WiN Festival Speaker

Sam Gqomo

Sam Gqomo is an award-winning social entrepreneur and globally recognized Public Relations and Communications Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in various industries.

Sam has also founded a successful Non-Profit Company, Womandla Foundation, of which her experience and exposure in this sector has advanced her leadership and influence in the Women Empowerment space.

As a result of her combined work in the social impact space and marketplace, Sam has been named News24’s 100 Young Mandelas (Humanitarianism) for 2023, the Mail and Guardian Power of Women 2022 winner in the Guiding Woman category for Gender Equality and Sustainability and an IAB South Africa Transformation Council “Connected Womxn ShapeShifter” finalist for making remarkable changes in the media, marketing industry aimed at empowering women. She has also been listed as a JCI South Africa Top Outstanding Young Person (TOYP) Honouree 2023 under the Voluntary Leadership Category.

In 2019, she was named a Cape Town Hero by the Cape Town Local Government in support of the UN Sustainable Goal 5 to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. She leads a team of EXCO members and committee towards reaching a common goal of informing, equipping and empowering African women and contributing in the development of the community under their STEAM, Mentorship and Entrepreneurship pillars.

Her experience and advocacy landed her an invitation to the United Nations ESCAP and World Youth Forum in Egypt, under Womandla’s core focus of the UN Sustainable Development Goals 4,5 & 8. She also participated in the first US Embassy Academy of Women Entrepreneurs in South Africa, has been listed as one of Glamour South Africa’s top women in 2020 and most recently appointed as a Youth Giving Global Ambassador and Board Member of FemConnect.