Alumni Association Exco
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Our Alumni Exco members
The USB Alumni Association’s Exco is responsible for the management of the association. The Exco consists of the following members:
Prof Mark Smith
Director: USB

Prof Mark Smith

Careers and Labour Market Policy & Outcomes
Soula Proxenos
Prominent Alumnus

Soula Proxenos
She is an independent non-executive director of African Finance Corporation (AFC), First Housing Finance (FHF), FINCA, and Norsad. She has extensive experience chairing and as a member of risk, human resource, governance, nomination, and audit committee.
In addition to her commercial board roles Soula Proxenos is adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business and School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) teaching graduate students public private partnerships, infrastructure, project finance and negotiation. She is an advisor and IC member with WDB Investment Holdings.
Ms. Proxenos received an M. B. A. from the University of Stellenbosch, in South Africa.
Julien Wormser
Chairperson: Europe

Julien Wormser
Julien Wormser works in the HVAC industry as a Business & Strategy Analyst at Carrier, in the Lyon area, France. Previously Julien has worked in various industries : business consulting, oil, train and public works. He has studied at USB in 2003 as an exchange student.
Germaine Johnson
Chairperson: Western Cape

Germaine Johnson
Germaine Johnson is currently a consultant within the healthcare industry and provides services to hospitals across the African continent. His experience across the Medical device industry and hospital environment has supported many hospitals to achieve their healthcare goals to deliver optimal services. Germaine Completed his MBA fulltime in 2018, where he served as the class representative and continued his service as an alumni committee member after his graduation. In his Role as Chairman, he wants to facilitate the work of the Alumni association in developing longstanding and fruitful relationships with all its members globally.
Theunis van der Linde
Chairperson: Canada

Theunis van der Linde
Theunis is an experienced and seasoned business and operations leader and has range of experiences that traverse both being the client, and being the advisor. Having held senior roles in the mining industry, he uses his first hand problem solving experiences to understand, develop and follow through with tailored solutions. Over time he has developed a keen interest, ability and skill set to asses organizational performance. This helps him to identify improvement opportunities and create the value proposition; prior to designing the implementation strategy along with identifying the required capabilities to deliver a successful outcome.
He believes that grit and resilience keep teams true to their objectives, on course and successful in delivering results.
Dr. Candice Booysen
Chairperson: United Arab Emirates

Dr. Candice Booysen
Dr. Candice Booysen is a registered Industrial Psychologist with the Health Professional Council of South Africa. She holds an M.Com. degree in Industrial Psychology and completed her PhD at Stellenbosch Business School in South Africa. She is a dynamic leader who is passionate about the development of organisations, teams and individuals.
She has been involved in community work for more than 15 years and is the founder of a NPO called, Releasing Eagles. She’s been responsible for the strategic direction of the Human Capital function for a number of organsations in the IT sector. As a thought leader and strategic business partner she holds a number board positions and is often asked to speak at conferences. She has served as a Talent Specialist and Organisational Development practitioner in various industries serving in organisations such as BCX, Deloitte, Aspen Pharmacare, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Media 24, and University of the Western Cape. Currently she serves as Human Capital Director for an IT software organisation and runs her HR consulting business part time called, Aquila Talent Solutions and resides in the Middle East.
Dr Geraldine Gina Abaidoo
Chairperson: Ghana

Dr Geraldine Gina Abaidoo
Dr Geraldine Gina Abaidoo holds a DBA and MBA ACII, MCIM and a chartered insurer qualification. She is the lead consultant for FINNET Solutions Ltd, a firm that provides consulting services and deployment of best business solutions to create synergic value and business growth. Geraldine has expertise in business strategy, business risk assessment and training. She has experience in new business initiatives such as Bancassurance partnerships and customer-centric initiatives. She has strong negotiation, planning, communication and leadership skills and she serves on various committees. She is an adjunct lecturer at the Ghana Insurance College and an inhouse peer reviewer of the Journal of Functional Education. She obtained her Doctorate in Business Administration (Project Management) from Walden University, USA.
Jakkie Coetzee
Chairperson: Namibia

Jakkie Coetzee
Jakkie Coetzee is Director of Africa Commercial Vehicles (Iveco) in Windhoek, Namibia. He fulfilled the position of General Manager at Iveco from 2010 to 2016. Prior to that, he was Financial Manager at JHI, Namibia. He holds a BComm Hons (Management Accounting) from Stellenbosch University and an MBA from USB.
Christélle Cronjé
Manager: USB Alumni and Stakeholder Rela...

