Advocacy and thought leadership head has passion for his mission.
Monde Ndlovu is the Black Management Forum's (BMF) head of advocacy and thought leadership. He's also the second generation of his family to join the organisation that was not constructed around a cause as much as it was built on the premise of equality, empowerment and developing black leaders.
And it's easy to see why he landed the job.
Ndlovu is a contemplative, deeply critical thinking man with a warm disposition and a passion for his mission.
His father Lot Ndlovu was president of the organisation between 1995 and the turn of the century.
Ndlovu said he had never contemplated joining the organisation, let alone be employed there.
"I always felt like the BMF was my father's space where he expressed himself, made his contribution. I didn't want to move into that space," he said.
However, as years ticked by, Ndlovu found himself drawn to the cause and despite initial reluctance and, subsequently, capitulating to his inner call, he joined the organisation in his current role.
"I was exposed to a lot by my father and while I don't believe it's an atypical case of running in the family, I feel that the cause resonated and continues to do so with me. It's more of a question of purpose," he said.
Before joining BMF, Ndlovu was an entrepreneur engaged in various ventures. He left it all behind to pursue the career segue into the organisation.
The BMF's purpose is to develop black leadership, to encourage and shape thought leadership and to encourage true empowerment.
"There is a mandate that the BMF has within the broader national agenda of economic transformation," he said.
"It's about building leaders within set social values and the re-engineering of leadership in the context of our country."
Ndlovu said BMF was an idea more than an organisation.
"Nelson Mandela is now more of an idea than a person. Today, we paint Madiba on a canvas of many colours, his values, what he stood for, what he said and did and we learn from it daily. And that's what happens when something is elevated to an idea. It becomes personal for all of us."
Ndlovu believes there is a long road ahead in terms of economic transformation in the country and drew a parallel between the meaning of Black History Month in the United States and South Africa.
"It's a month where African-Americans reflect on economic empowerment, on achievements such as Black Wall Street and how, as a minority, they were able to elevate themselves and gain a measure of economic power and influence."
However, in South Africa the picture is different, but the intention the same, said Ndlovu.
"Here, black people are in the majority, but in an economic minority. It is this imbalance that must be addressed."
The lack of economic progress in the country keeps Ndlovu up at night.
He also thinks there is a feeling in the back of everyone's heads that social upheaval, like last year's rampant July looting, is symptomatic of the lack of transformation and that it could get worse.
