Mentorship Booster Programme: Skills Development Seminars

fraymedia Foundation is proud to present the Mentorship Booster Programme: Skills Development Seminars. The Programme recognises the need for structured mentorship that responds meaningfully to the needs of women entrepreneurs. The Mentorship Booster Programme invites early-stage women media and communications entrepreneurs to move from talent to sustainable business.

Within this objective, the fraymedia Foundation is pleased to be supporting 10 Women Mentees who are previous beneficiaries of the Foundation's programmes and initiatives. The targeted approach and selection of the 10 fraymedia Foundation Women Mentees is to recognise the gaps in business skills development and meet them through extended support and mentorship. Only the selected 10 fraymedia Foundation Mentees who will be obligated to be participating in all three-month structured sessions, will receive directed mentorship sessions with seasoned experts in the field, and receive stipends to attend the sessions.

The fraymedia Foundation is proud to extend an invitation to the broader public participants to attend the below three sessions within their interests, to garner dedicated skills and inputs to grow and sustain their business ventures. The sessions are designed to consolidate your entrepreneurial learning and address real-world challenges you are currently facing in your media businesses. All three sessions will be receiving key remarks and learning outcomes from leading experts in the field of business and media development, as detailed below. The sessions will be hosted by Paula Fray, CEO & Co-Founder of the fraymedia Foundation.

Seminar 1: Build the Business

Date: Thursday, 26 March 2026 Time: 10h00 - 11h30 am SAST Location: Online Seminar Register here now to attend

Guest Speaker: Naadiya Moosajee Session Topic: Challenges and Opportunities of starting a business in Africa Host: Paula Fray, Mentorship Guidance and Starting a business

Naadiya Moosajee is a serial entrepreneur by passion, an engineer by training, is Co-Founder at WomHub, a unique ecosystem builder supporting innovation along the STEM value chain including building talent, incubators and accelerators, female founder innovation spaces and deploying capital. Naadiya serves as the Chief Innovator with her focus being on entrepreneurship, gender, future skills, AI and cybersecurity.

Strategy, positioning and business models

This session focuses on the transition from being a skilled communicator to running a sustainable business. Participants will explore how to define their niche, clarify their value proposition, and identify viable business models for media and communications entrepreneurs.

Key areas

• Moving from freelancer to founder mindset

• Identifying your niche and market positioning

• Choosing a viable media or communications business model

Participants leave with clearer strategic direction and a stronger understanding of how their business creates value.

Seminar 2: Grow the Business

Date: Thursday, 23 April 2026 Time: 10h00 - 11h30 am SAST Location: Online Seminar Register here now to attend Guest Speaker: Pat Roberts

Session Topic: Growing the Business

Guest Speaker: Mbali Nhlengethwa Session Topic: Financial Compliance for growth

Host: Paula Fray, Clients, revenue and partnerships Patricia Roberts is ICF Master Coach (MCC), leadership developer, published inclusion thought leader, employee relations expert. Mbali Nhlengethwa brings over a decade of accounting experience, including extensive background in accounting firm and internal auditing. This session focuses on practical strategies for securing clients, building consistent income streams, and increasing visibility in the market.

Key areas

• Attracting and retaining clients

• Converting visibility into revenue

• Developing multiple income streams (projects, retainers, content, partnerships)

• Strategic partnerships and collaborations

• Building credibility and a professional reputation

Participants gain practical tools to strengthen revenue and expand their client base.

Seminar 3: Lead the Business

Date: Thursday, 21 May 2026 Time: 10h00 - 11h30 am SAST Location: Online Seminar Register here now to attend

Guest Speaker: TinaShe Makwanda

Session Topic: Finding Business Models that work & Building resilience Host: Paula Fray, Leading the sector

TinaShe Makwanda is a business strategist, digital media expert and Head of Business at Starquo, as well as the Co-founder of Ninety9 Digital. His mission is to create and unlock growth opportunities at the intersection of journalism and technology to build sustainable newsrooms so that no story ever goes untold or unheard. This enables newsrooms to give marginalized communities their power back without compromising craft or quality. This session focuses on the personal and leadership skills required to sustain and grow a business over time.

Key areas

• Finding business models for media

• When and how to scale a media

• Decision-making and managing uncertainty

• Building influence in the media ecosystem

Participants develop the mindset and leadership capacity required to sustain and grow their enterprises. About the Host, Paula Fray

Paula Fray is co-founder and CEO of fraymedia Foundation.  A veteran South African journalist, editor, and media strategist who serves as a panel member on the Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry (MDPMI) of the South African Competition Commission, which is examining the impact of global digital platforms on South Africa’s media.

She is the founder of fraycollege, a pan-African accredited training institution and frayintermedia, a content creation and communications strategy agency that develops and implements multi-platform development-focused messaging. In 2022, she co-founded the fraymedia Foundation, which champions gender equity and supports women in media across the African continent.

Fray was the first female editor of the Saturday Star newspaper and later served as Regional Director: Africa for Inter Press Service (IPS), overseeing multilingual news production across English, French, Portuguese, Swahili, and Arabic.

She is the immediate part-President of The New Humanitarian, a Geneva-based non-profit newsroom, and a former board member of Africa Check and Accountability Lab South Africa. She currently chairs the board of Youth Health Africa and serves on the board of the Aurum Institute.

A Print and Digital Media SA Fellow and recipient of the prestigious Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, Fray is also a former member of the Nieman Foundation Advisory Board at Harvard. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from Rhodes University and a Certificate in Women and the Law from UNISA. Read more about the Host here.

Register Now to attend all 3 Seminars:

• 26 March 2026 - Build the Business with Naadiya Moosajee Time: 10h00 - 11h30 am SAST Register now at: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2pu-1-gcS2W8c9bXmQkyOg

  
  

• 23 April 2026 - Grow the Business with Pat Roberts and Mbali Nhlengethwa

  Time: 10h00 - 11h30 am SAST Register now at: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5EosOaGfTe21739CFPbfWQ

  
  

• 21 May 2026 - Lead the Business with TinaShe Makwanda Time: 10h00 - 11h30 am SAST Register now at: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p2g1usXnTVK4xxcFT2Tl9A