Venny Thembi Dlamini
Nominee's Province:
Eastern Cape
Project Name/Description:
Director, Solar Gen Electrical and Global Ambassador, Global Peace Chain
“I want to leave a mark that will help others know that something great can grow from nothing.”
These are the words of Dlamini, a Global Peace Ambassador appointed by the Global Peace Chain in 2018 – hers is a personality that desires to see peace beyond her community.
Dlamini’s leadership journey began in 2016, when she was part of the prestigious YALI programme, where she discovered that, yes, she could lead.
In 2018, she was part of the 100 Young Mandelas by News24 selected because of her community work, and, in the same year, she received an award from President Cyril Ramaphosa during the BRICS summit.
Dlamini managed to enrol at Nelson Mandela University through a merit award. She says: “I still believe that if I did not get that merit award, l wouldn’t have known what a university is because no one had ever been to university in my family, but my grandmother said that I will be the first in our family. She is the first woman who ever believed in me and saw me as an agent of positive change.”
Dlamini recently amazed herself by embracing a director role at an electrical engineering company, defying stereotypes about women in STEM fields. She says her story is a testament that women can excel and drive positive change in any industry.
She says: “STEM has often been used in ways that have created or perpetuated inequities. Thus, I want the definition of success in STEM to expand and include empowerment outcomes – that is, developing young women to be agents of socially just change – to have the knowledge and skills to address inequities through STEM”.
She is inspired by Michelle Obama’s words: “You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, you need to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is one of your biggest advantages.”
