Judging the Achiever Awards – a reward in itself

For people who’ve built careers, businesses, and reputations, time is a valuable commodity. Yet members of the judging panel for the Investec Jewish Achiever Awards continue to set aside time each year to read, deliberate, and meet some of the most accomplished people in the community. 

What draws them back is not only the prestige of being a judge. It is the opportunity to recognise achievement, discover people whose contributions may otherwise go unnoticed, and perhaps unexpectedly, learn something from those they are there to judge. 

Entrepreneur Avi Mishan has served as a judge of the Eric Ellerine Entrepreneur Award for several years. “Being a judge for the past few years is something that I find incredibly rewarding,” he says. “I’ve always believed that when you give, you often get even more back.” He’s found that being exposed to entrepreneurs, seeing what they are building, and hearing the fresh perspectives they bring is both “inspiring and a learning experience”.  

Mishan says the close-knit nature of the community makes it particularly important to recognise and uplift people within it, while the awards have also given him the opportunity to form “meaningful relationships and friendships with fellow entrepreneurs”. Ultimately, he says, it is a privilege to be part of something that celebrates the community while encouraging “its next generation of entrepreneurial talent”. 

For Dawn Nathan-Jones, the judging process brings a different kind of reward. A successful entrepreneur and former chief executive of Europcar, Nathan-Jones finds celebrating women whose achievements might otherwise go unnoticed particularly meaningful. “It is a privilege to have been a judge for the Jewish Achiever Awards for so many years, particularly in the Women in Leadership category,” she says. She has encountered “truly inspiring and phenomenal women” making huge strides in their respective fields, alongside “so many unsung heroes whose enormous contributions often go unseen”.  

That makes choosing a winner far from straightforward. “It is never an easy task choosing the winners, with so many incredible nominees,” she says, but every year the process uncovers “new gems within our community”.  

Geoff Rothschild brings decades of experience in the South African business and financial world to the judging process. A former chairperson of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, his motivation for judging is rooted in what recognition can inspire people to do next. He believes it is “critically important to encourage youth to achieve” and to acknowledge those who’ve had the initiative to build businesses, create jobs, and contribute to society. Hearing what people have done and what they are achieving, he says, is inspirational because it can encourage others “to go to greater heights”.  

Rothschild also sees the judging process as an opportunity to share his knowledge and experience. “If one can offer advice, if it’s needed, it’s just helpful,” he says. His philosophy is simple: “Encourage the achievers and let them build to greater heights”. 

The Ichikowitz Family Foundation Rising Star Award offers Jade Kirkel a particularly personal perspective on the value of recognising young talent. Kirkel helped build the Sorbet brand before going on to establish her own venture, giving her a background that combines entrepreneurship, creativity, and brand building. Over the past few years judging the Rising Star category, she says she’s had “the privilege of sitting in a room with some of the most exciting emerging changemakers in our community”. 

For Kirkel, the young people she encounters represent far more than individual achievements. “Show me the young people of a community and I’ll show you its future,” she says. The creation of the award, she believes, reflects an important understanding that “our legacy is not only about what we leave the next generation, but what we ignite within them”. The judges have “marvelled at [nominees’] stories, laughed with them, cried with them, and journeyed alongside them”, while the young people have challenged and inspired them and, more than once, left them wondering whether they are doing nearly enough themselves. For Kirkel, sitting on the panel is therefore “far more than judging an award”. It is “a glimpse into the future” and one that leaves her “incredibly hopeful about what I see”. 

For these judges, making time for the Investec Jewish Achiever Awards is therefore not simply about giving up hours in already busy lives. It is about giving recognition where it’s deserved, encouraging people to continue reaching higher, and creating an opportunity to see the strength, talent, and potential within the community. 

The 2026 Investec Jewish Achiever Awards will take place on 1 November, bringing the community together to celebrate this year’s outstanding achievers. Bookings are now open.