Managing Director of Elevate Loyalty (Australia) and OneTap Group (UK), Carly has over 20 years' experience in loyalty, incentives, and technology systems. She has led the design and delivery of 40+ B2C, B2B, and enterprise programs across ASX-listed companies, startups, and consultancies.

Carly is the APAC Host of Let’s Talk Loyalty, Co-Founder and Moderator of Loyalty Economics, Co-Founder of WiiN Global, and a Founding Board Member of IMA MEAPAC. A Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional (CLMP), she applies behavioural insight to drive member value and ROI.

Dino Talotti is the Founder and CEO of Varsity Vibe, South Africa’s leading student & youth loyalty and discount platform. He launched the start-up business in 2011 at UCT using his own savings (from working 6 months in London as a CA) to build what began as a simple campus-based initiative. Today, Varsity Vibe is a national brand with over 1 million student members, 80+ active offers, and partnerships with major retailers. In just the past few years, the platform has helped students save over R210 million, offering real financial relief during a time of rising costs.

A qualified CA (SA), Dino combined his finance background with deep insight into youth culture to grow the platform sustainably—later bringing on strategic funding in 2017 and 2019 to scale operations. Varsity Vibe now works with brands like Standard Bank, H&M, Dis-Chem, Mr Price, Spur, TFG, Cotton On and Cape Union Mart to run data-led campaigns that drive loyalty among Gen Z. With more than a decade of experience in the student market, Dino is now looking to lead the company’s expansion into Europe, helping global brands rethink how they connect with the next generation of consumers.

Mel van Rooy is an accomplished marketing and strategy executive renowned for her unique blend of creativity and analytical prowess. With over 25 years of experience in FMCG and retail, coupled with almost 40 years of expertise in analytics, she has consistently demonstrated her ability to infuse innovative thinking and creativity with data-driven insights to propel business success.
Fusing her background in Econometrics, Strategy, and Marketing, Mel possesses a rare talent for deciphering the intricate nuances of consumer data and behavior and translating them into actionable strategies. Her career trajectory spans across diverse sectors including banking, academia, hospitality, and financial services, where she has left an indelible mark through her strategic contributions.
Noteworthy among her achievements is her instrumental role in shaping consumer and business strategies at ABI (Coca-Cola), Makro, and Dis-Chem, solidifying their positions as industry giants. Currently serving as the Head of Marketing at Clicks Group, Mel's passion for innovation is palpable in her leadership style. She seamlessly integrates her flair for creativity with a strong analytics sense to drive impactful campaigns and cultivate enduring customer connections. She describes her role at Clicks as “her best job ever”!
Beyond her professional accolades, Mel is known for her passion for inspirational leadership, infusing her work with a sense of purpose and authenticity. She is a firm advocate for work-life balance. Mel is the proud mother of two adult children and her beloved twin grandchildren, Benjamin and Nina.

Dr. Sonja Fourie is a seasoned executive and strategic leader with a proven track record in the design, launch, and execution of market-disrupting technologies and ecosystems across financial services, logistics, aviation, and retail sectors. She has led the development and rollout of some of the most impactful loyalty programs in these industries, shaping customer engagement and driving measurable commercial value.
As Chief Commercial Officer at Pinnacle Rewards, Dr. Fourie spearheads innovation through data-driven design, advanced financial modeling, and cutting-edge technology integration. Her work aligns strategic brand positioning with clients' key performance objectives, consistently delivering enhanced returns and meaningful outcomes for both clients and stakeholders. Her portfolio includes high-level strategic partnership negotiations, value proposition development, and end-to-end program implementation.
An acknowledged authority on loyalty program effectiveness, Dr. Fourie is a sought-after speaker at international academic and industry conferences. She holds a PhD in the field and has published extensively in leading international journals. Committed to developing local expertise, she actively supervises Master’s, MPhil, and PhD research students at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS).

Fayelizabeth has over 25 years’ experience in the Financial Services Industry in product development, implementation of new products, strategy formulation, payments, customer management, and loyalty and rewards.

