Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Stella Nkomo is a Professor in the Department of Human Resource Management at the University of Pretoria and the President of the Africa Academy of Management (AFAM). Through her work in AFAM, Nkomo has, quite literally, put African leadership and management practices on the map. Recognizing that Africa’s growing economies and emerging markets were hotbeds of innovative leadership practices in dynamic, turbulent environments, Nkomo knew the time was ripe for a community of African management scholars to emerge and support research into, documentation of, and dissemination of these practices. A thriving community, since 2010 AFAM has established a leadership journal published by Taylor & Francis and organized conferences across the continent.

Nkomo is a noted scholar and consultant in the areas of leadership and change, diversified workforces, and women and leadership. She is the author of several books and numerous refereed articles including the acclaimed Our Separate Ways: Black and White Women and the Struggle for Professional Identity and Courageous Conversations: A Collection of Interviews and Reflections on Responsible Leadership by South African Captains of Industry. In 2016 Nkomo was named a Continental Lifetime Achiever from CEO Global’s Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government Awards for her career contributions to leadership, higher education in South Africa, and her work developing young African academics.