Stafford Unplugged

Global Philanthropy — "...stakeholders, not just shareholders."
Colleen Ebbitt (J.P. Morgan | Vice President for Global Philanthropy EMEA)

Colleen and I met in 2019 and I walked away so impressed with her work and remarkable views of the world; her brief bio below speaks for itself. In this conversation we covered so much; her history and JP Morgan's philanthropical efforts in South Africa (not many folks know that they're behind several high profile initiatives over here).

I pushed Colleen on her BREXIT work, angles on inclusive economic growth versus capitalism, social enterprises,…

Making sense of 'Resilience' — Approaching any challenge an allowing it to enhance you! - Taryn Stejskal
Taryn Marie Stejskal Ph.D. (Resilience Leadership | (CRO) Chief Resilience Officer)

Resilience' is the new, global, C-suite buzzword and what an honour to present to you the leading mind within this emerging, critical, strategic practice.

I met Taryn Marie recently when we jointly keynoted on a global webinar and what I heard from her finally made 'resilience' make sense; from EQ (emotional intelligence) to AQ (adaptability) to RQ (resilience quotient)!

She is a foremost international…

Woman pioneering science — Leading female scientists' journey and fascinating perspectives
Rachel Chikwamba (CSIR-Leadership Industrial Development | Group Executive and active member of the Academy of Science of South Africa)

Finally managed to corner Rachel and now you all have the opportunity to listen to this incredible scientist and thought leader. I serve on the board of the CSIR and it is always such a privilege to engage Rachel in that capacity.

She leads some of the most jaw-dropping scientific research projects and here she provides you with a glimpse into them.

Her life story &…

Female entrepreneurship — A truly successful, inventive, African (woman) and tech entrepreneur
Arlene Mulder (Entrepreneur | WeThinkCode and BiB | Co-Founder)

I first met Arlene when she reached out to me about a crazy idea; establish an entity that could identify and truly uplift disadvantaged (even uneducated) humans by giving them a free shot at becoming a skilled computer programmer.

Since those early stage discussions she launched 'WeThinkCode' which did exactly this and has already transformed the lives of over ONE THOUSAND individuals...and continues to increment this today.

The…

Female leadership personified — A woman's fascinating executive journey, challenges, and lessons
Jacqui O'Sullivan (MTN | Communication and Reputation Management Executive)

This is one my favourite interviews to-date; I absolutely loved Jacqui's posits, experiences and perspectives!

We covered so many areas in this episode : 5G, WFH, BLM, EQ, PR vs Marketing, global female leadership, Etc. But, what I found most profound is Jacqui's description of the challenges women experience in the corporate (South African) environment and her perspective on traditional (masculine) leadership.

* If you…

State of (our) nations — An incredible woman's take on our sociopolitical landscape
Ferial Haffajee (Daily Maverick | Associate Editor | Author and Award-winning Journalist)

We start off season 2 themed (in conversations with) 'Incredible Women' and Ferial Haffajee was one of the first names that came to mind. My entire family are massive fans of her work and career, and I fervently follow her writings. This interview was a huge honour, privilege and very timely considering the worries that all South African's have today about our country.

We explore Ferial's early childhood growing up in…

HR during a pandemic — What do you do when your staff test C19 positive and die?
Professor Shirley Zinn (Non-Exec Director of Boards, Author of 'Swimming Upstream', Coach, Mentor, and Entrepreneur)

Human Resource (HR) executives have found themselves in the corporate nucleus of this pandemic storm. COVID-19, WFH...through to 'Black Lives Matter' are rocking the foundations of every business - crazy times which HR folks have to orchestrate.

Shirley is considered the leading HR exec in South Africa and after a friendly catch-up call, which FLOORED me, I decided that we just had to do this…

Origins of Africa's arterial Internet veins — An audacious marine-fibre project to reticulate Africa's eastern seaboard
Brian Herlihy (SEACOM | Founder, Black Rhino Group | Founder, and World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) 192 Young Global Leaders for 2012)

Imagine deciding that you're going to connect Africa to the Internet...then actually going out and doing it! Well, my friend Brian did just that and I managed to catch up with him and capture some of the history of the founding of SEACOM.

He shares the fascinating origins of his endeavour, the challenges of laying a few (hair thin) strands of…

Philosophies of technology's future — What if we are just AI's biome and Bitcoin married IOT?
Scott Lemon (Technologist, Futurist, and Twilio IOT Solutions Engineer)

My favourite 'Lemon' quote (which he coined about 20 years ago!); 'The Internet is the developing nervous system of the human organism on Earth!'

