THE B4i TEAM

Our empowerment experts are dedicated to making an Enduring Impact through Effective Empowerment Initiatives. It’s time to meet our team.

LOUIS
MCLAREN

CEO AND DIRECTOR
The B4i Project

Dr Hlami Ngwenya

Dr Hlami
Ngwenya

DIRECTOR
Enterprise and Skills Development

BERND
FEUCHT

DIRECTOR
B4i Systems

WERNER
DYER

DIRECTOR
B4i Academy

YOLANDI
VENTER

DIRECTOR
B4i Consult and
B Loved Foundation

ROXANNE
MANCINI

GROUP EXECUTIVE
Sales and Marketing

LOUIS MCLAREN

Strategy/Director
The B4i Project

Louis has been a B-BBEE advisor and strategist for 15 years and holds a SANAS-approved BEE Verification Technical Signatory designation. He obtained his master’s degree on “Strategic foresight and the development of black entrepreneurs in South Africa” from Regent University (Virginia, USA) in 2016. His thesis, which formed the basis for developing the B4i Empowerment Model™, received a top academic award from the University and he was subsequently inducted into the “Who’s Who of students in the USA” in 2017.

Louis founded the Business for Empowerment Foundation (now the B Loved Foundation), a public benefit organisation, in 2008. The Foundation has distributed millions of Rands to projects since then. These projects, amongst others, provide care for vulnerable women and children and are involved in the fight against the trafficking of women and children.

Dr Hlami Ngwenya

Director
Enterprise and Skills Development

Dr. Hlamalani Ngwenya, affectionately known as Hlami, joins The B4i Project as a fresh addition to our dynamic team. A South African by origin and a proud Tsonga, she embodies the global spirit of our organization. Hlami is not only a mother of three but also a poet and the founder and CEO of Facilitation of Systemic Change Consulting, aligning her innovative approach with The B4i
Project’s vision.

As a budding social entrepreneur and self-termed “Human Engineer,” Dr. Ngwenya’s rapid impact in Sustainable Agriculture, Education, and Community Empowerment has earned her the prestigious South Africa National Orders Award in 2021, receiving “The Order of the Baobab in Bronze.”

Her journey into The B4i Project brings a unique blend of educational qualifications and over 30 years of work experience in various sectors, offering invaluable insights. Hlami is a passionate advocate for Women and Youth Empowerment and has initiated the “PERFECT AgriCOOLture” campaign within our organization.

Her role in The B4i Project extends to mentoring, speaking engagements, and active participation in our global events, injecting new energy and fresh perspectives into our mission. We eagerly anticipate the positive impact she will contribute to our collective efforts.

BERND FEUCHT

Systems/Director
The B4i Project

Bernd is a qualified industrial engineer who worked as a process engineer, quality manager, mini-factory manager and technical manager for Robert Bosch in South Africa and in Germany. Thereafter, he started his own business as a business consultant and industrial engineer, joined BEE2Business (now B4i Consult) in 2006, his major focus being on Enterprise and Supplier Development.

Supplier and financial analysis for all sizes of organisations has always been his prime interest. In order to mitigate risk, he developed a detailed BEE measurement tool to analyse, measure and advise clients. This system was also used when Bernd headed up BEE2Business as a SANAS-accredited BEE Verification Agency from 2012 to 2014. He currently serves as the managing director of B4i Systems that offers turnkey BEE systems solutions.

WERNER DYER

Skills Development/ Director
The B4i Project

Werner has worked in people development for more than 30 years. His passion has always been the unleashing of undiscovered potential within each individual. He started his career in teaching, after which he headed up the University of Pretoria’s Division for Student Life, developing models for leadership development, training many student leaders and overseeing the activities of all student organisations and residences of the University. During this time he completed his MBA degree, affording him the opportunity to research student affairs and people development nationally and internationally and to chair various transformation task teams.

