Lesego Serolong Holzapfel is a 2019 Tutu Fellow. She was listed Mail&Guardian 200 South Africans. Standard Bank Top Woman of the Year & received the Trail Blazer Presidential Award. She is CEO and founder, Bokamoso Impact Investments. Lesego completed a Master of Science (MSc) in Social Policy and Development at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She also with Neil, her husband, founded Raise the Children in 2008. Lesego, being a South African orphan herself, has always had a deep desire to give back to the community that raised her and to mentor and empower the many that share her story. Lesego is passionate about Agriculture and African leadership as part of core entrepreneurial drivers that she speaks and teaches about.

Lesego (32) is the co-founder and chairwoman of Raise the Children International, a registered non-profit here in South Africa, USA and UK. As a former volunteer teacher in a rural school outside of my hometown of Mmabatho, Lesego was inspired to believe in education-based and entrepreneurship solutions to poverty. Lesego co-founded and chair Raise the Children International, a registered non-profit here in South Africa, USA and UK. Raise the Children International i identifies self- motivated orphans from impoverished and rural communities and mobilizes resources for these children to gain access to higher education that leads to employment and public service with a high return on social investment.

Her heart for sustainable education-based poverty alleviation in rural area pushed me to take the initiative further. Once she recognized the need for income generating activities to revitalize the mindset and economy of the communities from which her orphan scholars hail, she founded Bokamoso Impact investments, a social enterprise solely dedicated to uplifting remote underdeveloped areas of the country through agriculture and entrepreneurship. Bokamoso introduces innovative agricultural solutions to poverty, educates and incubates local rural entrepreneurs, and tackles lack of basic resources with commercial strategies and natural asset mobilization.

Bokamoso’s mission is to nurture the country’s rural smallholder farmers into commercial growers by tapping into their latent economic resources, which have remained unexploited for decades, such as the fertile land and most importantly the human resources .

She is also the founder of Bokamoso Foods, a subsidiary of Bokamoso Impact Investments and a 100% black women owned food and beverage company. The mission of Bokamoso Foods is to bring the delights and health-benefits of high-quality foods and beverage products to the world. Bokamoso’s goal is to see the company expanding and excelling in the food & beverage industry, generating enough profit for shareholders to create more job opportunities and to continually empower young people in rural and township environments.