Craig Featherby, Group CEO of Carrick, is pleased to announce the promotion of Samantha Taylor-Bowen to Group Director of Training and Development for the Carrick Group of companies, where she will sit on the Board of both the South African and International divisions.

[PHOTO] Sam is the first woman to be appointed to the Board, in an industry that is largely dominated by men.

Her role as Group Director of Training & Development will largely be focused on developing, implementing and monitoring training programmes within the organisation; mentoring new and existing Associates in skills development so that they can continue to excel in the industry, and assisting with development of strategic training for the Group. Her leadership in this area is viewed as being vital to the growth of the business and the professional development of the various teams.

Samantha joined Carrick at inception (8th October 2014), and assumed a management role in Cape Town, having spent seven successful years as a senior Financial Adviser and manager for a large international brokerage. In the two years that she has been with Carrick, her track record as a Senior Adviser has been without par, with the highest income production level in the company. While the Sales division will be minus their most lucrative team member as a result of this promotion, the Group will profit from her leadership and direction in the continued maturation of the various business units, and in the organisation’s expansion plans.

She sees her role on the board as an exemplar to others within the company: that it is possible to work your way to the most senior levels through tenacity, skill, knowledge, experience and self-development. Her promotion is evidence of Craig Featherby’s belief that hard work and personal accomplishment should be rewarded with promotion where deserved, and her appointment to the Board of Directors is the first from within the ranks at company level. Taylor-Bowen will report directly to the Group CEO from 1 January 2017.

The largest international businesswomen’s organisation - BPW International – has launched South Africa’s first register of board ready women.  

Keynote speaker, Mr Mohale Ralebitso, CEO of the Black Business Council, discussed the long slow haul for gender diversity on boards and the actions that the BBC are taking to ensure a swift progression to change. In addition, Mohale outlined the BBC’s stance on the recent JSE policy requiring listed companies to disclose the female representation on their boards and drive transformation at an executive management level.  

We need to capitalise on every talent available to ensure a South Africa and subsequently an African economy that thrives, and not simply those of a connected few.  

South Africa’s future women directors have organised under the “Get on Board” banner to passionately drive the transformation of boards. These talented women are operating at a high level in companies across industry sectors right now. The first 42 women on our Register all fulfil stringent criteria for corporate governance and legislation and are well trained through the BPW “Women on Boards” Director Development programme.    

It’s time we provide opportunities to more women than just the “high flyers” who currently occupy more board seats than is practical, taking away opportunities from up and coming new talent.  Placing unqualified non-executive female directors simply to tick a box or succumb to boardroom bullying, is neither acceptable nor ethical. Furthermore, the excuse that there are insufficient qualified women to occupy positions in the boardroom is simply a defence for not transforming. The high calibre of women on the Register highlights that there are more than enough eminently qualified women to help lead South Africa’s corporations through the 21st century.  

We are urging companies to heed the “Get on Board” call now, and to profit from this pool of talent and we recommend that all businesswomen join our Women on Boards programme to equip themselves with all the responsibilities and risks associated with taking on board positions to ensure they are able to participate knowledgeably and with confidence.    

Issued by: BPW South Africa

Enquiries:
Ms Toni Gomes President – BPW South Africa

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