Young Difference Makers: How Khethiwe Sibanyoni uses Ethics and Systems Thinking to tackle Gender-Based Violence

What if the rigour that keeps companies honest could also save lives? We sit down with social impact activist and aspiring chartered accountant Khethiwe Sibanyoni to unpack how ethics, systems thinking, and real accountability can turn good intentions into measurable change. From Saturday mornings in GBV shelters at age 11 to auditing across oil and gas, pharma, and FMCG, Khethiwe shows how credibility becomes a tool for communities when it is used with care.

We map the architecture of Khethiwe’s youth-led foundation across three pillars: detection rooted in research and data, prevention that works with both girls and boys to shift norms before harm occurs, and correction focused on survivor support through 13 Gauteng shelters—prioritising psychosocial care, education, and economic empowerment to end dependency. Khethiwe explains how controls, budgets, and outcome metrics translate from audit checklists to fieldwork, building programmes that endure beyond any single leader.

Along the way, we explore setbacks that forged resolve—losing a scholarship, raising tuition in a month, and recommitting to a career anchored in public trust. We talk about meeting a prominent global philanthropist, why team trust is a hallmark of real leadership, and how social investment drives economic performance when paired with clear social impact KPIs. Khethiwe’s message to business is direct: define impact with the same precision you bring to profit. Her message to young changemakers is practical and brave: start with what you have, stay authentic, and fall in love with the problem until the solution reveals itself.

Join us for a grounded, hopeful look at responsible corporate citizenship, nonprofit sustainability, and youth-led action against gender-based violence. If this conversation sparks you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review with the one impact KPI you’d set tomorrow.

