I am nearly 52 years old and find myself firmly in the midst of midlife.
Recently, a colleague organising a trip to a Biotech Expo in India asked me to send a bio for the organisers. In my haste to tick this off my to-do list, I quickly cobbled together the following:
“Khulekani Dlamini has over 20 years of experience and expertise in financial services, with the majority of his career spent in listed investments and asset management. He holds an MPhil in Development Finance (cum laude) and a Master’s in Aeronautical Engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. Upon his return to South Africa, he joined CSIR’s Aerotek Division as a researcher and later spent three years with Comverse Network Systems, a telecommunications company in Israel. He worked at Investec Asset Management (now 91) in Cape Town for five years, after which he co-founded Afena Capital, exiting in 2016.
He is currently an Executive Director and founder of KD Group, a holding company with interests across various industry verticals, including Film Finance, Fund Management, Technology, Advisory & Corporate Finance Services, Real Estate, and Health & Beauty, amongst others. He also founded and serves as Executive Chair of Lwembu Group, which offers Advisory and Consulting services across sectors. Additionally, he is the founder of an Executive Coaching practice, Elevance, as well as Lwembu Equity Ventures (LEV), a Venture Builder and nascent VC fund management firm.
Khulekani serves on various Boards, including Medipost, a pharmaceutical company, where he is a Non-Executive Director and Chairman; Lodestar Fund Managers as a Non-Executive Director; and Stellenbosch Business School as an Advisory Board Member. He also serves as a Board Member and Chairman of Breadline Africa, a Cape Town-based NPO supporting early-childhood development in Southern Africa. He mentors founders of university technology spinout companies at Innovus-owned LaunchLab, an incubator/accelerator at Stellenbosch University.
Previously, he was Chairman of the Board for Home of Hope, a refuge for orphans with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome. As an avid golfer, he has served as Captain and Chairman of his Golf Society, CT Black Professionals, at different times over the past two decades.”
These words encapsulate over 40 years of lived experiences—moments filled with fear, desperation, joy, love, gratitude, and, most importantly, a persistent sense of being an impostor (more on this in future posts). In sharing this intimate glimpse of myself, I hope to be seen by you, heard by you, and that together, we can find a balance in our journeys.
Thank you for being here
