Submitted by H. Hutton on Mon, 03/02/2020 - 11:36
10 February 2020 – Dr Andrew Venter has been appointed Director of CISL’s operations in South Africa (CISL SA) where he will drive the organisation’s mission to enable leadership in response to critical challenges.
Dr Venter joins CISL SA from WILDTRUST, where he was CEO for 19 years and developed the organization into one of the region’s largest and most influential.
Director Founder of CISL Dame Polly Courtice said:
“We’re very excited to have Andrew onboard. We’ve worked with him for over a decade as one of our Senior Associates, and he has always challenged us to develop and deliver regionally relevant strategies. His intolerance for ‘more of the same’ is well known, which resonates perfectly with the climate change and sustainability reality that we face. The Cambridge team are looking forward to working with him and his South Africa colleagues to shape and develop a regional strategy that will make a tangible difference.”
Andrew Venter said:
“I’m looking forward to working with the CISL team and alumni to develop and shape a new generation of sustainability leadership interventions in South Africa, and across the region. Record breaking temperatures, bush fires, droughts and floods are the new “normal”, aggravating failing food production systems and deepening the plight of the regions poor. We need bold, strategic leadership that is able to shape new economic development strategies, reflective of our changing environment and anchored by a core focus on ecosystem health, restoration and robustness.”
The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership is a globally influential Institute developing leadership and solutions for a sustainable economy. For over three decades the Institute has built individual and organizational leadership capacity and capabilities, and created industry-leading collaborations, to catalyse change and accelerate the path to a sustainable economy. This is supported by an interdisciplinary research engagement that builds the evidence base for practical action. It has operated in South Africa since 2002, with a South Africa Alumni network of over 1000 influential business, government and civil society leaders.
Andrew has a reputation for driving innovation in the sustainability sector, and has led the development of a number of South Africa’s iconic environmental and social interventions, including Trees for Life, Recycling for Life, Food for Life, Khuthaza Business, the WILD SERIES, Greening your Future, Adopt-A-River, the Karkloof conservation area expansion, Somkhanda Community Game Reserve, the BLOOD LIONS film and impact campaign, the Blue Fund, Ocean Stewards, Whale Time, Blue Crew, Blue Port, #OnlyThisMuch, Ocean iMPAct, Oceans Alive, the Shark Conservation Project, Waste Uprising and the OUR OCEANS film and impact campaign.
Under Andrew’s leadership, CISL SA will continue to focus on delivering world class executive education programs, whilst shaping a new set of convening, research and innovation interventions. He is particularly focused on identifying, nurturing and supporting “tomorrow’s leaders”.
