We are committed to discovering solutions that broaden local, national, and international networks. By collaborating with creative companies and local businesses, we aim to connect artists, environmental advocates, and university communities. Our mission is to empower individuals to develop projects and products that create marketable goods for sustainable income.

Rhodes Business School

Rhodes Community Engagement

The Black Power Station

Isibabalo Business Hub

RMR

ANDISWA LUBENGU - Coach and Mentor Isibabalo Business Hub Certified Lego Serious Play Facilitator, Accredited Assessor, Facilitator, Skills Development Facilitator, Mentor, and Coach, as well as a Motivational Speaker, operating in the Kouga region. Drawing on extensive experience as an Enterprise Development Specialist, I navigate the landscape of SMMEs, nurture business growth, and cultivate enduring industry connections. My dedication to client satisfaction drives me to utilise my knowledge to facilitate access to funding, training, and growth opportunities for entrepreneurs and SMMEs.

Thando Nombewu - is a dynamic multi-disciplinary creative, social entrepreneur, and community development practitioner with over 15 years of experience in the South African creative industries. As the founder of LoveSeed Empire and LoveSeed Foundation, she has dedicated her life to empowering artists, preserving African heritage, and designing sustainable solutions through innovation, art, and technology.

Milisa Mamase wears many hats. She is an educator, an entrepreneur, a faith leader, and a community servant. She currently serves as a Junior Lecturer at Rhodes University, lecturing Teaching Tools and Technologies, and is currently completing her Master’s in Education, focusing on preparing teachers for multilingual classrooms. She recently returned from a life-changing Erasmus Exchange Programme in Belgium, where she studied Training a Global Teacher, majoring in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), Global Justice, School Policy and Society and Intercultural Communication modules at the University of Antwerp. She also represented Rhodes University in the Johnson & Johnson Future of Healthcare Challenge, where she was placed second for a project on health innovation.

Milisa leads the Student Women Economic Empowerment Programme (SWEEP) and is the founder of Rhodes University a local Economic Development (RU-LED), a student initiative launched in 2024 to connect studentpreneurs with local businesses in Makhanda.

Thabang Moleko has obtained qualifications in finance, project management , infrastructure and public management .He has Bachelor of commerce degree from Rhodes University. He also obtained his Master’s in Business Administration from Nelson Mandela Business School. Thabang has been a dynamic  leader of organisations in the private and public sector. Thabang has been able to work on projects in the international sector for organisations such as the African Development Bank and the International Labour Organisation. Thabang is an experienced portfolio manager, project manager and management consultant. Thabang has experience in in sectors such as corporate finance, management consulting, advisory services, credit analysis, project finance capacity. Thabang is now a Director of a property, finance and strategy management consultancy. Thabang is also an adjunct lecturer in strategy, business management and finance at Nelson Mandela University Business School and Management College of South Africa Business School.

Thabang is the recipient of the Mandela Washington Fellowship which allowed him to train at Morgan State University , Baltimore on public management. Thabang is pursuing his research proposal for his  Doctorate in Business Administration.  Thabang’s research interests are on small town Revitlisation, marketing in emerging markets, entrepreneurship and the strategy of space.