WASHINGTON, D.C., – Letitia de Wet, CEO of Enactus South Africa is one of fifty people worldwide honored this year by The International Alliance of Women as a World of Difference Award recipient. These accolades were presented at a luncheon at the Oyamel Cocina Mexicana restaurant in Washington, D.C. on 21 October.

The TIAW World of Difference Award recognizes women, and men, whose efforts have advanced the economic empowerment of women locally, regionally, or worldwide. Economic empowerment as defined by TIAW means contributing to the ability of women to earn a living or in some way directly contributing to the economic betterment of other women, as distinct from other worthy contributions that are not within the scope of these awards. Letitia was recognized in the Education Category.

Letitia de Wet has been the CEO and Country Director at Enactus South Africa since 2006. Enactus South Africa is a country operation of Enactus, the world’s largest experiential learning platform dedicated to creating a better, more sustainable world while developing the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders and social innovators. Enactus teams use the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as framework for innovation, including Goal 5 of achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls.

The status of women in South Africa is low based on data from UN Women and from the South African government. Across any indicator, particularly social mobility and workforce equality, women are lagging significantly. In South Africa, women account for approximately 43% of total people employed and only 33% of managerial positions. Enactus Vice President of Global Programs Janani Akhil reflects that, “Despite the workforce statistics, Letitia makes women a strong part of Enactus entrepreneurship and workforce training initiatives. She has a zeal for life and a passion for empowering all young people to use business as a powerful force for good.”

Enactus South Africa, as part of a collaboration with the Standard Chartered Foundation, focuses on providing employability training to disadvantaged youth as defined by the International Labor Organization. That project served 20% more women than men in its first year.