions meant we had to bring candidates to Gauteng and the Western Cape to test the simulation assessment tools.

The lesson A variety of inputs assures greater fairness in situational judgment tests The development of the situational judgment test (SJT) also provided many learning opportunities, especially as it was the first time the Foundation had developed a tool of this nature. These tests are particularly accurate because they are highly objective, and it is difficult for candidates to cheat. Candidates are asked to respond to a scenario-type statement, drawing on their own experience. Several of the responses they provide may be correct. To make sure that we followed a rigorously scientific process, we called on a variety of experts to provide input, from academics to entrepreneurs, Fellows and members of the Assessment and Development team, as well as industry players. We conducted several pilots to refine the tool, following an iterative process to cull superfluous elements. The tools developed over the past year not only helped us adapt to changing circumstances, they also ensured greater objectivity and fairness. What’s more, the Foundation’s ownership of these tools presents exciting opportunities in terms of sharing them with other ecosystem stakeholders.

The lesson Online training is more effective when recipients receive an induction and closure Shifting our training online made it possible for the Foundation to provide access to training for anyone who is interested in becoming an assessor. Many people have enjoyed the platform we have created, although some challenges were encountered. For instance, although online training allows trainees to move through material at their own pace, we still need to take into account their time constraints. It’s also helpful to provide an induction, so that people are able to cultivate a thorough understanding of how the platform works. Participants also benefit from a closure exercise, as this helps them consolidate their learnings. As we would like to improve and strengthen the system, we are currently conducting research to find out why some assessors sign on to a course but don’t complete it. We are also making adjustments where necessary. For example, in 2019, research conducted in conjunction with our Impact Assurance team showed us that assessors often feel pressured by a lack of time, and therefore assign a score without taking the marking rubric into account. We have therefore moved to include a practical component as part of our assessment; a participant’s assessment may be considered complete only when they have completed this practical component as well as a theoretical exam.

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Impact ASSURANCE

The Impact Assurance team is tasked with collecting data and providing insights that sheds light on the Foundation’s impact, successes and areas for improvement. In a sphere where the usual measures of success, such as return on investment do not apply, this helps us ascertain our impact and is a useful indication of whether our programmes and interventions are delivering the desired impact. We achieve this aim by monitoring and reporting on current trends and storing and protecting data so that it can be used to extract insights. We also invest in collecting information, both physically and electronically, through team engagement, focus groups and surveys.

The lesson It is important to ground your support by evidence We publish a number of studies every year, which helps us gain information about where we are as a Foundation, and how we can better serve our programme participants. For example, one of the key studies released last year looked at the impact of Covid-19 on Scholars, Candidate Fellows and Fellows, so that we had the information required to develop appropriate coaching and psychosocial support 46

programmes. We also wanted to determine how the pandemic was affecting the businesses established by Fellows. The results revealed that 44% of businesses included in the study sample were struggling to survive in the turbulent economy created by the pandemic. However, on a more positive note, 55% were thriving despite the circumstances, thanks to their ability to find fresh opportunities in the ‘new normal’. A follow up to the study, included dipstick research towards the end of 2020, which revealed that, six of the businesses included in the original sample had been forced to close. These were mostly startups operating in industries that have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, such as entertainment and accommodation. The study further revealed the importance of reaching out to Fellows and Scholars, as well as the custodians of Scholars. This was especially pertinent as many of the Scholars had to return to homes that were facing several challenges as a result of the pandemic. The psychosocial support we provided allowed them to continue to receive and benefit from quality education. A second key study for the year focused on how the various teams within the Foundation experienced the move to online operations. We concentrated specifically on the selection function, which invites potential candidates to apply for our Fellowship and Scholarship programmes. The findings of this study were worrying, revealing that the profile of individuals with whom we engaged last year, shifted. From engaging mostly learners from under-resourced schools to engaging learners predominantly from private and Model C schools. This is understandable, as the under-resourced schools struggled to migrate online, and no longer received the benefit of face-to-face engagements and physical visits to their school. This insight prompted us to refine our selection tools, so that we can make sure no child is left behind. We further ran a study to assess our progression towards our 2030 Big Hairy Audacious Goals. This study was intended to benchmark the milestones we have achieved on our journey to date. We found that we are faring well in some areas. For example, one of our stated goals is to see 10 businesses worth R1 billion established by programme participants by 2030. We found that there are already two businesses valued at this amount, and we are tracking other businesses that seem to be on their way to reaching this goalpost. We are, furthermore, monitoring businesses established by our beneficiaries to ascertain whether we will reach another of our stated objectives, which is to see a total of 30 000 jobs created by Allan Gray Fellow businesses. However, the tough economic time in South African has not been conducive and we realise that this could negatively impact this target.

