Our Mission
To become Your Go-To Partner in Accelerating Positive Impacts.
About Us
“Zen” – Continuous Improvement and Enlightenment
“Consortium” – A Partnership of Greatness
At Zen Consortium, we come to work every day driven by a single purpose: to solve some of the most pressing challenges in the social development space.
Change makers often struggle to identify the right services to offer, the right products to build, or the most effective outreach strategies to adopt. Measuring impact and ensuring the long-term sustainability of initiatives after implementation can also be complex challenges — not only for implementers, but for funders as well.
Where others see obstacles, we see opportunity. We are deeply passionate about creating positive, measurable impact, and our mission is to help people and organisations achieve it.
Zen provides actionable strategies and practical implementation support for social development and entrepreneurship initiatives. We are committed to making our services accessible and affordable, while partnering with clients across a wide range of technical needs. Our core offerings are delivered through Zennovation, Zencubation, and Zensourcing.
Where the Journey Began
Zen Consortium is a 100% Black female-owned social enterprise founded in South Africa in 2016.
After spending two decades in senior corporate leadership roles, the founders were driven by a shared calling to leave the comfort of the corporate world and pursue social entrepreneurship. United by a passion for impact, they set out to become change makers focused on social development and strategic innovation.
Zen Consortium was established to disrupt the traditional management consulting and advisory landscape by making high-quality services accessible to organisations and change makers who were previously excluded due to cost.
Starting with a small portfolio of corporate and non-profit clients, Zen has grown steadily. Backed by measurable impact, strong client testimonials, and consistent service excellence, the organisation has expanded its client base and strengthened its management and partner network.
How the Journey Evolved
To meet growing demand beyond consulting and innovation, Zen Consortium expanded its offerings to include cost-effective sourcing services through Zensourcing. Initially focused on sourcing between China and South Africa, our reach has since extended across Asia and Africa following the acquisition of Yakama, a leading international trading company. We continue to strengthen our sourcing capabilities by onboarding additional manufacturers and partners.
Through our work in driving inclusive economic solutions, Zen identified a critical challenge: the high failure rate of SMEs, SMMEs, and startups. While some of these challenges can be addressed through financial support, most require holistic, non-financial interventions to ensure sustainable growth.
In response, we launched Zencubation, our incubation and acceleration initiative designed to improve business longevity and survival rates. Zencubation combines financial and non-financial enhancement approaches, providing founders with the strategic, operational, and capacity-building support needed to scale successfully.
Journey Continued
Social innovators and change makers are more important than ever.
In 2018, Zen Consortium took a strategic step to expand beyond the Southern African region into China and Europe, enabling us to support a broader network of organisations and individuals who benefit from our expertise.
Today, our team works alongside international development agencies and social innovators, helping them navigate complex environments and build clear, practical solutions for sustainable impact.
