Dr Ela Manga is an integrative medical doctor committed to healing and bringing heart back into the art of medicine. Her medical training was a step towards her true vocation as a facilitator of health and a catalyst for change. She is the founder of Breathwork Africa, an organisation that offers internationally recognised breathwork practitioner training based on the Pneumanity™ philosophy.  

​Ela's second book, Umoya - The Science and Wonder of Conscious Breathing, will be launched at Umoya BreathFest 2024. It explores the notion of how to reclaim our right to breathe within the complexities of our current times. In her first book, BREATHE: Strategising Energy in the Age of Burnout, Ela discusses her approach to mental, physical, and emotional health through real-life case studies. Ancient wisdom and continuous research support her healing philosophy which is accessible and relevant to all.

Dion Chang will make you think differently. He is a professional cage rattler, a strategic thinker, a keynote speaker, and a walking ideas bank.

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He is one of South Africa’s most respected trend analysts and takes the unique view of “trends as business strategy”. Dion is passionate about assisting companies to embrace change and embedding a culture of innovation into corporate operating systems.

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These qualities serve him well in the new role he has added to his portfolio, that of ‘an end-of-life companion doula’. As such he will provide the terminally ill and their families with support, guidance and companionship. This new role aligns with his business practice – after all end-of-life is not necessarily about physical death but the death of old ideas and the birth of new ones.

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He has a deep passion for youth trends and subcultures, and is an intrepid traveller, global citizen and proud South African.

Named one of the 100 Young Influential Africans of 2019, Rachel Nyaradzo Adams is a leadership and transformation practitioner who is trained in organizational systems, ontology, neuroscience, and anthropology.

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She has worked with leaders of diverse backgrounds and seniority from across the African continent and beyond. She is committed to courageous conversations and creates safe spaces for clients to explore some of their toughest conversations.

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Rachel sits on the boards of MINDS, Jakes Gerwel Fellowship and St. George’s College. She has spoken and provided leadership training on various platforms to executives and emerging leaders. These include the UNDP Executive Leadership Retreat, World Bank, Obama Leaders, TEDx, L’Oreal Women in Science, EVE and many corporates and start-ups. She is a Mandela Rhodes Scholar, a Desmond Tutu Fellow, a Felix Scholar and a Mellon Mays Scholar.

Nina Callaghan is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Sustainability Transitions, at Stellenbosch University. She is seeking better questions and practice for development, politics, education, family-making and being together on this mysterious planet. She is passionate about finding ways to navigate the polycrisis our world is in to find a place for thriving and is currently a PhD candidate extending her inquiry into governance, with questions framed around embodied sustainability.

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Nina serves as the Transformation Committee Chair for the faculty of Economic and Management Science at Stellenbosch University. She is a lecturer for the Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Development. Nina has previously worked as a director of the NGO, Children’s Radio Foundation, as a broadcast journalist and has experience as a theatre performer.