Nerissa is an accomplished entrepreneur and non-executive chair with almost a decade of global board experience. She advises on ESG, technology enablement, and revenue generation strategies for growing businesses. Nerissa has chaired multiple boards and sub-committees, including Governance, Risk, Audit, and Compensation, and has served on the advisory board for the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Most recently she was appointed to the World Economic Forum’s expert network, the Global Future Council for Governance.

With a two-decade corporate career at AIG and Accenture, she has held senior executive roles, managing and digitally transforming global businesses, overseeing a 5000+ workforce across six regions, and executing strategic turnarounds for Fortune 100 companies across 40+ countries. She co-founded and was CEO of āxil, a Fintech for small businesses.

A native South African who grew up during Apartheid, Nerissa advocates for equality and challenges stereotypes in gender, race, and professional norms. Named a Young Global Leader and Dangote Fellow by the World Economic Forum in 2019, she was elected to its Advisory Group in 2021, chairing the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion sub-committee.

Nerissa holds an executive MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business and a BTech in Industrial Engineering from Durban University of Technology. She continues her executive education at London, Harvard, and Wharton Business Schools. In 2019, she was featured in the Financial Times as a leader to watch.