Michelle Harding is a qualified accountant with a BComm degree in accounting & economics. Further studies include General Management and EDP from Global Executive Leadership School.

Michelle’s career in financial & business management spans over 30 years in various companies and industries. Through her career, she held senior positions in various key sectors, including manufacturing, mining, construction and agriculture, at both local and international companies.

She had roles as Financial Manager, General Manager of various factories, Financial Director in private & publicly listed companies.

She also held the position of International Sales & Marketing and Business Development Director, with promotions to Managing Director and CEO for a listed international company with factories and sales offices in Southern Africa, Australia & Europe.

After her success in large companies in corporate structures, she founded a new company that partnered with some of the companies she worked with in water infrastructure to form Joint Ventures that executed large water pipe projects in Southern-Africa.

Michelle is continuously pursuing new opportunities in the Food-Water-Energy nexus, using various business models to act as a co-founder in other joint businesses in this sector.

Michelle also works with Private Equity companies, consulting on various projects, including due diligences for mergers & acquisitions. Through these relationships, her company can find the best partners to form suitable structure when deals are available.

Michelle also serves on various boards of directors and as trustee on other family trusts, adding to her knowledge and experience in the water & energy and infrastructure & agriculture sectors, the hospitality and property sectors.

She is married with 2 sons (married with children) and values her family as a significant part of her life, putting emphasis on the next generation.

Michelle does not only focus on her own family’s generations, but the next generation of leaders in South-Africa. To this end, she has been involved with Triga Ventures for years, as Mentor for entrepreneurs qualifying for the Accelerator program.

It is with great excitement, that Michelle has recently (September 2024), taken up the role of Principal Chair for C12 Business Forums in the Western-Cape, South-Africa. Her conviction about the important role that Christian leaders must play in the marketplace in South-Africa, lead her to take up this very important, strategic C12 position: to equip and resource Christian business owners to build great businesses for a greater purpose!