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1. Master of Ceremonies at work - Master of Ceremonies at Allan and Gill Gray Philanthropies 2. Rugby love – Springbok support with close friend at the latest Rugby World Cup 3. Simone Carter at the United Nations strategic partnership event 4. Simone Carter with colleagues from Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropy South Africa at Global Entrepreneurship Congress 2024
how communication professionals conceptualise moral accountability and ethicality. Finally, in 2023, she launched the national convening programme ‘Motse Collective Impact’, a convening programme of Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies. This programme unites entrepreneurship support organisations, academic institutions, incubators and accelerators, government institutions and subsidiaries, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders seeking to collectively reflect on the state of entrepreneurship and nurture sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems in South Africa. Few know she is also deeply passionate about music, rugby and sports management. “I turned down the opportunity to be a publicist for a South African Hip-Hop DJ in my mid-20s. I often think back and wonder about how life would have been. I have always relied on music as an outlet to ground myself, particularly deep house music.” She attributes her passion for rugby and sports management to her father, his love for sports, and being exposed to sports sponsorship in her first job. “If I were not doing what I do now, I would have loved to be a publicist for South African professional athletes in cycling and rugby or to work closely with a sports-focused foundation in the development space.” Simone is reading two autobiographies – ‘Rassie’ by Rassie Erasmus and ‘Rise’ by Siya Kolisi – and cannot get enough of either. At UJ, Simone obtained a BA in Corporate Communication in 2011, a BA Honours in Corporate Communication in 2012, and a master’s degree in strategic communication in 2018, receiving a certificate for top achievement from the Faculty of Humanities.
“It started when I was young and saw the value of my mother’s championing spirit and personalised teaching. I did not start off as a confident learner. I was incredibly slow and struggled with reading and comprehension. As an intervention, my mother developed cue cards and sat with me every night to help me learn how to read and make sense of basic multiplications. “In these moments, my mother was my greatest champion. My mother’s extra lessons and support gave me the resilience and confidence to keep learning and keep trying despite a slow beginning. Secondly, I recognised gaps in what students were being taught versus how work was delivered in practice. Thirdly, I recognised the value of mentorship as enabling confidence in someone when paired with the opportunity to learn. Lecturing allowed me to combine these three into a rewarding career.” Simone is “incredibly proud” of four achievements, all focused on skills development at scale. In 2017, UJ awarded her for innovation in teaching and learning by addressing social justice issues and providing students with opportunities to develop civic engagement skills through research into stakeholder communities. In 2019, she launched a massive open online short-learning programme in artificial intelligence. This led to her becoming UJ’s 4IR brand ambassador, engaging and educating district officials, principals, students, and school leaders nationwide on the 4IR and teaching and learning with technology. In 2022, she authored a book chapter on moral philosophy (the science of morals) for strategic communication practice in South Africa. Her chapter provided insight into
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