Seema Bhikha

About Seema Bhikha

With 15+ years of experience leading revenue growth, portfolio optimization, and commercial strategy across global consumer brands — and marketing and communications in fund management — I now apply those same disciplines to philanthropy — ensuring every dollar given achieves maximum measurable impact.I specialize in philanthropic advisory and operations, supporting family foundations and individual philanthropists to structure their giving with the same rigor as an investment portfolio — optimizing for impact, diversification, and evidence-based outcomes.My approach is grounded in principles of effective giving — funding initiatives that are high-impact, cost-effective, and data-driven. Recent work includes: • Developing a giving strategy that transformed a family foundation’s year-end giving into a disciplined quarterly model — increasing disbursements and impact velocity. • Designing a Theory of Change to expand the foundation’s cause areas, improving impact reach and resilience across sectors. • Advising a private philanthropist whose current year’s giving achieved the highest impact efficiency in 13 years of his giving journey.Now, I collaborate with foundations, CSR teams, impact investors, and nonprofit leaders to bridge business intelligence with philanthropic purpose — aligning capital with causes where it can do the most good.My mission: To make giving as strategic, efficient, and transformative as the best-run businesses.

Experience

1. Mentor

   Magnify Mentoring

   Feb 2025 — Present

   Magnify Mentoring connects and supports people, specifically those from underrepresented backgrounds, who are ambitious and rigorous in their altruism, to have a positive impact with their careers and lives. Since starting in 2019, the global network has grown to over 500 community members, spanning over 50 countries.

Education

• Stellenbosch Business School

  Master of Business Administration (MBA), cum laude

• Ambitious Impact (Charity Entrepreneurship)

  Grantmaking Program, Philanthropy

• Stellenbosch University

  Postgraduate Degree, Financial Economics & Portfolio Management

• Quirk Education partnered with University of Stellenbosch Business School Executive Development LTD

  Digital Marketing, Marketing

• Inscape Design College

  Interior Decorating, Interior Design

• ESCP Business School

  Master of Business Administration (MBA) - Exchange programme in Paris, Marketing Across Cultures

• University of Cape Town

  Bachelor of Commerce Degree, Triple Major: Economics, Finance & Statistics