“A strong woman stands up for herself. A stronger woman stands up for everyone else.” –Unknown

This quote speaks to the foundation of National Women’s Day which is recognised on the 9th of August in South Africa.  The focus of this day is the celebration of the strength and beauty of South African women.

Alaris Antennas is an engineering company specialising in the design and production of (often) customised antennas for electronic warfare. This is not an industry that typically attracts women to steer and manage important aspects of the business.  However, Alaris Antennas has managed to woo a number of female leaders to help develop and grow their business in South Africa.

Amongst them are Gisela Heyman, Managing Director of Alaris Antennas and Executive Director of Alaris Holdings who has a vision to expand the company’s footprint globally.  Coupled with that vision comes passion and drive that makes Alaris Antennas a major player in this industry.

Ruenelle Ramnath, HR Manager and Executive Director of Alaris Antennas ensures that having the right people will drive the business to achieve results that are over and above industry norm.  Employee engagement is high, and the Alaris technical team is staffed with high calibre engineers.

Head of Sales and Marketing, Claire Nitch has the experience, passion and knowledge that has taken the business to new heights.  She has been involved with the expansion of our customer base with specific focus on the USA and has played a big role in promoting cross selling opportunities between Alaris Antennas and the acquired subsidiaries.  She always has a robust plan that is executed with precision.

Alaris Holdings is proud to be associated with Alaris Antennas who have empowered women to take the lead.  Elsie Muller, CFO of Alaris Holdings says “Women’s Day is a reminder of the progress of women in South Africa.  I am pleased to see that having women in the boardroom has become the norm for most South African companies”.

“I am a firm believer in a diversified management team. It tends to be much more balanced and it benefits the workplace environment”, said Juergen Dresel, CEO of Alaris Holdings.

Alaris Antennas hosts an annual women’s day event where health and wellbeing topics are discussed.  However, due to the pandemic and guidelines around social distancing, funds for the planned event will be donated to CHOC.

CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation is in dire need for support to cover essential services at the moment.  The economic situation in which they find themselves, is due to a large percentage of individuals who are currently unemployed or temporarily without an income, a reality that many of the families are facing.  Without any form of income these families are unable to transport their children to and from the hospital for treatments, and are unable to provide the necessary nutritional requirements the child needs to stay healthy.  The Coronavirus has greatly increased the needs of many of these families and they have seen a significant increase in the demand for some of these essential services, especially food parcels and transport funds. 

In order to assist CHOC to ensure that the children are safe, are able to attend treatment and that the parents and caregivers are relieved of the financial stress of having to provide food, protection and support to their sick child, it was decided to provide CHOC with a donation from Alaris Antennas.