Just for a Change

The Bertha Centre’s mission is to pursue social impact towards social justice in Africa, through teaching, knowledge-building, convening and catalytic projects with a systems lens on social innovation. The first academic centre in Africa dedicated to advancing social innovation and entrepreneurship, the Bertha Centre, in collaboration with the GSB, has integrated social innovation into the business school curriculum, established a wide community of practitioners, and awarded scholarships on MBA, MPhil & PhD to 91 students from 16 African countries over the past 10 years.

In this slightly different episode of Just for a Change, podcast host Fergus Turner chats with two current Bertha Scholars, Shannon Van Wyk and Sampson Kofi Adotey about their experiences, what inspired them to apply to the scholarship programme and why are they looking to change the world they find themselves in? This is a lively conversation covering a range of topics including some of the inconvenient truths that are present within the social innovation and systems change sphere. What role does politics play? How do we actually make significant shifts within systems that are constructive? Is it all ‘feel good’ work that’s easy? Spoiler alert there - it’s not. This is complex and nuanced work and the invitation to delve deeper into this topic with this conversation is one not to be passed up on.

We also hear from some past Bertha Scholars on how this scholarship has impacted their lives post being involved in the programme and how they are using the ground gained to catalyse and inform their current endeavours.

The links you need to know about:

https://gsbberthacentre.uct.ac.za/catalysing/category/funding-opportunities/

https://www.gsb.uct.ac.za/berthacentre Funding opportunites · Bertha · Bertha Centre · Subscribe to the Bertha Centre newsletter · Transcript — PDF (146.0 KB)

The first academic centre in Africa dedicated to advancing social innovation and entrepreneurship, the Bertha Centre, in collaboration with the UCT Graduate School of Business, has integrated social innovation into the business school curriculum.

In this episode, we’ll be hearing from current scholars Shannon van Wyk, Sampson Adotey and Tochukwu Egesi.

How the scholarship programme has been catalysing their work as well as the inconvenient truths of social innovation challenges, political realities facing entrepreneurs.

The links that you need to know about:

 

https://gsbberthacentre.uct.ac.za/catalysing/category/funding-opportunities/ 

https://www.gsb.uct.ac.za/berthacentre · · Bertha Centre · Subscribe to the Bertha Centre newsletter

With roughly 200 000 social benefit organisations listed on the department of social development, many of them working with young people it’s clear that there is fragmentation within the youth sector. The role of technology in driving integration and using technology as a leverage point to create more opportunities for young people is something worth looking at because technology has often been referred to as the ‘great equaliser’. It’s a little more complex than that though.

In this episode’s feature story Kentse Radebe talks to Jason Bygate from Capacitate - a social enterprise driving social and economic change across Africa as well as head of Bertha’s youth portfolio, Luvuyo Maseko. While most social benefit organisations would say that they would like to be more collaborative what are the issues that keep them from doing so? How can technology be used to make work in this sector more efficient and effective? What about the digital divide? How are we preparing young people for their futures? You don’t want to miss this discussion.

In the positive outlook segment, host Fergus Turner, chats to Tarryn Abrahams from Activate. Initiated in January 2012 Activate Change Drivers’ objective is to equip young people of South Africa to be innovative active citizens, influencing and provoking positive change. Find out more about the excellent work being done to drive change in the youth sector.

The links that you need to know about:

Capacitate: https://www.capacitate.co.za/

Donella Meadows: http://donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/

A comparative study on the response of NPOs in education to the COVID-19 pandemic: https://www.jet.org.za/covid-19-research-response/south-african-bootcamp/theme-2

Stats SA: http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0318/P03182018.pdf

Education, inequality and innovation in the time of COVID-19: https://www.jet.org.za/covid-19-research-response/south-african-bootcamp/theme-9 · Capacitate · A comparative study on the response of NPOs in education to the COVID-19 pandemic · stats sa · Education, inequality and innovation in the time of COVID-19 · · Bertha Centre Digital transformation webinar · David Ehrlichman Leverage points · Bertha Centre · Subscribe to the Bertha Centre newsletter · Transcript — PDF (178.7 KB)

In the 11th episode of the Just for a change podcast. The Just for a Change podcast team will be dissecting the issue of fragmentation in the youth development sector and also looking at the role that technology is playing as a leverage point to drive integration. 

