Samantha (Sam) has 12 years’ social investment and enterprise development experience and currently applies her energy and skills at Enterpriseroom; a specialist entrepreneur development company based in Johannesburg. Enterpriseroom helps big business understand small business and works with corporates to design and implement strategies that drive sustainable business and social goals. 

Sam has applied local and international development experience with specific focus on micro finance and social business models in her work with the Grameen Bank and the Yunus Centre in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She is an Unleash Global Talent and selected by the UN to participate in the 2017 inaugural Unleash Lab in Copenhagen. She is a relentless connector and is often sought after for her nuanced opinion on socio-economic development. She is a regular speaker and facilitator on strategy and sustainability models. In 2013, she was a presenter at the IYF Youth Employability and Entrepreneurship in Africa conference in Senegal and a selected Brightest Young Mind South Africa (2005).

Her strengths include strategic consulting and programme development across enterprise and supply chain, skills and socio-economic development; investment pipeline sourcing and new programme idea generation. She has expertise in local economic development, financial inclusion models, vocational skills training, agribusiness, youth leadership development and capacity building and governance for civil society organisations. Part of her current work includes strategic transformation and creating practical linkages and market access for small businesses and advisory for youth employment solutions for the SME sector. She has a keen personal interest in opportunities presented by blended finance for development and youth micro franchise entrepreneurship models.