Professor Shirley Zinn is the former Group Head of Human Resources at Woolworths Holdings Limited. Prior to this, she was the Head of Human Resources of Standard Bank South Africa and Deputy Global Head of Human Resources for the Standard Bank Group.
Prior to this she was the Group Executive HR at Nedbank. Before this, she was the General Manager for Human Resources at the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
She is also an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Human Resource Management, and recently been appointed as Adjunct Professor at the University of Cape Town.
Shirley is the Past President of the Institute for People Management South Africa and registered as Master HR Professional with South Africa Board for People Practice.
Professor Shirley Zinn hails from the Cape Flats in Cape Town, and started her career as a secondary school teacher of English, then moved to the University of the Western Cape where she lectured in Teacher Education.
After this, Professor Shirley Zinn served at Southern Life as Training Manager and then moved to the Department of Public Service and Administrations’: South African Management Development Institute, in Pretoria as Director.
She held the position of Executive Employment Equity at Computer Configurations Holdings. Before her appointment at SARS, she filled the role of Regional Human Resources Director for Middle East and Africa for Reckitt Benckiser, a global company listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Professor Shirley Zinn is the former Chairman of DHL: Global Forwarding SA, and currently a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of JSE listed AdvTech (Lead Independent and Chair of Remco) and Sygnia Asset Management (Lead Independent, and Chair of Remco and Social and Ethics Committee).
She also serves as a director on the Boards of Tuesday Consulting, Empowerment Capital, Knowledge Resources, Business Engage, Community Chest, and the Boston Consulting Group SA. In addition, she is the HR Advisor to the Board of Silvertree Internet Holdings.
Professor Shirley Zinn also serves on the Takeover Regulation Panel Board and on the Council of the University of Cape Town. She is a Trustee on the Nedbank Eyethu Community Trust, Ambassador for the Orbis Africa Charity, and the former Chairman of Starfish Greathearts Foundation.
She also serves on the Advisory Boards of Monash South Africa, and the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Shirley is the past President for the Harvard Alumni Association South Africa and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors SA.
She also previously served as the Chair of the Institute of Bankers. She was recently appointed as the Patron for South Africa Council of Business Women.
She is a coach and mentor to several women across multiple industries She has presented at numerous national and international conferences as a keynote speaker.
In 2015, she wrote her autobiography entitled “Swimming Upstream” which focuses on her personal and professional journey. It has officially been announced as a best-seller.
In 2016, she presented several “Swimming Upstream” talks nationally at corporates, schools, universities and charities, with the hope of motivating and inspiring especially youth and women that they can achieve despite adversity, and to never give up.
She holds a BA (University of the Western Cape); Post Graduate Higher Diploma in Education (University of the Western Cape); B.Ed. Honours (UNISA); M.Ed. (University of the Western Cape); Ed.M. (Harvard); and Doctorate in Education (Harvard).
Professor Shirley Zinn was awarded the Top Woman in Business and Government and Top Executive in Corporate South Africa by Topco Media in 2008. Professor Zinn also was recognized by the Black Business Quarterly and received the Award for Top Woman in Business and Government and most Visionary Woman in 2008.
She also received an award from the World Human resources Congress in Mumbai in 2007 and 2013 respectively for Excellence in Global HR Leadership. In 2012, was listed in the Top 30 Wonder Women in South Africa by the Wits Business Journal.
Professor Shirley Zinn was awarded Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government for 2016 in the SME Sector by CEO Global.
She also completed her ninth Two Oceans Half Marathon in March 2018.
Contact us at Speakers Inc and follow us on Facebook
Mongezi Mtati has spent the past six years playing and working on the web. He founded his company WordStart in order to help companies generate buzz around their products and services amongst South African influencers. During the company’s first year, Mtati had the opportunity to present the WordStart business model and MC at Richard Branson’s […]
Finding MY Virginity is the title of Caroline Ravenall forthcoming book which reflects her passion for creating future-fit business cultures and ennobling people to live more meaningful, courageous and impactful lives. Drawing on a strategic sales and leadership background of almost 10 years in Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and 15 years of business, coaching and […]
Kate Moodley is an accomplished business woman with a number of academic qualifications which includes a Masters in Law. She began her career in legal but quickly moved into the financial services industry and insurance in particular. Kate has gone from strength to strength starting as a Candidate Attorney with Deneys Reitz. She became a […]
Kobus Wiese was born on May 16th 1964 in Paarl, matriculating at Paarl Gimnasium. He went on to study further at Paarl Onderwys, and obtained his teaching diploma from Goudstad. He has played rugby for Boland, Western Transvaal and Transvaal (now Gauteng), touring as a Springbok to Australia in 1993, New Zealand, Wales, Scotland and […]
Quinton Coetzee, a name synonymous with resilience and adaptation, was born in the vast expanses of the Namib Desert and spent much of his formative years immersed in the African bush. This unique upbringing laid the foundation for a career that seamlessly blends natural science with business strategy, earning him a reputation as one of […]
Allon Raiz is regarded both locally and globally as a pioneer and maverick in the business-incubation industry. He is the founder and CEO of Raizcorp which, according to The Economist, is the only genuine incubator in Africa and which currently supports over 500 businesses. Allon is the author of two best-selling entrepreneurial books – Lose […]
Amanda Dambuza is the Chief Executive of Uyandiswa; a project management consulting firm she founded six years ago. Previously, she was the Financial Services Director of the JSE listed software organisation, Adapt IT. Adapt IT owned 49% of Uyandiswa, a deal concluded in October 2014. Effective as of the 1st of July 2017, Amanda concluded another […]
Zanele Njapha, affectionately known as ‘The UnLearning Lady’ among her esteemed clientele, stands as the foremost authority in leveraging key unlearning principles to empower global enterprises such as Visa, Philip Morris, Deloitte, Discovery, and Volkswagen. With a remarkable track record of guiding organizations toward embracing new paradigms of perception, action, and existence, Zanele embodies innovation […]
No results available
ResetThese remain the property of its owner and are not affiliated with or endorsed by Speakers Inc.
All talent fees exclude VAT, travel and accommodation where required.
We are actively working to have our profiles current with Keynote Speech titles, and Summaries.
Some Speakers do not have a set title or summary for their topic lists. Instead they customize for each. Other speakers only do moderated conversations.
If you do not see content here, please contact us.
We also have ample information off line that we can share as some do not want to have visible profiles and as such these are hidden pages. Or in the event we do not have the information, we can contact the speaker to provide and share.
Our Mission
© All rights reserved 2024. Designed using Voxel