Fayelizabeth is currently the Executive Head of Loyalty & Rewards at Standard Bank South Africa where she conceptualised, developed, and launched the broad-based behaviour driven Retail and Business Rewards programmes, UCount Rewards and UCount Rewards for Business.

Prior to joining Standard Bank, Fayelizabeth was the General Manager at Absa where she successfully developed the Absa Rewards programme with over 70 Partners, convenience services and an earn model for the retail franchise.

Throughout her career, Fayelizabeth has also held various roles in marketing, product development, card services, and customer-related domains.

In addition to her BA (Hons), she has a post graduate qualification from the IMM and is a Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional (CLMP).

50% Strategist, 50% Creative = 100% Futurist!

I begin my Monday’s like a 100m sprint, with a burst of speed knowing the distance that I need to cover in my workweek! My energy and zest for life are fuel for the thinking and creativity required to serve our TFG Customers and support our Brands.

Over 15+ years of digital experience predominantly focused on marrying business strategy with execution, building and growing omnichannel capabilities, launching new digital products and customer experiences.

I believe that to be effective in a digital-driven era, one needs experience and vision. Experience to ask the right questions, vision to adapt to change and solve problems, whilst laying foundations for the future.

A customer first mindset in everything I do, Poet Maya Angelou put this to words: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” That’s doing things the customer way!

Senior Consultant at Comarch (ex Alshaya and ex Chalhoub)
Joanna Witsch is a loyalty expert with 17 years of international experience across both client and consultancy roles. Based in Dubai, she works at Comarch, helping clients design and grow successful loyalty programs. She previously held senior positions at Chalhoub Group and Alshaya, bringing deep regional expertise in customer engagement and program operations.

Marlena Polrola is a senior consultant at Comarch, specialising in loyalty and customer experience. Over the past 10 years — including 7 in Asia and 3 in the Middle East — she’s helped brands turn loyalty programs into lasting, meaningful relationships.
Her work blends global insight with innovation, using data and AI to create personalized, emotionally intelligent customer journeys. Marlena speaks six languages, but her favourite remains the one that truly matters: the language of customer experience

Nokwanda Khumalo is the General Manager: Mobility and Convenience at bp Southern Africa (bpSA). She is an experienced retail leader with a demonstrated history of working in the oil and energy industry and in fast moving consumer goods.
Nokwanda holds a Bachelor of Business Science degree; finance honours from the University of Cape Town.
Her leadership experience encompasses all aspects of Brand, Customer Marketing and Category Management, Project Management, Convenience Retail, Channel Management, Business Development and Business Strategy.
Nokwanda has strong family values and believes in integrating her work and passions for a meaningful life. A wife and mother of two girls, she is a passionate advocate for women empowerment – especially the youth – and is committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment where everyone can thrive. Nokwanda enjoys open water swimming and has a keen interest in wellness.

Eighty20 is a data-driven consumer analytics and research business providing a range of services and data products, including a detailed view of all 42 million adult South Africans representing over R4 trillion in earnings per annum. Eighty20, winner of South Africa's top loyalty data agency for the last 2 years, has worked with more than half of South Africa's top 25 loyalty programmes, providing loyalty strategy, design and execution services.

Qualifications: Business Science (Honours in Actuarial Science and Economics), FIA & FASSA
Steve, a qualified actuary, started his career as a life insurance actuary and then management consultant working on projects in South Africa and the UK. After co-founding a fintech business in the mid 2000s he joined Eighty20 in 2009, becoming chief executive in 2014. Steve is a well known industry leader and speaker in the data analytics, customer engagement and loyalty professions.

