Johannesburg, 28 Apr 2021
Lexmark, a global imaging solutions leader, announced today that Karabo Mongake, director of Finance and board member, Lexmark SAF, has been honoured with a Culture Shift award for her leadership in Lexmark’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) rating in South Africa.
Culture Shift award honourees are personally selected by Lexmark president and CEO Allen Waugerman, recognising employees who help create the company’s desired culture and position the company for success.
“I am delighted to receive the Culture Shift award,” Mongake said. “This recognition from the Lexmark CEO demonstrates the company’s continued commitment to transformation in South Africa. I feel it’s incredibly important for multinational organisations to contribute to initiatives that drive social and economic change.”
Mongake was hired as finance manager and controller for Lexmark South Africa in 2019. When she discovered the company’s non-compliant status, she set a goal to quickly re-attain the B-BBEE rating.
“Corporations hold a lot of power in how they contribute to our economy and can change the lives of South African people,” Mongake said. “I understood Lexmark’s commitment to diversity and felt it was important that Lexmark re-attain the B-BBEE rating to be recognised as the good corporate citizen I knew them to be.”
Mongake dedicated herself to uncovering the detailed requirements of the B-BBEE rating. She brought together local employees and management, local partners and senior global executives to identify, develop and implement a strategy, which included a long-term sustainable policy.
“Being dedicated to Black economic empowerment needs to be in an organisation’s DNA; it’s not something that can exist in a specific business unit,” Mongake said. “We want to make sure everyone in the organisation understands its importance and how they contribute.”
“I am pleased to recognise Karabo with the Culture Shift award,” said Waugerman, Lexmark president and CEO. “She was collaborative, took risks and was empowered to make decisions and drive this important initiative for us in South Africa.”
Re-attaining B-BBEE status was an important step for the Lexmark South Africa team, which looks toward future initiatives to foster enterprise development and local job creation.
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