Alumni Reunion Weekend

UCT GSB Director ( Dean)

Catherine Duggan is Director (Dean) of the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (GSB). Before joining the UCT GSB she was Vice Dean and Professor of Management and Political Economy at the African Leadership University School of Business (ALUSB) in Rwanda. At ALUSB she was the founding Vice Dean and the business school's first faculty member and helped to design the school's blended MBA curriculum. She also created and taught the popular Politics, Economics, and the Context of African Business (PECAB) course and led the school's executive education programs, including the school's collaboration with INSEAD on an Africa-focused executive education program. She was previously a professor at Harvard Business School (HBS) in the Business, Government, and the International Economy (BGIE) Unit, where she taught leadership and political economy in MBA and executive education programs for nearly a decade. Dr Duggan's academic work is on the political economy of development in Africa, with a particular focus on institutional development and financial sector regulation. She has worked on the continent for more than twenty years and gained experience in nearly two dozen African countries.

Executive for Group Organisation Effectiveness, Old Mutual (EMBA 2018)

Fortune Gamanya is a globally experienced Organisation Development Strategist and executive educator, currently serving at Old Mutual as the Executive for Group Organisation Effectiveness, one of South Africa’s most established financial services institutions. She is the founder of Luminary Advisory & Consulting, a boutique consultancy specialising in Strategy, Leadership, Culture, Change Management, and Organisation Design. With over 18 years of experience across sectors including financial services, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, energy, and telecommunications, Fortune brings both depth and breadth to her engagements. Her career includes tenure as Associate Director at Deloitte Consulting, where she led the Human Capital practice in the Western Cape and served as Africa Leader for Diversity and Inclusion.

Aviation and aerospace educator, Ted Fellow

Qualified Rotor, Fixed-Wing (Instructor) and Drone Pilot I Founder I Board Member I TED Fellow I Aviation and & Aerospace Instructional DesignerI Refilwe Ledwaba is a pilot, flight instructor and the founder of Girls Fly Africa — a nonprofit inspiring a generation of young people, particularly young women, to learn to fly. Her work provides training and opportunities for youth in aviation and aerospace, boosting their economic and social independence. Ledwaba is the first black woman from South Africa to fly a helicopter and she is also the first black woman to fly for the South African Police Service (SAPS). Refilwe is one of ten people globally selected to be in this year’s 2025 cohort of TED Fellows. For 16 years, the TED Fellows program has been committed to finding and supporting the next generation of innovators. The fellowship offers communication training, network-building opportunities and amplification for remarkable individuals who are pushing boundaries in their fields. Refilwe holds a BSc (Biochemistry and Microbiology) at UCT; UCT GSB PgDip and a MBA from GIBS.

Co-Founder, Jem

Caroline van der Merwe is the Co-Founder and COO of Jem HR. She's passionate about digital inclusion and using technology for impact. Before starting Jem, she spent eight years building employee engagement and behaviour-change programmes for businesses across sub-saharan Africa. At Jem, she leads the product development and operations teams, creating innovative products for HR teams. Caroline holds an MBA from UCT Graduate School of Business and a Masters in Management from Yale University. You can read more about Jem here: https://www.jemhr.com/

Founder and Managing Director of KDB (MBA 2009/2010)

Kosta Kontos is the Founder and Chief Executive at KDB, a proudly South African software company specialising in data management solutions. In his spare time, Kosta actively serves on boards of the GSB Foundation and the Hellenic Students Bursary Fund, and is also a volunteer on the GSB Alumni Board. He holds a BSc in Computer Science and an MBA (both from UCT), and is a proud member of the GSB Sunrise Club. He lives in Cape Town with his wife (and fellow UCT alumnus) Niki, along with their two daughters Maria and Zoe. He is an avid fan of Formula 1 (Forza Ferrari), and enjoys writing about himself in the third person.