The key themes will be aligned to the overarching focus of the conference taking place over the three mornings on 22, 23 and 24 June.

Day 1 (22 June): Purpose-driven organisations gaining momentum

Presented in partnership with Momentum Metropolitan

Purpose-led organisations have risen to the challenge of this Covid-ravaged period. They have proven clear on their ethos and committed to their staff, customers and suppliers. They are able to see well beyond today’s bottom-line, to the more equitable and sustainable future that they understand their responsibility in helping to build. Sessions under this theme will explore ethical and empathic leadership; the importance of embedding purpose into the core of the business; how purpose-led organisations have – and should – respond to their stakeholders; purposeful investment, beyond the CSI department; how employee volunteerism has been impacted by Covid-19, and corporate responsibility in supporting mental health.

Sessions under this theme will unpack:

• The importance of embedding purpose into the core of the business
• Ethical and empathic leadership
• How purpose-led organisations have – and should – respond to their stakeholders
• Purposeful investment, beyond the CSI department
• How employee volunteerism has been impacted by Covid-19
• Corporate responsibility in supporting mental health

Day 2 (23 June): ICT for gender empowerment

Presented in partnership with Vodacom

The role of ICT in development and the urgent need to fast-track gender equity are issues that, while they have long been on the national agenda, have been significantly amplified by the pandemic. Conference sessions under this theme will explore how women and girls can gain the necessary access and skills to leverage ICT resources to enhance their safety, education, livelihoods and wellbeing. This theme will also unpack how the public, corporate and non-profit sectors must work together to ensure that ICT bridges – rather than deepens – the gaping socioeconomic divide, prioritising women and girls.

Sessions under this theme will unpack:

• How South Africa and Africa are faring in achieving global and local goals for gender equity, particularly in the workplace, education and health, as well as how technology can support achievement of these goals and the role of business in civil society in supporting this journey
• How women are using technology to start and/or bolster their businesses
• New careers in tech, and the expertise, insight and creativity that women bring to the technology sector
• How tech can be embedded into education and how a diversified approach to teaching STEM subjects can help to address gender disparity in this field
• What tech tools and connectivity can do for women and girls who experience gender-based violence, and how these tools can be made more widely accessible
• Tech innovations that are improving the accessibility and provision of healthcare for women and girls, particularly in rural areas

Day 3 (24 June): The nexus between social and environmental sustainability

Presented in partnership with Absa

As the devastating effects of climate change grow, so does the urgency for all sectors of society to interrogate their activities and influence to ensure that they are being both environmentally responsible and responsive. Sessions under this theme are intended to provide broad overview and global insight, underpinned by local perspectives on why and how responsible business and development practitioners can and should consider environmental issues in their social development work.