South African Breweries (SAB), in partnership with Open Chair, proudly hosted The Unspoken Alliance last week, during Women’s Month dinner and conversation designed to bring senior women in the advertising and marketing industry together for connection, collaboration, and collective strength.
Taking place at ‘The Pot Luck Club’ in Johannesburg, the special gathering offers women leaders a rare opportunity to step beyond the isolation of leadership roles and engage in an authentic exchange of wisdom, support, and celebration. According to the Women in Advertising and Communications Leadership (WACL) Association, women hold 70% of junior to mid-level positions in advertising but only 37.5% at the C-suite level, indicating a sharp decline in representation at senior leadership levels.
This highlights the isolation of women in leadership roles at the top, underscoring the need for supportive networks. “At Open Chair, we believe that leadership doesn’t have to be lonely,” says Suhana
Gordhan, Founder of Open Chair. “We want you to walk into any room that challenges you, feeling like you have five other women behind you. If your voice ever shakes, we want you to amplify it with the echoes of your senior counsel. When a problem feels insurmountable, we want you to level up through collective wisdom, experience and empathy. And when you’re winning, we want to celebrate too. Ultimately, it means we go together. This is what The Unspoken Alliance is about, not always literal, not always physical, but always felt.”
The event will feature Dr Roze Phillips as the keynote speaker, a respected thought leader and strategist who will share her insights on resilience, leadership, and the power of women supporting women.
For SAB, the partnership with Open Chair reflects a shared vision to uplift and empower women in South Africa. “Supporting The Unspoken Alliance is about more than sponsorship,” says Marsha Kumire, SAB Corporate Brand Manager. “For 130 years, SAB has been part of South Africa’s story-a story that is incomplete without the women who lead, create, and build within it. Our partnership reflects our belief that progress happens when we invest not just in business, but in the people behind them. The Unspoken Alliance is a powerful platform reshaping the leadership landscape, where women are not only present, but heard, supported and empowered to thrive.”
The partnership underscores SAB’s commitment to women’s empowerment and Open Chair’s mission to create spaces for authentic leadership connections. Together, they are working to ensure that every woman in leadership knows she is never walking alone.
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Viola Ncube: Director of Sales & Marketing – IHG;Founder-IROCK!UK: Viola Ncube is a senior global Business, Sales and Marketing executive who, to date, has opened 11 hotels globally in London, Belfast, New York, Chicago, Miami, Sao Paulo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beirut and Bangalore.Ncube founded IROCK!UK, an accredited social enterprise providing mentoring and training for young people, especially (but not exclusively) to those of Afro-Caribbean origin. This demographic is given access to life and employability skills that lead to either valuable work experience or paid employment. Ncube has global experience working in the USA, China, Beirut, Africa and Europe.