Vuyo Henda is an accomplished marketing executive with a passion for building
powerful, purpose-led brands. Her career spans both local and international markets,
including a brand role in the global team for Knorr at Unilever UK, and senior
directorship positions in Unilever Southern Africa.
Today, she serves as the Chief Marketing Officer at the Spur Corporation, home to South
Africa’s leading restaurant brands. Vuyo’s love for marketing has been a golden thread
throughout her journey, driving pioneering initiatives, bold partnerships, and the
modernisation of heritage brands. This has earned her industry recognition, including a
Loerie award in 2024.
Vuyo is also a committed advocate for women, having mentored young women from
marginalised communities. She also helped start a mentorship initiative in Durban for a
women-led non-profit organisation.
Her mission is simple: to leave people, places, and organisations enriched beyond
measure.

Nicholas is an executive in the Fintech and Digital Media industry, with 25+ years’ experience. He is vice chairman of the SA loyalty Awards.

He has been identified as one of the top 25 most influential people in advertising in South Africa (Financial Mail) during his tenure as BBDO Cape Town MD. He has held senior Commercial and Marketing leadership positions at Tech companies in the media, mobile, loyalty and location software sectors and was a founding Director of South Africa’s most awarded Digital Marketing agency.

He has also served as a judge for the Applied Innovation Institute (Mobile World Congress, Barcelona), the South African Innovation and Technology awards (TT100) and was a board member of the Advertising Communications Association (ACA) in South Africa. Nicholas has a Masters in Digital Marketing from IE Business School, Madrid.

Sanlam Group Rewards drives innovation and growth in loyalty and payment solutions under my leadership as CEO. With nearly a decade of experience spearheading South Africa's top rewards programs, including eBucks, I focus on creating impactful, client-centric initiatives that deliver measurable results for our organization, partners, and customers.

My expertise lies in loyalty programs, digital payments, and business strategy, with a proven record of launching award-winning innovations like eBucks Travel and eCommerce platforms. I am committed to fostering strong teams and leveraging collaboration to achieve excellence in aligning rewards with financial services and customer needs.

25+ years in CRM, Martech and SaaS domains, having worked in the Consulting and Software Sales spaces across the US, LATAM, Iberia, Middle East and Africa. and across the Financial Services, Telco, Energy and Retail sectors.
M.S. in Computer Engineering (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) and MBA from IE Business School

Kia Abbott is the Chief Customer Officer for Virgin Active, working across eight territories to build a deep understanding of customer, driving engagement and value at each stage of the member journey, and delivering higher member retention and stronger participation across Virgin Active’s social wellness proposition

He has been identified as one of the top 25 most influential people in advertising in South Africa (Financial Mail) during his tenure as BBDO Cape Town MD. He has held senior Commercial and Marketing leadership positions at Tech companies in the media, mobile, loyalty and location software sectors and was a founding Director of South Africa’s most awarded Digital Marketing agency.

He has also served as a judge for the Applied Innovation Institute (Mobile World Congress, Barcelona), the South African Innovation and Technology awards (TT100) and was a board member of the Advertising Communications Association (ACA) in South Africa. Nicholas has a Masters in Digital Marketing from IE Business School, Madrid.

Alicia Raynard is a dynamic leader with over 20 years of experience across top financial institutions, including Nedbank, Standard Bank, and Visa. As the Executive of Absa Rewards, she has led the team to remarkable growth—driving membership expansion and launching market-first campaigns that have reshaped the loyalty landscape. Alicia brings a deep passion for consumer behavioural insights, blending data with empathy to create programmes that truly connect with customers. She holds a Master’s from GIBS and is currently pursuing her PhD at Wits. Known for her heart-led leadership and innovative thinking, Alicia is committed to making a meaningful impact in everything she does.

Glenn is the co-founder and CEO of Sea Monster. Glenn is a seasoned entrepreneur with 25 years of experience as a senior executive and consultant in the creative industries. He is expert on the role that games play within the marketing mix and a thought-leader on how impact games can promote brand equity and foster valuable connections between brands and audiences. Prior to Sea Monster, Glenn served as the General Manager at two of South Africa’s leading film and animation companies: Moonlighting Film Services and Clockwork Zoo - Africa’s largest animation studio at the time.