There was no shortage of sisterhood, influence or inspiration at the 2026 Executive Communities Women’s Dinner. Women from the CHRO, CFO, and CIO communities gathered under one roof for an evening where conversations flowed, laughter came easily and a healthy dose of girl power filled the NH hotel in Sandton.
The theme said it plainly, The Power of Presence, and the women in the room made the case for it before a single word was spoken.
Draped in suits and sneakers in keeping with the dress code, the heels took a rare rest for the evening, as women brought their own spin to executive style and settled in for a night of bold conversations, laughter and connection.
Men in the mix
One of the evening’s most anticipated conversations was the return of Ask A Man, which flipped the script and handed the microphone to three senior male executives from HR, IT and finance to answer the tough questions women leaders have been wanting to ask.
Njabulo Nyawo, CPO at Momentum Group; Kevin Wilson, Group GM for IT at Stefanutti Stocks; and Mikaeel Tayob, CFO at Bridgestone took on the tough, often-unspoken questions women leaders have been wanting to ask about leadership, gender dynamics and navigating corporate spaces.
During the captivating panel discussion, Njabulo made it clear that the conversation was not about men positioning themselves as experts on women’s leadership.
“We’re not here to tell women how to lead. I don’t think men can ever tell women how to lead. I was raised by a single mother, so a lot of my foundational leadership lessons came from her, and that is enough validation. I was reflecting while preparing for today and realised that a lot of my leadership development came from female leaders, from school to university and now at work,” he said.
“My three most recent leaders have all been female, and my current leader is actually a woman. So I don’t believe in having specific leadership development programmes for women. I think women have leadership skills and adaptive leadership talent. For me, we need to focus on understanding why we are not seeing the evolution of women leaders and what needs to change to make that possible.”
Before the interesting insightful exchanges of Ask A Man, the evening had already been grounded in a powerful example of what it means to lead with presence.
Pioneering business leader, entrepreneur, author, CEO of Awakened Global and Chancellor of Walter Sisulu University, Nonkululeko Gobodo, set the tone for the evening with a keynote that embodied every dimension of the evening’s theme.
Presence personified
As South Africa’s first Black female chartered accountant, she has spent decades challenging expectations and redefining what is possible for women in leadership.
“I was promoted to CFO at age 29, the first woman on exco. I had never seen an exco, so I had to figure that one out myself. I however had no consciousness of the fact that I was different because I was a woman. It had never occurred to me that there were things I couldn’t do because I was a woman,” she explained.
“Others read the room, they read the organisation, and they realise that the only way to survive is to act like a man and be like a man. We all have masculine energy. Dig down and find that masculine energy. These are the kinds of decisions we make because, of course, we all crave safety.”
Her reflections on adapting to corporate environments led naturally into the heart of the evening’s theme, reflecting how presence is not only about how one woman occupies a room, but what becomes possible when many women do it together.
“The power of presence starts with the individual. It is only when there are a lot of us that we can say, collectively, that we have that power. We’ve seen too many women being attacked and, when they’re attacked, there’s no one to protect them. So we need this sisterhood now that is effective. As our voices are getting louder and more prominent in corporate spaces, they need to know that we don’t touch women because we protect one another.”
That call for sisterhood was particularly fitting in a room where senior executives had brought their mentees with them. The dinner was not only a gathering of established women leaders, but an opportunity to put experience and aspiration around the same tables.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done but we’ve come a long way and we must celebrate successes as well. During our time, we never saw anything like what I’m seeing here today, a room filled with professional women. We didn’t exist. So we’ve come very far. Let’s celebrate and understand that, yes, it is a journey and a process to get there.”
As if hearing from a trailblazer like Nonkululeko wasn’t enough of a takeaway, the first 150 early birds didn’t leave empty-handed, taking home a signed copy of her book, personally autographed by the keynote herself.
Leadership without the cape
The lively evening also had an interactive session led by Kate George Weaver-Gibbs, the CEO of the mental health platform Are You OK?, creating space for a conversation that went beyond the polished version of leadership.
In a room filled with women carrying significant responsibility, the session acknowledged the weight that often comes with being the person everyone else turns to.
“When we pay close attention, this room holds a lot of responsibility. There are women here who are responsible for capital, culture, systems, risk, people, performance and different portfolios, but there is one shared experience: leadership asks a lot of you before you even enter the next conversation,” she noted.
“Many women carry a double brief, at least. There’s the visible work: the targets, the deadlines and the decisions. Then there’s the invisible work: reading the emotional temperature, managing conflict, guiding restructures, protecting culture and mentoring others. It’s not to say that women should be doing these things, but many often do them quietly and expertly, without that ever appearing in the job description, let alone the pay cheque.”
Kate added that the invisible load can also challenge the traditional idea of what strength should look like in leadership.
“There’s this idea that leaders are strong and emotionless. No. We get the best from people when we are honest and authentic, when we share ourselves, our vulnerability and our need for support. And I think perhaps women are a little better at that than men because it’s an inbuilt human response. When somebody needs help, we want to be the one to give it. So the message to leaders is to empower others by letting them step up and help you.”
The conversation had come full circle, and in true Executive Communities style, the evening ended with networking taking centre stage, as conversations turned into connections and new sisterhoods.
Click here to see visuals from the evening and get a glimpse of the elegant setting, engaging conversations, and memorable moments from the women's dinner.
The evening was made possible by principal partners Cassava Technologies, Entelect, iOCO, MakwaIT, Old Mutual Employee Benefits, Regenesys Corporate Education, and executive partners BDO South Africa, Discovery Limited, GIBS Business School, HCLTech, ITR Technology, Jem, Kaspersky, Marsh, STANLIB, and Workday.
