About Us
Emunah is the brainchild of its Founders - Faith Khanyile and Tania Slabbert.
We decided to pull together our combined professional experience of over 50 years to establish Emunah, with our vision of building an inclusive, growth-oriented company that leverages the unique talents of the Founders and staff to come up with innovative solutions to solve some of our pressing economic and social challenges, both in South Africa and on the continent more broadly.
We wish to do this by investing in Small Business Development for women and youth entrepreneurs, by providing both financial and non-financial support.
We believe that -unlike the more established corporate sector or government - small businesses, if supported effectively and efficiently, have the greatest potential to create sustainable jobs through growth and innovation. We also believe it is important to invest in the development of future leaders amongst professionals and entrepreneurs, particularly women and youth.
We wish to do this by offering training, mentoring and coaching services focused on leadership development and empowerment as well as the promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.
Experience
In the mid 90’s we founded an organisation whose sole purpose was the advancement of women in the economy. Over a period of 25 years, we built a multibillion Rand investment company and distributed millions of Rands to a public benefit trust which was formed to support the livelihoods of rural South African women and their families.
In 2016 we established an SME Impact Fund which provided equity and other non-financial support mainly to black and women owned enterprises. They raised funding from corporates, DFI’s and government.and today, this Fund is fully invested in 15 SME businesses in diverse sectors including Edtech, manufacturing, AGRI-sector and financial services. In addition, we have supported several SMEs financially and through mentoring in our personal capacities and continue to do so.
Consequently, we bring diverse experience and deep knowledge of social impact investing, corporate & investment banking, private equity, development finance, women empowerment, leadership, governance, entrepreneurship and small business finance and development.
We have also served in various capacities as leaders, Board members, entrepreneurs, strategists, investors as well as advisors and mentors to Boards, CEO’s, Entrepreneurs and other women professionals. We have worked with diverse blue chip listed companies, large and small private companies, state owned companies and not-for profit organisations to help them shape and execute their business strategies, including their women development strategies.
We believe strongly that our approach and mindset of being inclusive, collaborative and valuing the unique talents of each individual, is what South Africa needs to move the dial in addressing high levels of mistrust, poverty and unemployment. We want to connect the various stakeholders and role players that are also working in our identified areas of focus.