His career eventually led him to, amongst others, Spellbound Education, Lifestar Projects and Kagiso Activ-Training. He is a member of the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa (IoDSA) and as CEO of Afrilearn, he and his team were tasked by the then Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor, to develop the e-Teacher qualification. In 2010 Werner joined the Empowerment Academy (now B4i Academy) as its managing director. B4i Academy is an accredited training provider and offers its clients tailor-made B-BBEE Skills Development solutions.

YOLANDI VENTER

BBBEE/Director
The B4i Project

With a background in law, Yolandi joined BEE2Business (now B4i Consult) in 2012 as a senior BEE-analyst and was subsequently appointed as its managing director. She has 10 years of B-BBEE experience and leads a team of highly qualified and experienced BEE-analysts who focus on in-depth B-BBEE and risk assessments of large corporates.

She is a member of the Association of B-BBEE Professionals (ABP), an external auditor for SANAS-accredited B-BBEE verification agencies, an aviation representative for the Transport Sector Code and a BEE-facilitator and presenter. Aside from her B-BBEE involvement, she also has a passion for the upliftment of society’s vulnerable and neglected and serves on the boards of various non-profit companies and organisations to monitor their adherence to corporate governance and their transformation.

ROXANNE MANCINI

Sales & Marketing/ Executive
The B4i Project

Roxanne is part of the senior B4i Project team and is qualified in
Communication Science. She assists the group’s BEE advisors in offering smart solutions to their clients. Roxanne also looks after the brand strategy and overall marketing experience. She has extensive experience in the arena of marketing, human resources and business development and is a certified ecometrist that specialises in profiling.

Roxanne acts as a vital support to internal and external stakeholders in the business, being a sounding board and consulting intuitively, especially when it comes to staff, clients and the design/aesthetic side of the business.

JACO GERBER

Fund Manager
B4i Futureneers

As a former partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, who headed up the consulting department within the Entrepreneurial Advice Division before turning entrepreneur himself, this qualified chartered accountant believes in looking to possibilities and
potential, which often lie beyond the financial statements. Jaco has been involved in setting up and growing various startup companies before co-founding B4i Futureneers, a Corporate Innovation Consultancy and Alternative Assets Fund Management Company.

Futureneers, together with The B4i Project, was instrumental in developing the innovative empowerment, incubation and development processes, workflows and methodologies which form the basis of our operational model. Jaco is a key part of the operational team, assisting the projects the venture capital company invests in to develop their ideas, formulate profitable business models, go to market and scale thereafter.

DR ADV JANETTE MINNAAR-VAN VEIJEREN

Director
B4i Futureneers

Janette is the founder and owner of ProEthics, an organisation positioned to promote professional ethics and prevent corruption and fraud. ProEthics empowers its clients to fight dishonest business practices, prevent losses and poor service delivery resulting from unethical behaviour, while promoting an ethical culture and responsible  organisational governance.

Janette specialises in the development and presentation of in-house and e-learning training programmes on anti-corruption compliance, the prevention of fraud, the legal and ethical duties of directors, the role of social and ethics committees, ethics management, and creating an organisational culture of integrity with particular reference to the King Reports. Apart from training, Janette consults, provides legal opinions and performs ethics  investigations on behalf of her clients.

STEVE THOBELA

Chairman
B4i Futureneers

Steve currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Printing SA, an industry trade organisation responsible for the sustainability of the printing and packaging industry. He serves, amongst others, on the boards of The Printing Industries Pension and Provident Fund for SATU members, Spectramed Medical Aid Scheme (chairman), and the Fibre Processing and Manufacturing Seta.

One of Steve’s previous positions, which he held for four and a half years, is that of Founding General Manager of one of Nelson Mandela’s official charity organisations, The Mandela Rhodes Foundation. Steve also is a member of the Institute of Directors
in Southern Africa (IoDSA) and the South African Institute of Print (SAIP). He holds the designation of Print Director Technical (PDT).

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