Wendy Ackerman

Wendy Ackerman

Wendy Ackerman is one of the founders and an Executive Director of Pick n Pay Stores Ltd.  She married Raymond Ackerman, the founder of Pick'n Pay Stores Ltd, in 1956, and they have 4 children and 12 grand-children together. 

She has been involved in Pick n Pay's development of employee welfare and benefits schemes.  Pick'n Pay has 60 000 employees and Wendy's primary focus is their working conditions, salaries, and benefits that include housing loans, extra days off, and extended maternity benefits.

With Wendy leading the way, the Ackerman family has been involved with social responsibility initiatives for most of their lives.  At her best, Pick n Pay was the first company in South Africa to offer free anti-retrovirals for employees living with HIV/Aids.  This has now become an industry standard throughout our country. 

In 2007, Wendy was nominated for and won an Inyathelo Award for Family Philanthropy.  Four members of the Ackerman family won an Inyathelo award that year.  At the award ceremony, the following were named as some of the philanthropic organisations the family is involved with:

  • The Raymond Ackerman Academy of Entrepreneurial Development at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business
  • The Red Cross Children's Hospital
  • The WHEAT Trust
  • The Cape Town Opera Trust
  • The Aids Foundation
  • The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund
  • The Shoebox Houses project
  • The Down Syndrome Association Western Cape
  • Habitat for Humanity

"If I was asked what South Africans can do in philanthropy, I would say that everybody can help, everybody can be a philanthropist. It's a very fancy word for helping your neighbour. "Wendy Ackerman, Awardee, Inyathelo Award for Family Philanthropy, Inyathelo Philanthropy Awards, November 28th 2007.

In 2008/2009, she was a winner in the Institute of Personnel Management SA's Most Influential Women in Business & Government competition.  She won in the category of Consumer Business. Wendy has also won a Humanitarian Award in 1985, the Union of Jewish Women, Woman of the Year in 1982, and the Paul Harris Fellowship Award from Rotary International.

In addition to her other achievements, she is recognised by the South African Nature Foundation for outstanding achievement and contribution to environmental conservation and acknowledged by the World Wildlife Fund, South Africa as a Diamond Custodian of Table Mountain.

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