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The SA Champions Collective™
Uniting South Africa’s Champions to Inspire, Innovate, and Build Legacy
1. Purpose Statement
The SA Champions Collective™ is more than a network — it is South Africa’s premier coaching community for proven leaders, innovators, and nation-builders.
We bring together high-impact individuals from business, government, civil society, and the creative industries to collaborate, learn, and accelerate personal and national progress.
Inside the Collective, leaders gain access to:
- World-class coaching and mentorship
- Strategic peer learning with South Africa’s top performers
- Exclusive insights, frameworks, and leadership tools
- High-trust relationships that open doors and unlock impact
- A national platform to inspire future generations and build a better South Africa
Our purpose is simple: to unite South Africa’s champions, strengthen the nation’s leadership capacity, and co-create the solutions that will define the next decade of growth and prosperity.
“We don’t just celebrate champions - we activate them.”
2. Founding Principles
Every Champion in the network embodies:
- Excellence: Proven results in their field (local or global impact)
- Integrity: Respected reputation and values-based leadership
- Contribution: A track record of uplifting others or giving back
- Resilience: Overcome adversity or significant challenge
- Pride in Nation: Committed to building a better South Africa
3. Sectors of Society Represented
We invite Champions from across the full spectrum of South African society:
- Business: Entrepreneurs, founders, CEOs, innovators
- Sport: Athletes, coaches, administrators (local heroes & global stars)
- Education: School leaders, teachers, youth mentors, reformers
- Science & Tech: Researchers, inventors, digital pioneers
- Creative Arts: Musicians, filmmakers, designers, storytellers
- Community & Civil Society: NGO leaders, faith leaders, activists
- Public Service: Mayors, ministers, policy pioneers
- Youth & Emerging Voices: Under 35 changemakers
- Hidden Champions: Unsung heroes shaping South Africa’s future quietly but powerfully
4. Qualification Criteria
To ensure credibility and impact, Champions must meet at least 3 out of the 5 following criteria:
- National or Global Recognition: Proven impact and/or awards for excellence
- Transformational Leadership: Demonstrated leadership in transforming systems, people, or organisations
- Giving Back: Evidence of active community upliftment or mentorship
- Resilience: Overcame adversity or built success from limited resources
- Positive Influence: Actively inspiring others through work, voice, or platforms
5. Membership Tiers
- Founding Champions: Personally invited, inaugural members who shape the vision
- National Champions: Nominated by peers or partners in each sector
- Rising Champions: Under-35 changemakers, innovators, or disruptors
- Corporate Champions: Organisations that are building a better South Africa
- Community Champions: Everyday heroes with exceptional local impact
6. Member Benefits
- Leadership Coaching & Mastery
- Monthly coaching sessions
- Leadership frameworks and tools
- High-performance thinking systems
- Peer Collaboration & Mastermind Circles
- Small group peer learning
- Real-world problem-solving
- Cross-sector knowledge exchange
- National Impact & Visibility
- Platforms to profile member stories
- Participation in national initiatives
- Youth mentorship and leadership development
- Public thought leadership amplification
- A High-Trust Community of Champions
- Values-aligned members
- Safe space for honest insight
- Support, accountability, and collaboration
- A place where leaders rise — together
7. Signature Initiatives
- SA Champions Awards – Annual celebration of cross-sector excellence
- SA Champions Anthology – Stories of resilience and inspiration from members
- SA Champions Voices – Platforms at summits, schools, and media events
- SA Champion-Led Campaigns – Education, Youth Employment, Sports, Innovation
- Legacy Circles – Intergenerational mentorship programs
8. Powered By
This movement is convened by the Future Leader Forum in collaboration with key partners across business, media, education, and government.
It is inspired by South Africa’s global impact in sport, innovation, and resilience - and designed to unify the people who are building our future.
Invitation to Join (by application)
You are invited to join the SA Champions Collective™ if you believe:
- South Africa is worth building for
- Your story has the power to inspire others
- Collaboration is the path to sustainable success
- It’s time to leave a legacy, not just a career
All applicants undergo a light-touch vetting process by a Champion Review Circle.
From 2010 to Today – South Africa’s Champions Keep Inspiring
The 2010 Nation of Champions Movement
Fifteen years ago, South Africa united the world under one unforgettable banner - The Nation of Champions.
