Janet has been at The DG Murray Trust since 2011 and as Portfolio Manager she was responsible for developing portfolio strategy, identifying key projects, monitoring and supporting leadership interventions and establishing sector-support mechanisms. Responsible for driving the development of the Activate! Leadership and Public Innovation programme to support and develop a critical mass cohort of young leaders to drive public innovation in South Africa. Janet became Social Dynamics Manager in 2014 and then Director of Programmes from 2015.
The DG Murray Trust believes that the place to start is with pregnant women and very young children. “Most of the factors that shape us for life – who we are and who we will become – are crammed into the first few years of life. The resourcefulness – or ‘agency’ – achieved by young children determines their ability to make the most of future opportunities. We want to sustain that resourcefulness through their lives, as they become creative learners at school, enterprising school-leavers and game-changing leaders who build a better society. We are committed to equality of agency, which means investing more in those for whom the gradients are steeper. We want to help shape inclusive, enabling communities in which people with disabilities, older persons and other marginalised groups feel that they belong and can contribute. We understand that investing in South Africa’s potential is not just about human capital development or service provision. Power dynamics – across social groups and institutions – determine who is more valued and who has greater access to opportunity.
We must be part of creating connections that begin to overcome the country’s socio-economic divides. Only then can the potential of South Africa be fully realised. We know that we have more questions than answers. We are willing to invest in promising ideas and untried ventures, that we’d never thought about, but which could help meet our goal. We know too that we are small compared to the magnitude of the challenges we seek to address, and are committed to working with other funders, government, business, trade unions and civil society where we share a common goal.”