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Our year-on-year review study showed that 100% of the students graduating from our Fellowship programme have been employed (an indication that we are achieving our goal of providing quality education) while our Scholars achieved a 100% matric pass rate. Also encouraging is the fact that there are now 116 programme participants engaged within our Ideation Validation Creation (IVC) programme, exploring entrepreneurial opportunities while still studying. This is a clear indication of entrepreneurial intent and, we believe, a positive sign in light of the fact that our model is rooted in a long-term approach. We therefore do not expect the entrepreneurial journey followed by our programme participants to adhere to a linear pattern which sees them setting up their businesses immediately after graduating from university. Rather, some will gain experience in other fields before becoming business owners. Others are ready to start experimenting with business ownership before graduation, which is also heartening. To ensure that our assessment of impact is comprehensive and holistic, we look at many different measures at the end of each year, including Net Promoter Scores, which indicate whether our programme participants are satisfied with their engagement. We generally aim for a score of 70% among Scholars and achieved a score of 93%. The Net Promoter Score among Candidate Fellows was also high, at 83%. The Association score, 32%, while less encouraging, may be a function of the fact that Association members engage with us only occasionally, according to their needs. Furthermore, engagement may have been affected by the pandemic, which required that they focus their energies on their businesses or careers. Nonetheless, we are hoping to grow this score going forward.

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Our activities during the past year gave rise to a number of lessons:

The lesson There is great power in collaboration We realised that, in migrating online, many key individuals became alienated when they were unable to access our data. This was inevitable, given the challenges our country experiences in terms of access and connectivity. We were privileged to be able to leverage the experience, resources and expertise of other entities and individuals as we made our pivot, and it was due to such collaboration and our own innate agility that we were able to implement a Plan B whenever necessary.

The lesson Avoid being ‘stuck’ to a single approach The need to find alternate ways of doing things made us realise that you have to give yourself freedom within your framework to find new modes of operating, which may be better suited to changing contexts. We benefited from finding new routes which actually helped us to operate in a leaner fashion, achieving the same results but at a lower cost. Some of these new methods are so efficient that consideration will be given to utilising them post pandemic conditions. For example, by conducting our focus groups online rather than face-to-face, we are able to cut down on costs associated with transport or creating a central meeting point for participants.

The lesson Information becomes more powerful when it is easily accessible We have made all information readily available on dashboards, which are updated regularly. This enables people to access information in real time. We have also learnt to be more intentional around the information we collect, and are focusing on being strategic rather than collecting information for its own sake. When this is the case, it becomes clutter, and instead of boosting efficiency, detracts from it. We have also realised that the accuracy of data is critical: it must be clean and of good quality, otherwise it loses meaning.

The lesson There is more than one route to entrepreneurship In the past, we implemented entrepreneurship education using four routes: class, crew (learning from peers), coaching and cyber (online learning). However, we have come to see that these methods did not accommodate every individual, nor are they always effective. For example, an individual may attend a workshop, but may not learn very much from it. Entrepreneurship education should not be a tick box exercise, because each individual’s journey is different. We have seen this amongst our own programme participants, many of whom are starting ventures earlier. What’s interesting though, is that these ventures may not conform to the traditional definition of a startup – many are not-for-profits, for example. This is why it is important to create an expanded definition of entrepreneurship as well as the delivery modes to teaching it.

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12

Finance and OPERATIONS LESSONS

The pandemic gave us an opportunity to review our operations to make room for innovation and greater efficiency.

