By Unknown

Former Woolworths SA CEO, Simon Susman, has recently made a significant donation towards the operations of Prof Anita Bosch in her capacity as Research Chair: Women at Work at the University of Stellenbosch Business School.

At present, these funds are intended to go towards the Chair’s operations, and to support the various research projects that the Chair is overseeing. These projects range from fair pay governance, women’s identities in male-dominated environments to institutional investors’ agency towards board gender transformation.

Susman’s interest in donating money towards the Chair lies in his personal experience as a business leader. He has been instrumental in providing mentorship to women at Woolworths, but is also keenly aware of the tension that South African women experience in dealing with cultural expectations of them as mothers and workplace realities such as spending time away from home when traveling and being primary care givers to children.

Susman’s interest in donating money towards the Chair lies in his personal experience as a business leader.

The former Woolworths SA CEO’s connection with the business school and its vision was also strong motivation for the donation. He was recently appointed as an Honorary Professor at USB, and is the chairman of the business school’s advisory board. Susman said upon receiving the appointment, ““As much as a business is driven by how it sees the market and how it can carve out its own space, I think that universities create a context for future leaders who can think differently.”

I think that universities create a context for future leaders who can think differently.
– Simon Susman

His donation will certainly serve as a welcome contribution towards USB’s mission to create value for a better world. It will also help forge a solid partnership with the business school in its primary vision for social impact and positive change.