Meet the University of Pretoria (UP) alumna, Shameela Soobramoney, who recently stepped into her role as the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Business Initiative (NBI).

“Finding out about this new role was both scary and exciting,” says Soobramoney.

“Scary as it will stretch me beyond the remit of my previous roles and the unknown is of course daunting, but exciting as there is a huge opportunity to effect systemic change and advance the aims of sustainability and sustainable development through the NBI’s platforms for collaborative action.”

Soobramoney graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration in 2005, and obtained her Master of Business Administration in 2007.

On a personal level, she sees this new appointment as an opportunity to help chart a course that will ultimately benefit future generations. “And I will get to do this with a fabulous leadership team who are experts at what they do,” she says.  

Prior to joining the NBI, Soobramoney served as a Chief Sustainability Officer for the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) where she was responsible for, among other things, integrating sustainability within the organisation and being a regulator.

Speaking of her new role, she says one of her goals is to ensure the wellness of the NBI team as a whole.

“However, for this year, I will establish relationships with the NBI’s stakeholders, co-create and agree on the next phase of strategy and growth, while ensuring the continuation of the great work that has been happening from long before my term.”

She added that the she aims to continually evolve and progress the strategy to help the businesses as a collective, reach sustainable development and low carbon economy targets.

“I get to engage with key businesses – local and multinational – a variety of other stakeholders including the government and of course key donor funders, with the aim of advancing the NBI’s mission and vision.”

She praises the education she received at UP, saying that the curriculum, along with the teaching and learning methods, were eye-opening for her.

“As an alumna we are the ambassadors of our alma mater and I believe we will have the biggest impact by being excellent at whatever our chosen fields are. Our example really is the biggest value back to the brand.”

The mother of two boys says she feels at home in nature and the outdoors, loves to bake and credits her sons with teaching her some of life’s most important lessons. Her biggest lesson learnt in the course of her career and life, Soobramoney says is: “Listen more than you talk. Listen to understand, not just to respond.”