Aurelia Albert

Aurelia Albert is the chief executive officer of Innovate Durban. After completing a Bachelor of Commerce in economics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, she completed an honours degree with a double major in economics through UNISA. Although this degree is not what Aurelia set out to do, the subjects have contributed to her career to date.

Making a difference in people’s lives has always been a source of motivation for Aurelia. “I’m doing that within Innovate Durban. I’m able to impact by helping people to upskill themselves, supporting them to identify their own career paths, unlocking opportunities for themselves within business and really changing people’s quality of life,” she explains.

In addition, Aurelia says, “I’m really passionate about Durban, which has experienced a lot of challenges over the last years. We want to serve a purpose for good and invest in the people and their lives here.”

INTO THE FOREFRONT
Aurelia worked for the eThekwini Municipality for nine years as a researcher and then managed an innovation programme within the city. She then successfully applied for the job as programme manager for innovation, following which Innovate Durban was founded as a nonprofit company.

Establishing and growing Innovate Durban is the career accomplishment that Aurelia is most proud of. She was part of growing the nonprofit company over six years into a successful and financially sustainable entity.

“I had zero business or executive management experience,” she says. “So Innovate Durban is the accomplishment within my career that really stands out and that has pushed me into the forefront within the innovation space.”

Due to the fact that her experience was limited, Aurelia had much on the job learning and took advice from other executives who had been in similar roles. “Mentorship played a huge role in my career. Just leaning on people who were willing to impart their knowledge helped guide me in the process of setting up Innovate Durban. I’m very grateful to those who did mentor me,” she commented.

As a researcher in the eThekwini municipality, Aurelia always worked on projects and events behind the scenes. Recalling the best advice she had received along her path, Aurelia said it was a manager telling her that she needed to step out, stop standing behind a desk and be in the front of the room interacting with various stakeholders.

Her first presentation at the launch of a major project was a pivotal point in her career. Aurelia reflected, “It was the moment that I got noticed and my confidence grew, and because of my confidence growing, I was able to achieve so much more. That is definitely something that I impart to those who are working with me at Innovate Durban, especially the young interns.”

GENDER DISPARITY
The biggest challenge Aurelia has had to overcome is gender disparity. She says, “Oftentimes when you walk into a room as a woman in business, the expectation is the CEO is going to be a man. I remember walking into a room, but the person that I was meeting was looking behind me for the CEO of Innovate Durban. It has been a bit difficult navigating that. But I’ve also found much joy in rising above and breaking those glass ceilings.”

One of Aurelia’s main learnings in her journey is that communication is key. In addition, Innovate Durban focuses on employee wellness, especially post Covid. Consequently, frequent wellness and team building sessions are hosted that ensure that the team comes together, learns about each other and is motivated.

Within Innovate Durban, celebrating the wins of each other as well as the teams within the organisation is part of their values and culture, which they do frequently.

GOOD EXAMPLES
Speaking of who has inspired her along the way Aurelia looks to her parents. She explains, “I look at their examples of how far they’ve come and how hard they’ve worked, the various things that they’ve done, not only in business but also in the family. I know there’s a saying ‘work smart and not hard’. I disagree as I do believe that in order for you to get to where you are, you need to do a bit of both. They’ve set really good examples for the way in which I live and work including my ethics and the integrity that comes through in the work that I do.” Aurelia’s faith also plays a significant role in her life.

A further inspiration is in the stories relating to the work that she does. Aurelia expands, “I’m able to see the results and the work that’s been put in and the success at the end of the day.”

In the future Innovate Durban is transitioning. “Being a nonprofit company that is agile, we are able to do that relatively quickly. I’m quite excited,” commented Aurelia.

“Innovate Durban runs several programmes and projects, one of which is an accelerator. “I’m looking at transforming Innovate Durban into a pure accelerator. We are also looking at setting up an academy for the company as well as advisory services. So really transforming the way in which we are doing business. I see us expanding beyond KZN, if there is a need, as whatever we do is needs based.”

In addition, Aurelia plans to continue to keep her team motivated and to put all their energy and focus into the projects and programmes that they run. She commented, “Businesses in KZN are so resilient and we need to support smaller businesses as they are engines for growth. Promoting small business development, increases employment, reduces un- employment within our city, and enables people to have a better quality of life.”

In conclusion, Aurelia says that in life it is really important to be authentic and be yourself.