Vanessa Ramanjam (South Africa)
Hub Manager South Africa, Social Enterprise Academy AfricaVanessa joined the Social Enterprise Academy as Hub Manager South Africa in March 2018. After spending 20 years working in the advertising industry in South Africa, she elected to leave advertising to pursue new opportunities in 2013. This was the start of a new journey.
While in the advertising industry she served on the boards of TBSP as well as Ogilvy SA, and her experience included managing accounts for a broad cross-section of government as well as corporate clients such as Volkswagen, SAB, and BATSA. She also completed an Executive MBA at the UCT GSB in 2003. Since leaving the advertising industry she became a business owner and consultant and has been applying her management and marketing experience in the small business development sector.
In addition to supporting small businesses, she has been providing marketing and strategic support to non-profits and social enterprises. This resulted in her starting her own social enterprise in the film industry, together with a local South African filmmaker and other advertising agency colleagues.
She enjoys learning from and sharing her experience with like-minded people committed to improving the social enterprise and small business landscape in South Africa and developing a better, more productive society.