The lesson It should not take a pandemic to be open to change For some time, we had been struggling to act quickly on changes that, although hard to implement, would ultimately benefit the Foundation. Owing to the nature of our work as the Finance department, we have been known for asking the tough questions, the “so what” or “what if” and this has sometimes been experienced as being reluctant to change, and although this may be partly true, it our duty is to manage the organisation’s risk appetite and to ensure overall financial sustainability. Once the pandemic hit, we needed to see things a bit differently. Sustainability and longevity were still the goal, but we needed to get comfortable with the uncertainty to allow the rest of the functions to execute innovative solutions as demanded by the ‘new normal’. We had to push past the uncertainty, allow for fewer ‘proof points’ and build collective trust in our teams to do the best they can, to be stewards with the funds and build in regular check points along the way. Decisions needed to be made quicker and with evidence. 50

Moving our Jamboree (our annual flagship entrepreneurship event/ gathering) online is a case in point. By hosting our first online DigiJam last year, we proved that we were able to achieve this experience in the virtual space with great success. The pandemic forced our hand, making us move out of our comfort zone, pushing us into a space where we have to be more innovative. This showed us that it should not take a pandemic to pivot for positive change. We have subsequently been able to replicate many of our physical interventions that were both costly as well as dangerous to host in person during a pandemic, to a virtual space with major success. Similarly, a week into lockdown, the Finance department was faced with the daunting task of the year-end audit going virtual. The team had to jump into the deep-end and could not rely on the luxury of having the auditors in the office to check queries and ask quick clarifying questions. Measures that were put in place to achieve success included implementing regular scheduled virtual check-ins with the team as well as the auditors, in addition to relying on the functions, such as Facilities and Talent being on standby for any queries that came through. We achieved a clean audit and within the stipulated timeframe.

The lesson Be flexible enough to consider spending outside of your mandate if the spend will help you maintain programmatic impact In a difficult year – both operationally and emotionally – it may seem counterintuitive to allocate funds to anything that does not speak directly to your mandate. However, sometimes circumstances change what is being asked of you, and in these cases, you shouldn’t be afraid to step outside of that mandate. For example, we decided to allocate additional allowances to Scholars, where the environment was not conducive for remote learning and whose families had been impacted by the pandemic, as we believe that in order for our Scholars to be able to perform at their best, a favourable home environment was critical. Our educational work would not have achieved the same impact had we not provided support of this nature.

The lesson It’s vital to save for a rainy day Unfortunately, we have not emerged from the pandemic unscathed from a financial perspective. It takes a lot of planning to get things right. If we did not think about the future, all hopes of sustainability would be dashed. That’s why the Foundation has taken care to build up our internal reserves, so that we are able to cover any shortfalls that are not addressed by our donation income from Allan Gray Proprietary Limited (which amounts to 5% of the taxed profits). We believe that this is an essential strategy for any organisation that has the means to do so and is concerned with sustainability, because it creates resilience in an unpredictable world.

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Long-term orientation is also critical. One never knows what the future holds, it comes down to keeping an eye to the future, rather than focusing solely on the present. If the pandemic taught us anything, it is that you have to build ‘what if’ scenarios into your thinking – something we have found is often lacking – because when the world changes (as it will), you need to have the resources to be able to pivot along with it.

The lesson Intentional collaboration Your far-sightedness should extend to considering all areas of the business, rather than your primary task of production. Yes, it is vital to offer a quality product or service – but whether you are an NPC or a corporate, you still need the support of strong Communications, Finance and Human Resources teams. Your entity will rely on these teams for different reasons: when the going is good, you need the Communications function to tell everyone; when times change, you need an encouraging Human Resources team to rally the troops and keep everyone focused in a single direction. And, whether times are good or bad, your teams need to collaborate intentionally and allow people to do what they do best. The lesson here is to welcome learnings from colleagues and allow them the room to justify what they are trying to achieve. Again, this would be easier in a non-virtual environment, as all explanations and interactions had to take place over a platform such as Microsoft Teams, whereas a face-to-face interaction would most likely allow for better explanations. With that said, be sure to make time for these discussions and allow your teams to innovate and delight.