Transcript

Ethics And Social Impact KPIs

Khethiwe Sibanyoni 0:00

A lot of businesses, influential people, and companies I don't think have yet understood what it means to have social impact driven KPIs and how that is responsible corporate citizenship. Hi, I'm Khethiwe Sibanyoni. I am a social impact activist. I am the founder of Khethiwe's Foundation, which focuses on gender-based violence. I'm also an aspiring chartered accountant who's working at Deloitte. We'll be completing my articles next year to qualify, but most importantly, I am a difference maker. I love the question about how I chose chartered accountancy as my career. The truth is I did not choose it. My uh results, my final results from my trick did not qualify me for the career I wanted to choose. But the truth now is I was always meant to be in this field. The chartered accountancy uh designation and the competency we learn are really embedded in ethics and ethical behavior. And as someone who has always wanted to make an impact in the social impact space in South Africa, I've seen that corruption and all the things that have led to how devastating the state of our country is with results to government work and social inequities. I come in bringing a voice that says that we can be ethical in how we use taxpayers' money and we can drive change in a meaningful way. So my financial background allows me to really run a nonprofit in a very strategic way, seeing it as something that needs to be sustainable and driving solutions and putting in place systems that really work. So that's why I love being a chartered accountant and using those competencies in the work that I do. I grew up in a home where serving others was a lifestyle. It was not a choice, it was not called volunteering. It was something that had to be part of your lifestyle. And I started serving in GBV shelters every Saturday morning since I was in grade five. That is 11 years old. Three hours Saturday morning working in a shelter packing comfort bags for gender-based violence victims. Fast forward to high school where I was awarded an academic scholarship. I was had the privilege to obviously be in a school that my parents would have never afforded, and that kind of exposed me to all the opportunities that I have had and experienced. In that place, I walked in wanting to be a pilot. I walked out learning that their careers like being a chartered accountant were the careers that you could use and pivot in many ways to really make a change in the world. So I stepped into my university career. I do accounting as a degree. I faced a lot of challenges in the journey, particularly failing my third year after I'd lost my grandmother, which was an anchor in my life. Then when I lose my scholarship too in university and final year, I had to find funding. I knew I really had a passion for this degree and this career because I don't know how I raised so much money in a space of a month when I was overwhelmed by the news that I can't continue studying because my funding has been pulled away as a result of me failing. But I pushed through. I pushed through because I understand that being a chartered accountant is something that holds so much value to my heart, but also builds so much credibility for you in the public. I believe in the increased visibility and credibility that comes with being a chartered accountant and that you're trusted. But for me, it's about using that trust responsibly, and responsible use of power and influence is about driving meaningful change. Ketty's Foundation is a registered youth-led organization. Obviously, I founded that, and we work and anchor work in three pillars: gender-based violence, detection, prevention, and correction. And this is why I say the Chartered Accountancy Career really helps you be strategic because I learned through systems thinking and auditing why it's important that businesses have controls and have solutions that are sustainable and thought through very strategically. In the gender-based violence detection pillar, it's really all about research because research allows us to make informed content and decisions for the projects we drive in the gender-based violence prevention and correction pillar. The gender-based violence prevention pillar is working with young girls and boys in underprivileged communities. And the the purpose of that is saying we are working now so that the young boy is not a future perpetrator and we are helping the young girl now so she never finds herself in a position of being a gender-based violence victim. But more than anything, is that we need both young boys and girls to sustainably solve the solution of gender-based violence in our country. Lastly, gender-based violence correction is working directly with those victims. I work with shelters in South Africa, 13 of them in my province, Chao D, and we really are providing psychosocial support, um, empowerment, educational services to really empower these ladies not to return to their abusers because high dependency on an abuser is the key driver as to why victims of gender-based violence stay in the cycle of victimization. Especially because when I received the email that I was chosen a few days leading up to the summit, I really thought they made a mistake. Now I find myself in a room with him and his team, and it's about six delegates, and he's speaking about collective impact and why it's important to really focus on the youth. He works in South Africa, in UK, and different regions. But I was particularly moved by the fact that he understands why social investment is an important factor of driving economic performance. A lot of businesses, influential people, and companies I don't think have still have yet understood what it means to have social impact-driven KPIs and how that is responsible corporate citizenship. And so in my work, when I work with young people, I want to influence that culture, a culture of active citizenship, a culture of selflessness. So being in that room, I felt really, really proud and privileged and more excited because he'd like to work with all of us as the delegates to assist him as we pioneered towards One Young World Summit next year in Cape Town, South Africa. And I'm really looking forward to that. He is very tall, but he he also gave off such a serious energy. And obviously, if I've I've watched him like play soccer, so like surely you're not the serious person. But he says he isn't. But when he speaks about the work of the foundation, the responsibility that he saw because of the influence he had, I also loved the fact that he trusts his team. This is something that I don't see in a lot of leaders, but he trusts the leadership of his team and gives them full responsibility. And what he was echoing are the sentiments of his journey and why he started, which is particularly because of the influence from his mother, who always worked to serve others in her community. Oh, I'm definitely gonna be at One Young World next year. I don't know how I'm gonna fund it, but I'm gonna be there. I will be in Cape Town. It's a short flight away from where I stay in Johannesburg. But I'm excited to be a One Young World ambassador and really show other chartered accountants that will be there next year why they need to seize every opportunity of the summit. In Ten Yan's time, I really aspire to be in decision-making spaces in South Africa that relate to non-profit sectors. I'm developing my core and technical competency as a chartered accountant so that I am relevant and credible. Um, but also, you know, I have the experience to be in those rooms. So the next 10 years is really about getting more experience in different sectors, and that's exactly what auditing is doing for me right now. When you audit different companies, I've had exposure to oil and gas, from um pharmaceuticals, I've had exposure to uh fast-moving consumer goods and branding and promotional um products, and so I see myself in that space as a professional, but as the founder and director of the foundation, I see myself now fully immersed in the work of the foundation. Right now, for the first time, I've been able to hire four interns, and so I'm really looking to then having a proper space for the foundation and for it to run without me in the sense where I am now a strategic lens rather than being on the ground and being the implementation lead for all the projects that we do. I would say to young people who want to create a positive change in their communities to start with what they have. Do not always focus on what you do not have, but most importantly, be authentic in your service. Nothing is as exhausting as you doing it as a tick box. You don't have to follow the most famous or the most loved social impact drive that's currently running. I know when I was at school, pad drives were always a thing, and I really didn't see how this was a sustainable solution to period poverty. So rather focus on problems that resonate with your heart, but fall in love with the problem because when you really fall in love with the problem, you have an in-depth analysis and perspective, and then the solution kind of creates itself from the time you invest in understanding the problem. My takeaway from One Young World is really personal. I've been emotional. Um, every time I've stepped into those rooms because the responsibility to go back and be a real agent of change deepens, but also understanding those sacrifices and investment that a lot of people have made in me and in my life and my journey for me to be in this room. And so my takeaway will be how do I pay it forward? How will I ensure that I mentor, channel, and provide the resources for other young people to be able to be in spaces like this? But even if you're not in the space, how do I take my learnings to the people that may not have the reach and resources to be in the space? That is my key takeaway. Most importantly, I'm so excited for the collaboration, the work that I'll do with other global leaders because I've really made really meaningful connections while I was at the summits this year.