Rachel Kolisi - A Beautiful Trust

How Rachel Kolisi Balances It All

By Fiona Wakelin and Koketso Mamabolo

When you live the kind of busy life Rachel Kolisi lives you’re going to be asked a lot about ‘balance’. How do you do it? Where do you find the time? A friend offered a thought to Rachel on a walk which looks at the question, the idea of balance itself, rather than at an answer. It’s a useful heuristic, which starts with life’s seasonal nature and continues into an approach which is more juggling than a balancing act.

“There are seasons in life, and some seasons are really busy, really hectic and really hard,” says Rachel, recalling her friend’s words. “And then sometimes the load is a little lighter and you feel like you’re kind of going through things a little bit easier.”

In the seasons of chaos there is more that needs your attention, her friend explained. You carry more. There are things that cannot be dropped, and there are things that can be dropped with no damage. There are balls made of glass that will break if they fall and there are some that are not made of glass and will bounce back. You have to figure out which is which. Rachel loved the analogy and has been carrying it with her.

“I feel like in every way possible I’m trying to catch the balls that could break and then identify which balls can bounce. But I’m really trying to be intentional. And this was my hope for this year to be intentional about just removing myself from as much of the chaos - kind of - as possible.”

But life happens, she says. There will be things that you need to attend to, whether it be personally or professionally. For Rachel these things include being the CEO of the Kolisi Foundation, which she founded with her husband, Siya.

Living Up To The Trust

The Kolisi Foundation began with a conversation Rachel and Siya had in the hallway of a hotel before the Rugby World Cup in 2019, with the goal of making their own contribution to breaking the cycle of inequality in South Africa. When the coronavirus pandemic hit they were still in the planning stages but the crisis, and the urgent need for personal protective equipment, forced them to get to work without a team and a values framework in place

“I think people really value the hope that Siya carries. And that was also after the first World Cup win. And so they wanted to get involved, they wanted to give.” She describes their relationship with the public as a “beautiful trust” which is particularly important when donors and partners want to see the impact their money is making. For many South Africans, they are an inspiration, shining a light on what’s possible and how the cycle of inequality can be broken.

They travelled around the country, having conversations with people and getting an idea of what needs to be done and decided on focusing on the issues that have affected them in their own lives. The result was three main pillars. The first is food security, a challenge Siya dealt with growing up and to tackle the issue the foundation has a programme which provides meals on a daily basis to thousands of children.

The second is gender-based violence, which they’ve both been affected by, and are addressing the issue through programmes involving preventative and responsive measures, including various kinds of support for survivors a nd engagements with young men to assist them in becoming the solution and not the problem.

The third pillar, focused on education and sport, is a response to the lack of access Siya experienced on his journey to becoming a professional rugby player. From coaching, to equipment and facilities, the community he came from didn’t have the resources to enable him to become the person he is today, which forced him to leave home and go into an environment where the other children could not speak his language. “He had to navigate his way through,” says Rachel. “And as a child, we just feel that that’s not fair.”

There have been requests for the foundation to offer bursaries and scholarships but the approach of taking children out of their homes and communities for a better education and access to resources is not one they want to take. Instead they want to avoid the experience Siya had and focus on bringing the resources and infrastructure to the communities themselves.

Despite the negative perception around townships, Rachel sees the potential and Siya has expressed how he would have preferred to have stayed at home, a choice they believe all children from similar backgrounds should have. To achieve this requires supporting the incredible work already being done by individuals in many communities. “There’s so much beauty in those communities and we really try to celebrate the beauty.”

The result of the trust they’ve built between themselves and the public are a stream of organisations and individuals who want to help them conduct their work. But funds are not bottomless and neither is time and Rachel believes it’s important to “under promise and over deliver” and hence the value they place in forming long-term partnerships which can have a lasting impact.

Rachel has heard many people who have started and run non-profit organisations compare them to businesses. Having run businesses in the past, apart from her background in marketing and events, it is something she has also recognised. Fundraising is an integral part of this, she says, highlighting how having the necessary funds allows for them to make multi-year commitments to the organisation’s they are supporting and, importantly, offering the people doing the work a sense of security in terms of income and not having to do the work for free.

The value of fundraising is an aspect one of the foundation’s board members, Andrew Muir, the CEO of Wilderness Foundation Africa, emphasised to them in their first conversation. “I remember he just bugged down on the word endowment,” says Rachel, who wants to be able to tell her team that their jobs are secured for years to come. She believes that the conversations around endowments is one many NGOs have too late in their journey. Her marketing experience has helped her in highlighting the need for sustainable funding, which allows for long-term projects rather than once-offs.

The foundation’s work is driven by its team of problem solvers who Rachel can trust to make certain decisions, in-line with her leadership style, which doesn’t rely on micromanagement. “We also have a really great board who hold us accountable - hold me accountable to all of the decisions that are made and how things are being run, and how people are experiencing the work,” she explains. “Most importantly, the people that are really receiving the fruits of the work as well. And making sure that everybody’s happy and comfortable.”

“Sometimes there are also areas of work that we need to just almost put on hold because we try and stay really responsible in everything that we do.” Which is particularly important when the stakes are so high and when mistakes can negatively impact people’s lives.

These are the things you can’t let fall and break, which is a lot for anyone, and taking time away from the chaos can help calm the rough seasons, maybe even make it easier to see what can bounce back and what can’t. And as Rachel says, you have to be intentional about recognising the precious moments, slowing down, spending time with your family, knowing many things won’t fall apart as easily as you might think. Otherwise time will pass by and you’ll lose those precious moments and life will feel like a blur. And last year almost felt like that blur, says Rachel.

When you’re in the chaos it becomes difficult to be fully present in the moment. “And I think you have to be intentional about setting time aside and just accepting that if you decide to take a week off work, nothing is going to bomb out or break, or collapse because you’re not there or available for a week. And I’ve told some of my colleagues this as well. If things have to be completely put on pause or things have to be moved a week out or things have to change, it’s fine.”

Rachel cares about others and knows that her family’s story is an inspiration. In an age where it feels as though most public figures have to maintain a social media presence she reminds us sharing more personal moments, or even being on social media, is a choice. “We make our life public as a conscious choice,” says Rachel, who describes herself as an introvert.

She has learnt to focus on the positive side of social media, the messages of support from the people rooting for her family on their journey, which online is topped with her amazing sense of humour and what she says is a wholesome view on what life is like for her.

And maybe that’s how she finds balance, by staying grounded, putting family above everything and not taking life too seriously. She knows what’s important, the things that are truly made of glass.