Wendy Orr(she/her)  

Head DEI

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Dr Martin Luther King Jr. 

Wendy is the immediate former Group Head of Inclusion for the Standard Bank Group,
having retired on 31 August 2022. The role was an executive position which she held since October 2012. In this role she was responsible for three functions for the Group (which has operations in 20 countries in Africa) – Diversity and Inclusion, Employee Wellbeing, and Corporate Social Investment. Since retiring she has worked as a freelance DEI consultant across a range of clients in the financial, mining, health and NGO sectors.

Wendy is a medical doctor who has worked in the areas of equity, transformation, and
diversity and inclusion since 1999, when she took up the role of Director: Transformation
and Employment Equity at the University of the Witwatersrand. She also has 6 years’
experience as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) consultant with Resolve Workplace
solutions, working with a wide range of clients.

Wendy’s career path turned from medicine to diversity and inclusion after she had served three years as a Commissioner on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of South Africa – a position to which she was appointed by then President Nelson Mandela. Her path to the TRC began in 1985 when, while working at the District Surgeon’s Office in Port Elizabeth, she became the first and only doctor in government employment to reveal evidence of police torture of political detainees, when she successfully sought a Supreme Court interdict against the police to stop them from assaulting and torturing political detainees. Subsequent to this she remained active in health and human rights issues, particularly in respect of the rights of political detainees.

Wendy has excellent written and verbal communication skills. She is a published author who has written articles for a number of journals, chapters in two academic books, and a book about her TRC experiences. She is a skilled and experienced workshop facilitator and is trained in mediation and conflict resolution.

Awards:
Wendy is the recipient of the following awards, amongst others:
● The Star newspaper Women of the Year Award in 1985
● The Civil Rights League Human Rights Award in 1990
● The MK Seedat Health and Human Rights Award in 1997
● The UN Association for Human Rights citizenship award in 1998.
● The Benjamin Pogrund Medal for advancing the cause of non-racialism at Wits in
2001.
● The SA Women for Women’s Award in Health in 2006
● The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Council Prestige Award for “rendering
exceptional service which has made a significant impact on the community” in 2013.

Hobbies:
Cooking and gardening

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