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13

Talent MANAGEMENT LESSONS

It’s worth noting that our Talent engagement scores were higher in 2020 than they have been for many years which is a significant achievement during a period of remote work. We attribute this to the efforts we took to make our team members feel cherished and let them know that we understand the importance of their contribution. This demonstrated the enormous value of the Talent function in taking care of our people.

The lesson When your Talent feels valued and appreciated, they engage more There is no denying that we were unprepared for the psychological toll of remote work. Although we had plans in place, we had no idea what working from home would entail for our Talent members, or how it would affect them mentally and emotionally. We took the bold decision to have our entire Foundation Talent work from home, a week before lockdown was announced. At this early stage, it was not yet clear how long lockdown would last. We certainly did not anticipate that we would still be working remotely more than a year later. Therefore, most of our interventions at this stage were intended to make Talent feel more safe and secure; in essence, to stabilise the situation. 53

We decided that ensuring the safety of our Talent would be our guiding priority and placing this objective at the centre of our actions, made the transition far easier. Thus, we turned our attention to the formulation of a Work From Home policy. This quick decision making was a critical factor in our swift adjustment. Our first move was to partner with our Information Systems and Technology team to ensure that all Talent members were equipped with computer screens and 3G. We also provided training in Microsoft Teams and SharePoint, so that Talent members felt comfortable using these tools and were able to do so properly. This immediately helped to boost morale, because our team could see that we were taking steps to protect them and help them do their jobs to the best of their ability. We also made sure that the first minutes of all weekly meetings were dedicated to checking in with employees and asking them about any challenges they were experiencing. Problems were noted so that we could provide support as soon as possible. This, too, helped Talent understand that we saw them as people and not mere staff members. Because the impromptu conversations that so often take place in company corridors, giving us an idea of the organisational climate, could no longer take place, we introduced quarterly surveys, asking people how they were faring and if they had the right skills and equipment or if they needed further assistance or training.

The lesson In times of crisis, you need to see people as individuals with their own contexts, rather than mere employees We requested our Employee Assistance Programme partners, ICAS, to offer counselling tailored to meet the challenges we identified through these surveys. Some of the issues that arose commonly were parents’ battle to cope with homeschooling while meeting work deadlines, for example, and ICAS’s services proved a valuable support. Just as our managers looked after their teams, we made sure we looked after them. ICAS engaged with this level of the organisation regularly, ensuring they received any support they required to empower them to carry their leadership load. Over and above our usual “Let’s Chat” sessions, which give Talent members an opportunity to voice their concerns or raise queries with Exco members, we set up regular ‘Coffee Connect’ sessions; a platform for Talent to discuss their issues. We supplemented these with fun activities, like online cook-offs, with our chef in residence providing a recipe and shopping list for a dish before giving a cooking demonstration. Our annual wellness day was better attended than usual. Although we obviously couldn’t follow the traditional format, we opted for a hybrid approach, inviting a limited number of people at a time to undergo their wellness assessments at our offices. At a time when people felt anxious to visit their doctors in case of exposure, this initiative was greatly appreciated. The combination of these interventions was extremely impactful. We achieved an engagement score of 77% in our annual Talent survey which was an increase of 5% on the previous year and our highest score ever. In fact, we also saw a great improvement across the board and in particular that of our culture metrics, which was an astounding 90%, a great positive sentiment for the leadership.

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The lesson It’s vital to find creative ways to mitigate negative impacts These positive outcomes notwithstanding, the Foundation experienced some hardships, too. Sadly, a member of Talent was lost to Covid-19; a tragedy that was made all the more hard to bear because we were unable to mourn our loss together. We hosted an online memorial, and provided individual counselling for those who had worked closely with her. Some roles were inevitably impacted by the lockdown and remote working, specifically those that are traditionally office bound. Where possible, we seconded individuals in these positions to other departments so that they could learn new skills. This, again, showed our team members how much we value them.