Christélle Cronjé
Prof Prieur du Plessis
President: USB Alumni Association; Execu...

Prof Prieur du Plessis
Prof Prieur du Plessis is the chairperson and founder of the investment management business Plexus Holdings. He holds a number of key positions including membership on the Advisory Board of USB, a trustee of PPS Holdings Trust, chairperson of Grindrod Asset Management Holdings, deputy chairperson of the Institute of Directors in South Africa and director of the Distell Group. Prof Du Plessis is also a professor extraordinaire at USB and the Honorary Consul General of Slovenia for South Africa.

Ethics related to politics, economics & business
Virna Greer
Chairperson: Gauteng & Limpopo

Virna Greer
Virna Greer is a MBA alumnus and a Partner within the Advisory Operations competency of PwC. Virna has over 20 years of experience across various industries and this has afforded her the opportunity to develop strong leadership, communication, business and operational skills. Virna’s main area of focus is Strategy and Operations focusing on the exploitation of organisational design and technology to unlock business value.
Virna believes that as an alumnus you have the responsibility to grow the Brand and foster relationships across the globe.
Shayo Imologome
Chairperson: West Africa

Shayo Imologome
Shayo is currently the CEO and Lead Consultant at StratNovate Consulting an, indigenous firm birthed to assist businesses in providing strategic direction and substance to their visions and aspirations. StratNovate’s vision is to be a global force in providing creatively innovative and positively disruptive business solutions to its esteemed clientele that help reposition their businesses for continuous and consistent future growth.
Shayo has almost 30 years of experience in finance, auditing & compliance, consultancy and advisory, and more recently business development and strategy. Her career has taken her through almost every industry in Nigeria.
Shayo previously served as the Group Compliance Director of Troyka Holdings Limited, the biggest indigenous conglomerate in the advertising space in Nigeria. The group has business interests in marketing communications, public relations, media buying, out of home advertising, digital marketing solutions, property development, and security & protection.
Owen Mbundu
Head: Marketing

Simon Meyer
Chairperson: Eastern Cape

Simon Meyer
Ernest Mkhonta
Chairperson: eSwatini

Xolani Nocanda
Chairperson: Kwazulu-Natal

Xolani Nocanda
Emma Rono
Chairperson: East Africa

Emma Rono
Emma Rono, is a specialist in the grants, fund and project management spaces, with strong donor/funders and university relationship, deep understanding of fund management and extensive experience in university capacity building in Sub Saharan Africa. Emma provides fund management and governance advisory services to Universities, foundations, individuals and international organizations on strategic growth and fund management. Over the last 13 years, Emma has built up extensive experience in non-profit making organisations, universities and institutional public-private partnerships. Most recently she was the programme officer with African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and currently involved in Academic Programmes Development for a private International University and involved in the governance of a public University in Kenya. A member of Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Institute of Directors. Emma holds a Master of Development Finance from University of Stellenbosch Business School, South Africa and a Bachelor of Education in Accounting and Economics from University of Nairobi, Kenya in addition to other professional certificates.
Matlhogonolo Sebate
Chairperson: USB Alumni Association Bots...

Matlhogonolo Sebate
Matlhogonolo Sebate is a specialist African investment advisor with his own company. A keen investor, his consulting expertise balances theory and practice in areas such as economics, development finance and strategy. He believes that his active and passive (opposed to static) approach to investments in Africa and the diversity of projects in which he has been involved throughout the value chain have honed his skills to give advice on investment themes such as private equity, development finance, investment funds and direct investments. Mr Sebate also guides governments on economic and financial policies to stimulate growth and development.
Elyssa Spreeth
Chairperson: USB Alumni Association and ...

Elyssa Spreeth
Elyssa Spreeth, an electrical engineer, works at Sasol in Secunda and focuses on the commercial aspects of project management. She has project and engineering management experience in open-pit and underground mining as well as petrochemicals. She obtained her MBA cum laude at USB.
Chris van der Hoven
CEO: USB-ED

Chris van der Hoven
Dr Shaun Vorster
Prominent Alumnus & Professor Extraordin...

Dr Mehran Zarrebini
Chairperson: UK

Dr Mehran Zarrebini
Mehran Zarrebini, CEO at PFE International Inc., specialises in strategy, start-ups, buy-outs, acquisitions, turnarounds, manufacturing and international sales. He assists companies to innovate and develop unique and efficient business processes to enable them to transform into powerful brands and inspiring cultures, and to increase their financial performance. Mr Zarrebini has worked in the flooring, plastic extrusion, property and recycling industries in South Africa and Southern Africa.
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