Subscribe to this podcast channel so you don’t miss out on the full episode launching next week. 

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Twitter - https://twitter.com/BerthaCentre

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/bertha-centre/

Email - [email protected]

Website - www.gsbberthacentre.uct.ac.za Bertha Centre · Subscribe to the Bertha Centre newsletter

Investors around the world are reimagining how capital can be utilised to have a positive impact on the world. How, you might wonder? Through impact investing. Impact investing can be a technical and sometimes hard to grasp concept. In this episode we find out more about the world of impact investing, innovative finance and the way that this new thinking and practice is driving social innovation, justice and positive change forward.

In this episode’s Feature Story podcast host, Kentse Radebe, chats to Bertha Centre innovative finance team member, Stephen McCallum and special guest Zak Essa. Stephen is a senior analyst at the Bertha Center and shares some insights into the practicalities of how innovative financing models are being used. Zak has years of experience working with start-up businesses and has recently joined the innovative finance team as a consultant. If full blown for profit business is at one end of the spectrum and purely philanthropic funding efforts on the other end of the spectrum - then innovative financing falls somewhere along this spectrum. How do early stage businesses get the help they need when the risk is very high for traditional investors? How do we close that funding gap? These and other fascinating questions are discussed in this episode.

In this episode’s Positive Outlook segment Simnikiwe Xanga speaks with inspiring social entrepreneur and founder of Ground Culture, Sebastian Daniels. Ground Culture was founded in early 2018 as a platform to develop and grow support for entrepreneurs in and around Cape Town. They believe that by supporting local business, you help grow the economy and aid in the creation of jobs and entrepreneurial development. Sebastian shares some of his journey in starting Ground Culture and how they’ve pivoted during the Covid-19 pandemic. The great reset · · · · Uber Jumo · · Bertha Centre · Subscribe to the Bertha Centre newsletter · Transcript — PDF (156.9 KB)

The chaotic year of 2020 exposed deep systemic vulnerabilities and magnified the need for an intensified use of capital to address splintering social and environmental dynamics across the globe. In episode 10 of the Just for a change podcast, we're talking all things impact investing.

Subscribe to this podcast channel so you don’t miss out on the full episode launching next week. Click the subscribe button on our podcast profile to make sure you don't miss this episode!

Follow us for more on

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BerthaCentre

Twitter - https://twitter.com/BerthaCentre

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/bertha-centre/

Email - [email protected]

Website - www.gsbberthacentre.uct.ac.za Bertha Centre · Subscribe to the Bertha Centre newsletter

The vaccine has arrived and it’s complex. It’s been said before this pandemic has merely revealed social justice issues that have been with us for years and perhaps it is the vaccine and its roll-out that reveals these issues to their very core. Who gets the vaccine first? How do countries in the global South respond to the fact that countries in the global North have been acquiring five times the number of vaccines they need? While governments more locally struggle to get enough for even one vaccine per person. And will people even take the vaccine given the chance?

In this episode’s feature story, podcast host Kentse Radebe catches up with Professor Leslie London, Chair of Public Health Medicine in the School of Public Health and Family Medicine at the University of Cape Town and Katusha de Villiers, Health Systems Innovation portfolio lead at the Bertha Centre. Health and specifically public health is in the spotlight. Against the backdrop of conspiracy theories and a general public mistrust, how do we navigate the ever-changing landscape of this pandemic and the vaccine? What are the social implications and how does vaccine roll-out happen equitably?

In the ‘Positive Outlook’ segment Simnikiwe Xanga interviews Raymond Ackerman Academy graduate Phumza Matwele. Phumza has two over-the-counter med stores in Khayalistsha - Cape Town’s biggest township.

Phumza shares about her dream to make healthcare more accessible in her community and how this is happening. This is an inspiring story that you don’t want to miss.

If you’re looking to change the way you change the world - this podcast is for you.

