First woman to lead iLembe Chamber of Commerce into the future

Lesa Bradshaw, recently appointed chairlady of the iLembe Chamber of Commerce, will become the first woman to lead the organisation since its inception in 2010.

Published author, Ted Talk speaker, MBA graduate, business coach and a recognised advocate for diversity and promoting disability inclusion in the workplace, Bradshaw is no lightweight when it comes to breaking down barriers of discrimination in the corporate sector.

Born with a genetic condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) a condition that causes muscular weakness in all the voluntary muscles in the body, her passion for empowering people with a disability has become her life’s work.

A Salt Rock local, she attended mainstream schooling at a time when children with ‘disabilities’ were only allowed to attend special needs schools.

The fight to allow her inclusion was not an easy one, however it was won at each step of her education, proving that inclusive education is possible.

After completing her undergraduate degree at Rhodes University, she attended KZN University where she obtained an honours degree in psychology.

Her passion for supporting disability inclusion in the workplace led her to co-found Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting – the only disability recruitment and inclusion specialist in South Africa.

Her driving force has also been “perceive yourself as equal, be equal, deliver equally”, refusing to be treated otherwise.

“People with a disability are not looking for special treatment but should learn to expect an equal opportunity to compete in the mainstream world.”

A practical example is the Ballito promenade – one of her favourite places on the North Coast.

“Not many realise the value it gives me as a person who uses a wheelchair. I can walk my dogs, ‘stroll’ along the beach with my family, take in our beautiful beaches and swim in the tidal pool – all because someone thought to make it wheelchair accessible.

“Living with a physical disability is more about logistics management than anything else. Consider that 20% of our consumer population are directly influenced by ‘disability’ in their decision making – where they chose to shop, eat, vacation, do business, bank, or spend all comes down to whether the supplier of these services or products have considered accessibility.

“In a time where having a competitive advantage can be the difference between succeeding or closing down you would be daft not to think about this.”

And the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic locally?

“Up until this whopping blow, so many local businesses had demonstrated remarkable resilience, creativity and resourcefulness in terms of navigating their way through infrastructure and service delivery challenges. What works for us, however, is our ability to find a way – South Africans are experts at this – we have outstanding entrepreneurial minds, we have incredible growth opportunities in our area which is such a positive and we have strong business minds to influence this growth.”

Bradshaw was confident the economic downturn would ebb and said economic history shows this to be true.

“Whether current businesses will be able to hang on until then depends on so many factors – adaptability and innovation in service delivery, sincerity in leadership, tenacity in reaching the soul of your market, and of course infrastructure and service delivery dependability. This is what the iLembe Chamber is here to do – we represent business as a collective, giving our members a louder voice and supporting their needs in realising these factors.”