The company launched two of its compelling initiatives that, in line with its higher purpose “to manage spaces in a way that changes lives”, build on the success of the popular The Mentorship Challenge with Marc Wainer.
With South Africa facing an unemployment crisis, the corporate sector has a greater role to play in creating sustainable employment opportunities by doing things differently, while remaining relevant in order to ensure the delivery of long-term value for all stakeholders.
Redefine launched the Innovation Challenge – demonstrating how serious it is about identifying new, innovative solutions by opening up to the public (and potential future stakeholders) to submit innovative ideas within the commercial, retail and industrial space – and stand a chance to win R1million.
The winner will also have the opportunity to negotiate start-up support to the value of up to R9 million in the form of either monetary support, education, commercial space or concept acquisition.
“The magnitude of the prize signals not only Redefine’s commitment to fresh thinking in order to identify new, innovative solutions to address community needs, but also promises to expose finalists to opportunities, such as access to mentorship. The overall winner is given a unique chance to start a new business or advance their career,” says Redefine CEO Andrew Konig.
The Mentorship show invited leaders from all industries in South Africa and challenged them to offer hours to mentor young professionals an
d entrepreneurs. The phenomenal response from both mentors and mentees has further stoked Redefine’s spirit of social responsibility and it is therefore taking these lessons from the studio to drive deeper community engagement through the Challenge Convention, also launched today.
The convention will be held in one of Redefine’s buildings and creates a platform for two-way engagement between Redefine and all of their stakeholders in and around that space. The agenda will include a line-up of inspirational speakers, alternate
d with facilitated discussions where stakeholders will have the opportunity to share their thoughts, express their concerns and in a collaborative effort co-create solutions to fully integrate the local community needs into Redefine’s spaces.
A live production of The Mentorship Challenge Season 2 will also be broadcast at the convention – giving all of these stakeholders exposure and the opportunity to participate in this great initiative. Invitees include tenants, key community leaders and role-players, students, young entrepreneurs and NGO’s.
The Innovation Challenge competition will open for public participation at the Challenge Convention giving participants the opportunity to enter the new ideas formulated in their collaborative discussions. The first Challenge Convention will be held at Maponya Mall in Soweto in October.
“The three individual concepts are connected and underpinned by the ethos: of Our People. Our places, Our way. While business can easily get caught up in the hype of new technology, the era of digitalisation, of artificial intelligence we believe we that we need to remain relevant and forward-thinking, while still considering our people in and around our properties, the spaces in which we operate, and how best we utilise them to overcome the real needs of society in a truly South African context…the Redefine way”, explains Konig
“The three concepts open the door for true collaboration between Redefine Properties and the communities in which we operate to show that we are truly vested in making a difference,” he says.
This echoes Redefine’s business goals, which include developing skills and provide opportunities for future business owners who may become tenants requiring as well as developing skills and create a pipeline of future property industry professionals across the demographic spectrum.
This season, The Mentorship Challenge will be filmed live to tape, with a live audience. The audience will interact with the presenters and the guest in Q&A sessions, turning the TV show into an event of its own. Season innovations include a new co-host and mentee, Seth Mulli who currently serves as the Executive Director of the Youth Bridge Trust that aims to create opportunities for young people to be successful in the workforce, develop livelihood skills and further their education, through partnerships and collaborations.
The show will also be travelling on the road, and new graphics will be introduced that evolve the show look.
“The pursuit of purpose is the key ingredient to a strong, sustainable and scalable organisational culture and Redefine Properties continuously strives to tailor its business approach to stay a step ahead through purposefully-enabled agility. We continue to innovate to succeed and believe that our new initiatives will help spark the type of ground-up business success to create sustainable employment opportunities,” says Konig.
