Tessa Lakhani

Tessa Lakhani’s leadership journey is not defined by titles alone, but by the deeper realisations that emerged once those titles were achieved. Early in her career, success looked clear and linear: the boardroom was the destination, and she worked with determination to reach it. Over a decade at The Ravensberg Group and eight years of board experience spanning organisations such as Frost & Sullivan South Africa, Lusitania Fishing Group, and Women in Tech South Africa Chapter positioned her firmly within the highest levels of decision-making. By conventional standards, she had arrived. Yet what success quietly erased was rarely discussed: the profound isolation that can accompany leadership, particularly for women who are expected to carry strength without ever showing the need for support.

As a woman navigating multiple roles, business leader, board member, entrepreneur and mentor, Tessa recognised a gap that many at the top silently endure. Women are encouraged to uplift others, to be resilient, to lead decisively, yet rarely are they given permission to acknowledge their own need for companionship, guidance, and peer-level mentorship. This awareness marked a turning point. It became less about personal achievement and more about redefining what sustainable leadership looks like for women across Africa.

That shift gave rise to SheworxZA™, founded nearly three years ago as the philanthropic wing of The Ravensberg Group. From the outset, Tessa was intentional that this would not mirror traditional charity models. Instead, SheworxZA™ was built on the belief that relationships are the most powerful currency in entrepreneurship. Its mission is to connect women across the full spectrum of enterprise, from grassroots founders taking their first steps to C-suite executives shaping policy and strategy at a continental level. In Tessa’s vision, mentorship is not a one-way transaction; it flows upward, downward, and laterally, recognising that every stage of leadership carries its own uncertainties and learning curves.

Central to this work is the understanding that while Africa urgently needs visible role models for young women and girls, established leaders also need safe spaces where they are not required to perform strength. Tessa addresses this through intimate, invitation-only gatherings hosted at her home in Constantia, Cape Town. These evenings bring together senior women executives from across South Africa’s economic landscape to engage with speakers on pressing geopolitical and global business issues. Yet the true value lies beyond the formal agenda. It unfolds in the unguarded conversations that follow, where shared experiences replace explanation, and where camaraderie dissolves the “only-lonely” syndrome that so often accompanies senior leadership roles.

Tessa’s work is deeply informed by a geopolitical perspective. She believes that African women leaders must be equipped with the same level of strategic intelligence as their global counterparts to navigate an increasingly interconnected world. This belief underpins The Tuesday Apex Perspective™, a newsletter she publishes on LinkedIn, reaching a growing community of readers interested in how global events shape local realities. Through thoughtful analysis, she explores how international developments, from interest rate decisions to institutional realignments, ripple into African households, businesses, and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Her writing positions geopolitical literacy not as an academic exercise, but as a practical leadership tool.

At the heart of Tessa’s philosophy is a clear and unapologetic stance on agency. As she shared with her community at the start of the year, she challenges African women to abandon the invisible permission slips they were never meant to carry. Her message for 2026 is not about waiting, not to be ready, not to be chosen, not to be invited to tables that were never designed with them in mind. It is about occupying space deliberately, leading without apology, and building cross-border and cross-sector bridges that enable collective progress. In her view, the Africa women aspire to will not be granted; it must be consciously created.

Her advice to emerging leaders reflects this clarity. She encourages women to invest time in understanding the broader forces shaping their operating environments, to read widely, and to cultivate relationships long before they are urgently needed. Most importantly, she emphasises the necessity of community at every stage of leadership. Success does not eliminate the need for support; it simply changes its form. Whether at village level or in the boardroom, women require peers who see beyond titles, who offer honesty when confidence wavers, and who remain present when leadership feels heavy.

Through her work, Tessa Lakhani continues to redefine leadership as something deeply human, grounded in connection, awareness, and shared strength. The networks being forged among African women leaders today, she believes, will form the backbone of the continent’s future prosperity. Founder and CEO of SheworxZA™, publisher of The Tuesday Apex Perspective™, and a trusted voice in African business and geopolitics, Tessa is based in Cape Town and remains committed to building ecosystems where women rise together, not in isolation.