It was more than a slogan. It was a movement that captured who we are at our best: resilient, creative, and united in purpose.
I had the privilege of helping shape that story during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, when we showed the world that South Africa doesn’t just host great events - we inspire them.
The mission of the Nation of Champions Campaign was simple yet profound: to deliver President Mbeki's Brand Promise of "Hosting the Best World Cup Ever"
Not only did we beat the previous benchmarks and collectively earned the highest Net Promoter Score of all FIFA World Cups to date (92% NPS by the visitors), but we also delivered an Economic ROI that placed South Africa in the TOP10 Countries to visit:
- Project Management & Service Delivery 9/10 (FIFA)
- Major Infrastructure Upgrades (Airports, Roads, Hotels, Gautrain)
- Zero Major Crime in 31 Days (Visitors & Venues)
- Leisure Tourism up 31% year-on-year
- Business Tourism up 47% (City of Cape Town)
- Business Confidence highest since 1995 (RWC)
- 500,000 New Jobs Every Year 2004-2010 (3m+)
- Exchange Rate R7/$
Today, that same spirit is being reborn through a new national movement - the SA Champions Collective™.
What Is the SA Champions Collective™?
The SA Champions Collective™ brings together South Africa’s proven leaders and changemakers across business, sport, academia, media, science, and civil society.
Our goal is simple yet profound:
To celebrate excellence, connect influence, and co-create national solutions that build a better future and propel South Africa into the TOP10 Countries on the Global Prosperity Index (currently ranked 75th out of 167 countries).
This is not another leadership forum. It’s a movement of doers - people who are already shaping South Africa’s future and want to collaborate, mentor, and make a measurable impact.
The Future of Jobs Think Tank
At the heart of this network lies the Future of Jobs Think Tank - our flagship impact lab focused on job creation, skills development, and connecting the youth to global opportunities at scale.
This is where South Africa’s champions come together to design the future of jobs — through shared insights, cross-sector partnerships, and collective action.
Because job creation is not just an economic goal. It’s a national legacy project.
A Movement for Impact
Through the SA Champions Collective™, we will:
- Unite proven leaders to collaborate on job creation and nation-building.
- Showcase South Africa’s success stories to inspire others.
- Measure impact annually through the State of Jobs Report.
Join the Movement
We’re inviting business leaders, entrepreneurs, athletes, artists, educators, and community builders to join us as Founding Members.
Let us build a South Africa where opportunity is the new currency of hope.
A 2010 Leadership Legacy Project
From the Nation of Champions to the SA Champions Collective
In the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted by South Africa, we celebrated and elevated the Champions who made what many believed to be Mission Impossible happen: to deliver President Mbeki's Brand Promise of "Hosting the Best World Cup Ever" (which still stands to date).
From Hospitality to Construction and Education, we co-hosted the Business 2010 World Cup Show on CNBC Africa every week from July 2008 to August 2010, with Dr Nik being the resident analyst, unpacking the success stories of South Africa's 2010 Champions.
The SA Champions Collective picks up where the Nation of Champions Campaign left off - by enabling and celebrating the Hidden Champions of South Africa
See the Nation of Champions Book on Amazon - Foreword written by the Minister of Sport and the SAFA President, the Nation of Champions Book details the 1,000 days' Road to 2010.
Says the author, Dr Nik: By converting 92% of Visitors to Brand Advocates and achieving a 95% Net Promoter Score from the International Media, South Africa officially hosted the most successful FIFA World Cup™ of all times and set new benchmarks within the Tetragon of Global Brand Leadership, as measured against the Perceptions of Visitors, Sponsors, the Media and the Host Nation."
Tracking the Progress of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ held in South Africa, Dr Nik shares
his most read analyses and commentary from the Business Day and CNBC Africa. This
compilation provides a 1,000-Day timeline of how both local and global events shaped
the Road to 2010 and why CNN called this the “most memorable World Cup of all
times”.
The author of “BrandOvation™: How Germany won the World Cup of Nation Branding”, and the sequel “The Hero's Journey: Building a Nation of World Champions”, Dr Nik holds a PhD from the Free University of Berlin and a Postgraduate Diploma from The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. Dr Nik headed the Net Promoter Scorecard research project on South Africa's Destination Branding Success Story during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, and he is the co-author of the World Cup Brand Ambassador Program 'Welcome 2010' and chairperson of the inaugural 2010 FAN World Cup.
