The 2010 judges’ panel
Karin Ireton
Director of group sustainability management at Standard Bank of South Africa (chair of the panel)
Karin Ireton joined Standard Bank in 2009 as director: group sustainability management. She advises the group on the global sustainable development agenda and the risks and opportunities that it presents to the group. Her focus is on the integration of sustainable development principles and thinking into the way the group conducts its business.
The sustainable development agenda includes issues of governance and external reporting, engaging stakeholders, ethical considerations, socio-economic development, reducing the environmental and energy footprint as well as consistency of products throughout the supply chain. The team produces the annual sustainability report as well as reports to authorities on black economic empowerment, policies and procedures for the management of environmental issues and occupational health and safety.
Ireton was head of sustainable development: markets and economics at Anglo American for eight years prior to joining Standard Bank. She was previously sustainable energy advisor at Eskom and manager of the Industrial Environmental Forum.
Rosemary Noge
Majored in international relations at Wellesley College in Boston, Massachusetts.
Rosemary Noge has worked in the mining industry for nine years and has extensive experience in the formulation of sustainable business strategy and practices for the industry.
She works independently and is a member of the National Business Initiative’s sustainable futures advisory committee and the UN Global Compact advisory committee.
Wanda Mkutshulwa
Head of communications at South African National Parks (SANParks)
Wanda Mkutshulwa has an educational background in journalism and international relations. She previously worked briefly for the media, both in the print and broadcast fields, before joining the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights in 1999, initially as head of communication in the Eastern Cape regional Land Claims Commission and eventually as national communications coordinator in the office of the chief land claims commissioner. She is the convenor for the South African National Parks Kudu Awards adjudication panel.
Justin Smith
Manager of the Good Business Journey (Sustainability Programme) at Woolworths
Prior to joining the group Justin Smith was senior manager, governance and sustainability with the Nedbank Group as well as operational head of enterprise governance and compliance within Nedbank’s enterprise governance and compliance cluster.
He is involved in the management of corporate governance and business ethics issues. He is co-chairperson of the United Nations environment programme (Unep) finance intiative for Africa.
Fiona Macleod
Editor of Homegrown Magazines: Sunrise, Lowveld Living, Highveld Living and Limpopo Living
Fiona Macleod is an award-winning journalist and editor. She was previously environmental editor at the Mail & Guardian for 10 years, during which time she was awarded the prestigious Nick Steele Award for environmental conservation.
She is a former editor of Earthyear magazine and a current member of the judging panel of the Kudu Awards. She is a founder of the M&G Greening the Future Awards.
Donald Kau
Director and shareholder of Meropa Communications
Donald Kau has qualifications in public relations from the University of Johannesburg, graphic design from the AAA School of Advertising and project management, and he recently completed his management advancement programme through the University of Pretoria and the Gordon Institute of Business Science.
He is responsible for strategic counsel to clients in government and the emerging entrepreneur business arena. He writes in specialist publications on behalf of his clients as well as in his personal capacity on occasion
Nigel Coni
Owner of ISHECON
Nigel Coni is a chemical engineer with 38 years of experience in the chemical industry, in design, project and production positions.
For the past 10 years he has worked as a safety, health and environmental consultant, specialising in environmental impact assessments and safety risk assessments of projects in the chemical processing industry.
He is a former president of the South African Institution of Chemical Engineering and the South African affiliate of the International Association for Impact Assessment.
Chesney Bradshaw
Group communications and sustainability manager of ABB South Africa
He has been involved in sustainability for the past four years with a focus on corporate social investment, energy efficiency and the industrial environment. He manages ABB’s corporate social investment programme.
His career background has involved journalism, public affairs, corporate communications and FMCG marketing. His interests include organisations and society, communications, the marine environment and energy efficiency.
He has a BA from Unisa, South Africa, and an MBA from Heriot-Watt University, Scotland.
Brigitte Burnette
Head of sustainability and an executive member of the enterprise governance and compliance cluster at Nedbank
Brigitte Burnette coordinates various sustainability initiatives throughout Nedbank. She provides support to ensure that Nedbank achieves balanced
economic, social, cultural and environmental performance through the implementation of an integrated group sustainability plan.
She is cochair of the Unep FI African Task Force, a member of the Unep FI steering committee and a board member on the Unep FI Board of the Banking Commission.