UJ Alumni Impumelelo Magazine Edition 8

Jessica Tandy a UJ Alumna with talent

Jessica Tandy – over 23 years of consulting

1997. “I’ve always been about acquiring knowledge to run my own thing. I come from an entrepreneurial family. So applying yourself and creating something is second nature to me. I like solving problems and setting direction rather than just working for someone,” she says. Jessica is also a co-owner of African Talent Unearthed (ATU) together with her 19-year-old daughter Lerai Rakoditsoe. ATU is a creative arts company that seeks to facilitate the convergence of authentic African talent with global opportunity by providing access to the global stage as well as equipping them with entrepreneurial skills through technology solutions. ATU does not view talent merely as a source of entertainment but rather capitalises on its capacity to act as a vehicle for self-

development, nation-building, and the facilitation of social cohesion right from the ground up. Since its inception in 2016, ATU has taken more than 15 students to The World Championships of Performing Arts in Long Beach California, USA. These students won multiple medals, and some were even awarded scholarships to institutions like New York Film Academy, New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and Millennium Dance Complex in Los Angeles. “I always knew that I wanted to work with computers and also make an impact and yes that’s what I’ve been doing. We live in a global village and I would like to influence at that level. I believe technology should be an enabler to things but not be intrusive to human nature at the same time,” she says.

Jessica is one of three women partners at Bizmod Consulting, a women-owned management consulting firm. She’s been part of building this firm from a staff complement of three to 70+ employees. She is a principal consultant in the following industries: IT, manufacturing, health, telecommunications and banking. She has worked for and consulted for various organisations in Africa, UK and USA. She also consults full-time. Her consulting experience over the last 23 years has been in the fields of project management, system implementations, restructuring, organisational transformation and change management. Jessica studied Information Technology at UJ, graduating in

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