The lesson We need to keep looking at how to address potential pitfalls Ensuring that the Foundation continued operating smoothly required an investment in time and effort, which meant that some tasks had to be held over until such time as we could once more commit resources. It may be important for us to prioritise our tasks in the future as we cannot afford to compromise the quality of the Foundation’s work. In spite of the challenges we encountered as we shifted to remote working, we believe the Work From Home approach has been proved a viable model. We are proud that our people have continued to perform well while working remotely. The Foundation has always tried to offer Talent members flexibility where possible, and there is no reason why this should not continue going forward. While some individuals thrive within an office environment, others far prefer working at home, and we believe it may be worthwhile to pose a hybrid model that allows us to accommodate both.

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14

Public Affairs and COMMUNICATIONS LESSONS

Mandated with the task of telling the brand’s story – through targeted content and public relations – the Public Affairs and Communications (PAC) team’s key takeout from 2020 centred around the realisation that the Foundation doesn’t simply espouse the benefits of an entrepreneurial mindset. Last year, we showed that we have taken our own advice about finding the opportunity within the challenge and it was this ability that helped us experience 2020 as a year of triumph rather than disaster, and to move through chaos with grace.

The lesson We had to reposition ourselves as a strategic communications partner to various departments within the Foundation The PAC team contributed to the Foundation’s achievements in this regard by reviewing how we could reinvent our modes of engagement with various stakeholders. The dialogue sessions held by our Fellowship team are a case in point. We had to find a platform that could replace these face-to-face interactions, while still capturing attendees’ attention – no small feat, given that most South Africans 56

are, by now, experiencing online fatigue. Driven by this responsibility, we worked to curate compelling content for our various events, ensuring that the information disseminated and activities taking place online were of such high calibre that participants remained engaged from beginning to end. This challenge revealed two critical learnings. Firstly, speakers must be reminded that online engagement is necessarily different from face-toface events, and communication must be tailored accordingly. Secondly, one of the best ways to make sure that content is relevant and interesting is by making sure speakers discuss the ‘so what?’ aspect of every story. What is the point of the engagement? What are you trying to tell your audience? Paying heed to this ensures not only that the information remains on point, but also guides decisions around the most effective platform for the type of communication. This is especially important given our audience’s profile. We speak predominantly to young people who want to feel they have derived value from an online engagement, given the high cost of data. In helping members of the Foundation navigate such issues while finding ways to deliver content in a fresh manner, we found that our role underwent a shift. Increasingly, we are being seen as a strategic partner to various departments within the Foundation. The learning here is simple, if we are to make sure that we engage people, drive the right message and stimulate discussions that help develop our understanding of entrepreneurship, we have to pay close attention to the quality of the content we create.

The lesson When content adds value, it becomes sought after Interestingly, the move to online – while forcing us to review how we create content – has ensured that as long as the content is relevant, people will make a greater effort to access it. We frequently found that potential attendees gave a positive RSVP for an event, knowing that they would not be able to attend, but still eager to be able to access the discussions that would take place in a recorded form. At the same time, our online presence gave us the opportunity to extend our international reach and access audiences and speakers that were previously hard to find. Our Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Forum, which seeks to build a community of shared learning within our operating environment, is a case in point. For the first time, we were able to include thought leadership commentary from around the world, rather than presenting a South Africa-only perspective. The resulting impact is such that we have decided to maintain a hybrid approach even once the pandemic has ended, so that we can take our message to a broader audience.

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The lesson Digital transformation is key to achieving our aims We realise, however, that we were able to increase the impact of our online platforms only because we had started to consider digital transformation from a variety of viewpoints. Our goal is to create ‘a Netflix of entrepreneurship’; a comprehensive portal containing a wealth of information about the subject, tailored to meet the precise requirements of the various stakeholders who may access it. With this in mind, we have taken steps to consolidate our platforms, making it easier for people to engage with us. At the same time, we are ensuring that there is sufficient storage space for our portal to act as a virtual encyclopedia, making it possible for ecosystem members to access information most relevant to them. We have placed emphasis on creating a seamless user experience, developing a user profile based on the type of content users most frequently searched for. Although this project is still in its infancy, we are excited about the possibilities presented by Artificial Intelligence and Big Data.