Scott Lemon has an incredible technological 'sixth sense' and since I met him when I lived in Utah (where he still abides nestled in the Wasatch mountain range in Heber Valley) in 1997 he's been my go-to for seeing around technological bends (or just verifying whether my assumptions…

Bitcoin Understood and Contextualized — Bitcoin's history, status today, and futures beautifully articulated
Farzam Ehsani (VALR | 'Bitcoin Seer', Co-Founder and CEO)

Farzam (or Zom as I know him) is my 'go-to' guy for all things Bitcoin and crypto-currency. His faith, respect for history and ability to assimilate the humanities, gives him the ability to contextualize Bitcoin better than anyone I've heard or met. In this episode we explore the evolution of money, the current state of the fiat-currency world and demystify Bitcoin. He also maps his journey out of traditional banking and into…

The dynamic (European) future of work — Fascinating WFH stats and insights into security challenges/opportunities
Jesper Frederiksen (Okta, Inc | Vice President and General Manager, EMEA)

Jesper and I first met when I established Google's presence here in South Africa (2006). We've been friends ever since and I've always highly regarded his insights into technology trends. Here he shares this fascinating 'Work From Home' (WFH) European study done by OKTA. The posits are fascinating and gives us some useful insights re the metamorphosis occurring right now throughout the region. His OKTA…

Geeks Reminiscing — Looking back over aged (tech) shoulders
JD Marymee (Microsoft HQ Seattle | Applied Innovation Architect, Professional Flight Instructor and Author)

JD and I met in the USA in 1996 when I started working at Novell’s Utah (Provo) HQ. His tech background and experience is jaw-dropping! JD’s history covers some of the most pivotal technology milestones in our industry and the various pioneers he engaged during those times.

Listen in as we casually throw back to some of those fascinating instances, do some BIG name dropping and he shares his views on Blockchain.…

The reinventor of education — Inventive entrepreneurship, founder PTSD and next generation learning
Robert Paddock (GetSmarter | Co-founder, Valenture Institute | CEO, Hubble Studios | Executive Director, Injini | Board Member)

From a drummer who almost lost his hearing, to logistics, to compost, to disrupting the education sector; Rob shares his pathways that led to one of the biggest deals in SA's startup sector history (an exit of $103m plus $20m cash when he sold the Cape Town based education platform, GetSmarter, to a USA company, 2U, in 2017).

If you're a budding entrepreneur, this is…

Early childhood development and COVID-19 — Parents of toddlers - heads up! Amazing insights, guidance, and advice!
Meg Faure (Occupational Therapist, Author, Speaker and Founder of 'Play Sense')

Parents in COVID-19 lockdown (and in general) are extremely concerned about their child's development. Many of us are stuck at home with toddlers, multi-tasking, exhausted, and out of ideas. Amongst ourselves we're asking serious questions about their growth, well-being, the future of day-care and their overall education.

I turned to my favourite OT and one of the smartest educationalist on the…

The upside of down in Bruce Whitfield's world — Perspectives making sense of our new world; historically and economically
Bruce Whitfield (A multi award-winning business broadcaster, journalist, author, speaker, MC and conference facilitator)

Bruce Whitfield (@brucebusiness) doesn't need any introduction if you're a South African (for the few who don't know him; see his bio below). I love prompting Bruce for his views which are usually fascinating, verbose, contextual and wrapped in beautiful historical metaphors.

I 'cold-called' him this morning and (completely unscripted) he shared his…

Digital, Innovation, Humanity and the Virus! — True invention and innovation only exist when people are having fun
Lee Naik (TransUnion Africa | CEO | LinkedIn Top Voice | Columnist | Speaker)

Lee and I shoot the breeze on his thoughts about this new world order and where he thinks we are. We've known each other for many years so much is said between the lines but I'm sure you will enjoy the chat.

He also shares some amazing nuggets re their TransUnion findings

My key take-away : Joy, Re-invention & innovation of self is key to this new dispensation.

The report (the latest weekly results…

The economic disaster of COVID-19! — Our money, businesses and world finances are incinerating - now what?
Dr. Adrian Saville (Chief Executive at Cannon Asset Managers and Prof of Economics, Finance and Strategy at the Gordon Institute of Business Science)

Adrian is my 'go-to' person when the economic world just does not make sense - he is that for many institutions too — this discussion will show you why!

In today's upside down Covid-19 world I ask Adrian to decipher what's happening, to attempt a forecast of what lies ahead and what he would do if he were President.

I level many…

Education and governance in a COVID-19 world — Amazing insights and observations for our new and strange world!
Professor Jonathan Jansen (Distinguished Professor of Education at Stellenbosch University and President of the Academy of Science of South Africa)

Prof JJ and I casually shoot the breeze generally talking about the Corona virus, the situation globally and in South Africa, and the state of education in this new Covid-19 dispensation.

As usual the Prof's views are insightful and thought-provoking.

Follow Prof Jansen on Twitter https://twitter.com/JJ_Stellies
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