The links you need to know about:

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-01-25-what-the-global-response-to-hiv-aids-can-teach-us-about-covid-19-recovery-and-social-justice/

Report from Oxfam: https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/http://www.publichealth.uct.ac.za/professor- www.oxfam.org · · Bertha Centre · Subscribe to the Bertha Centre newsletter · Transcript — PDF (154.2 KB)

The vaccine has arrived and it’s complex. The Just for a Change podcast team unpacks some of these complexities in this 9th episode of the Just for a Change podcast.

Subscribe to this podcast channel so you don’t miss out on the full episode launching next week.

Follow us for more on

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BerthaCentre

Twitter - https://twitter.com/BerthaCentre

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/bertha-centre/

Email - [email protected]

Website - www.gsbberthacentre.uct.ac.za Bertha Centre · Subscribe to the Bertha Centre newsletter

It’s the beginning of a new year and just when we hoped that life would be returning to some kind of normal, South Africa headed into the second wave of Covid-19 at an alarming rate. Schooling has been in some form of disruption since March 2020 and as we embark on the journey of a new year ahead we can only but imagine the effects that this ongoing disruption in the education sector is having on our learners - the backpack is heavy.

In this episode’s feature story, podcast host Kentse Radebe chats to well-known education specialist Dr Allistair Whitten and Louise Albertyn. They unpack some of the challenges facing learners going into 2021, as well as sharing some insight into how educators and parents can approach this year. Al is the founding director of the Centre for the Community School in the Faculty of Education at Nelson Mandela University and Louise is the senior advisor to the UCT Graduate School of Business’s Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the Education Innovation portfolio.

In the ‘Positive Outlook’ segment Simnikiwe Xanga interviews Ziphindile Mbiza, Spark Schools’ principal of SPARK Rosslyn Hub in Soshanguve. The SPARK schools are well known for their innovative approach to education. Listen as Ziphindile talks about some of the great work they’ve done during Covid-19 to ensure that their learners receive the best possible support.

If you’re looking to change the way you change the world - this podcast is for you.

The links you need to know about:

The Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship

https://mg.co.za/special-reports/2020-09-09-covid-19-childhood-and-adolescence-disrupted/

https://www.sparkschools.co.za/how-spark-schools-is-making-a-difference/

http://leadershiplabsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Leadership-in-Times-of-Covid-19-Essential-qualities-capacities-and-skills-final.pdf

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanderark/2018/08/06/low-cost-schools-are-transforming-africa/?sh=3dc126d86 · · · www.forbes.com · Bertha Centre · Subscribe to the Bertha Centre newsletter · Transcript — PDF (158.4 KB)

In episode 7 of the ‘Just for a Change’ podcast we take a look inward and hear from the team at the Bertha Centre as they reflect on 2020 and also look ahead to 2021. It’s no secret that 2020 has been an immensely challenging year around the globe. It has required a lot of grit and determination from everyone on the Bertha team and despite the challenges, the Bertha Centre has had a number of incredible successes across the six portfolios.

Podcast host, Kentse Radebe, hosts a conversation with fellow Bertha team members Fergus Turner and Louise Albertyn to chat through what the Education Innovation, Bertha Scholars and Social Systems Justice Innovations portfolios have been working on this year. It’s been a jam-packed year and the necessity to pivot and think innovatively have kept everyone on their toes. Take a listen and be inspired by what these portfolios have achieved this year - from hosting an incredibly successful webinar on racism in schools to the SSJI delivering the ‘Transforming Change’ programme in partnership with the Swedish Institute & the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

In the second segment of this podcast, we get to hear from Ntombini Marrengane, the new senior manager at the Bertha Centre. She shares some of her highlights of 2020 and hosts a conversation with Simnikiwe Xanga, Stephen McCullum and Katusha de Villiers about what lies ahead for the Youth, Innovative Finance and Health Systems Innovation portfolios in 2021, as well as what lies ahead for the Centre in general. One thing is for certain, the Bertha Centre is looking forward to another year of incredible work and collaboration in 2021.

If you’re looking to change the way you change the world - this podcast is for you.

The links you need to know about:

The Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Bertha portfolios: https://gsbberthacentre.uct.ac.za/portfolios/

#OpenupYourThinking Resea · Bertha Centre · Subscribe to the Bertha Centre newsletter · Transcript — PDF (145.1 KB)