Pat Semenya named new CEO of IRMSA
The Institute of Risk Management South Africa (IRMSA) has appointed Pat Semenya as its new CEO, effective from 1 July 2021. She takes over from Gillian le Cordeur, who has led the organisation for the past decade.
Ms Semenya has held leadership roles across various industries for the past 22 years. Prior to her appointment as the new CEO of IRMSA, she was the CEO of ACCA South Africa, a leading global accountancy professional body.
She also led the Trade Assets Optimisation function for Nestlé Professional South Africa and before that was at Johannesburg Water, where she headed the City of Johannesburg’s billings portfolio.
IRMSA president Thabile Nyaba said: “Pat joins us at a critical juncture as risk management is now front and centre in the boardroom, as organisations continue to manage the threats and opportunities of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“She brings a high skillset to the job as more executives are recognising the importance and benefits of a clearly defined risk strategy. The executive committee also wants to thank Gillian for her direction and leadership in growing the institute to the point where it has now become a leading voice in business.”
Ms Semenya said: “I’m delighted to be joining IRMSA and making sure it continues to play a vital role in the operational sustainability of its members both in the private and public sector. It is my intention to build on this success, continue with our growing offering of executive training courses and to accelerate our ongoing membership recruitment drive.
“Overarching all of that is to make sure that the risk management discipline builds on its role as a vital and necessary management tool, and that IRMSA continues to be a responsible and thoughtful leader in the business community.”
Outgoing CEO Ms le Cordeur added: “IRMSA has entrenched itself as leading voice in the South African management space, where our pronouncements and analysis on risk are taken seriously, including by the South African government which at the outset heeded our strong call for a risk-based approach to managing the pandemic.”
In 2016, Ms Semenya was named by the Institute of People Management (IPM) as Business Leader of the Year runnerup. In the same year, she was a nominee for the ACCA CEO awards.
She also sits on two boards as a non-executive director and is involved with several projects, including the 2021 CFO South Africa Awards as a judge’s panellist. Between 2016 and 2018, she volunteered as a member of the advisory committee, South Africa focal point, for the Global Reporting Initiative; and she served as brand ambassador for the IPM in 2016 and 2017.