The lesson The power of partnerships must be leveraged During 2020, we learnt about the true power of partnerships. This understanding came about through the realisation that, operating as we do in an environment marked by constrained resources, we need to ensure that we do not compromise the quality of our programmes. One of the most effective ways of doing this is by leveraging our partnerships. With numerous organisations, sadly, forced to close because of the economic pressures brought about by the pandemic, this is a move that benefits not only the Foundation, but the sector as a whole. We will pursue this strategy actively going forward, ensuring that we join forces with like-minded organisations, sharing similar values and who are committed to the development of the youth in South Africa. This is an exciting step forward for us, as we have traditionally functioned as a very self-sufficient organisation in pursuit of identifying scientific evidence to back our programme approaches.

The lesson We need input from the ground up We also feel that it is important to create a value chain where the contribution of all stakeholders involved in entrepreneurship education carries equal weight. We aim to create a common vision around entrepreneurship education in the country.

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Linked to this, we feel we need to work harder to include input from entrepreneurs themselves in our discourse. Often, the discussions we hold around entrepreneurship are with other members of the entrepreneurship ecosystem, which means that our solutions typically follow a top-down approach. Including more young people in these discussions would ensure that we are addressing the true requirements and challenges facing entrepreneurs and dissolve the gap which exists between investment in entrepreneurship and the creation of entrepreneurs. Collaboration is key in this regard. Moreover, it would be beneficial to include insight from an array of entrepreneurs – from those who have access to resources, to those who have survivalist businesses.

The lesson We need to make our positioning clear As we prepare to take our next steps, we have reflected on perceptions of the Foundation and the value we add. We realised that there is some confusion around our offering, which has muddied those perceptions. There are some stakeholders that consider the Foundation to be a bursary programme, while our value lies in offering a comprehensive entrepreneurship development programme that walks the entire entrepreneurship journey with programme participants, helping them reach their end goal. This is a message we must convey not only to participants, but also to society at large, so that we deepen the understanding of entrepreneurship and its value, and the importance of entrepreneurship education as a human right. We need to highlight the fact that entrepreneurship is crucial, not because we expect every programme participant to become an entrepreneur, but because the entrepreneurial mindset is a true asset in helping young people navigate uncertain terrain – and the development of this mindset is the responsibility with which we have been tasked. In South Africa, especially, the concept of entrepreneurship is applied very loosely. It is seen as a discipline that could solve most of our socioeconomic problems  – and yet, in spite of these high hopes, we are not investing in entrepreneurship development as we should. Moreover, few initiatives targeting this area extend beyond the short-term. When we look at entrepreneurship, the importance of long-term investment is clear, especially in view of the societal contribution entrepreneurship can make. We saw this in 2020, when Cape Bio, a business created by Allan Gray Fellows developed a rapid testing kit to diagnose Covid-19. This is precisely the kind of example we look to when we speak of High Impact Responsible Entrepreneurship.

The lesson Communication to internal stakeholders is just as important as external communication It’s interesting to note how the Foundation’s approach to communication has evolved. Although we have traditionally handled communication to external stakeholders well, our approach to internal communication has been less proactive. This changed during the Covid-19 pandemic. We were vigilant about updating Talent about developments within the Foundation brought about by Covid-19, especially decisions around remote working. This was highly valued, as the uncertainty that characterises these times was exacerbated by concerns around whether the Foundation would have to retrench employees. We found that there was comfort and confidence in transparency, and this allowed people to focus on their jobs rather than expending energy on these concerns. Our initiatives ranged from emails from the desk of the CEO to information about how medical aids are approaching cover for Covid-19. This was highly appreciated by Talent members, as shown by the feedback the Foundation received in our yearend survey.

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15

Information Systems AND TECHNOLOGY LESSONS

A key learning in the space of technology is this, we need to work far harder to bridge the digital divide which disadvantages South Africans.

The lesson Work from home challenges don’t end at connectivity The Foundation’s emphasis on taking a long-term approach stood us in good stead as we entered the Covid-19 pandemic. Obviously, we could not have anticipated the crisis, nor could we be sure how long it would last. However, the Foundation’s mode of work and requirements had already nudged us to take several steps in the right direction. For instance, our Informations Systems and Technology (IST) Strategy had already taken into account Talent’s need for flexibility, especially in terms of workspaces. The Foundation’s objectives require Talent to work in physical proximity to participants, often away from their formal office space, on campus or in coffee shops. We had therefore embraced a decentralised model, with Talent members equipped with laptops with 3/4G connectivity, cloud computing and other tools that facilitate remote collaboration. Most of our Talent members were, therefore, well prepared for the transition to working from home – from a hardware perspective, at 60

least. We still had to address challenges such as a lack of working space at home, as well as insufficient internet capacity. The latter posed problems for our programme participants too. In an effort to find a solution to this problem, we undertook a survey of 30 Cape Town-based organisations in July 2020, asking their Chief Information and Security officers how they had addressed the issue. We found that most were following a multi-pronged approach. For example, they issued mobile data contracts and laptops, or paid an additional allowance for data. Following their cue, we made sure that every Talent member was given a laptop, a 3/4G data contract and, depending on their role, a temporary allowance for data, too.

The lesson Digital transformation is no longer a ‘nice to have’ With physical meetings no longer taking place, the Foundation is relying heavily on remote collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams and Zoom to host events for programme participants, or simply to carry out day-to-day operations. This is something we have had to factor into our plans for digital transformation, a strategy which has been under consideration since 2019. Digital transformation typically centres around providing outstanding digital content for customers, along with a compelling and easy user experience. This insight guided the early development of our digital transformation strategy and saw us digitise 54 business processes during 2020. We are now eyeing a target of digitising 66.6% of Programme processes. However, our priorities have changed with the advent of lockdown. We are now more keenly focused on those processes which affect Programme Participants, applicants and stakeholders that work with participants, such as mentors and application assessors. Moreover, the implementation of the strategy has been delayed, and will cost more than projected in the budget. However, this is unavoidable as we have seen that we will need more digitisation to allow us to scale and reach more applicants and participants. Digital transformation is no longer seen as a competitive advantage, rather, it is recognised as a strategic imperative that is required to ensure greater efficiency, effectiveness and impact. It is also linked to a greater return on investment and more cost savings, which allows for greater investment in innovation. This means that unilateral investments decisions have given way to broader consultation. It will therefore be vital to expand the IST governance model to steer technology investment decisions going forward and, with this in mind, we have established a Governance Forum to advise EXCO, as well as the IST Steering Committee.

The lesson Cybersecurity must assume greater importance Like many other organisations, the Foundation has been affected by increased cybersecurity risks, a result of digitising processes which are outside the protection of a secured network. Cybersecurity was, in fact, already on the IST department’s radar as an issue requiring greater attention. Following an exercise implemented in 2019, we commissioned an external auditing firm to run a mock email phishing attack, and found that 14% of Talent had responded to the email, providing their details and thus placing the organisation at risk. We addressed this with a three-tier response, led by the launch of a Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign in 2020. This project encompassed facilitator-led workshops and reminder emails. We then hosted a presentation to EXCO, with the aim of raising awareness. Finally, we compiled a threeyear IST security roadmap. In spite of these efforts, it has become clear that we underestimated the impact of increased security threats caused by the shift to remote working, and so we have planned to implement a security assessments based on the global security IT standard ISO270001 to identify gaps and take action to mitigate risks. 61

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Conclusion

The past year has presented many learning curves. We believe that overcoming any challenge places us in a stronger position as a Foundation, as the lessons we encounter throughout our journey arm us with knowledge and insights to better deliver on our mandate. With this in mind, we have taken on board a number of observations made throughout the pandemic year, noting which practices have impeded our progress towards our 2030 Big Hairy Audacious Goals and which are helping us move forward. In line with these observations, we are reviewing our programmes to ensure the best possible outcomes and greatest efficiencies. We are also looking forward to partnering with other stakeholders within our ecosystem, working together to reach our ultimate goal of creating a larger pool of High Impact Responsible Entrepreneurs to lead our country forward.

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THE WORLD STOPPED BUT OUR IMPACT CONTINUED

In loving memory of CAROL GAJANA REST IN PEACE.

6 December 1979 – 6 August 2020

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