KEYNOTE SPEAKER · FACILITATOR · FORMER CEO
Karimi
Fondaumière
Keynote speaker on leadership reinvention and change
Karimi Fondaumière helps capable leaders who are stuck rewrite the stories that hold them back. A former CEO and Certified Reinvention Practitioner, she created the 5 Cs of Reinvention and has worked with Capitec, Mercedes-Benz, the Mastercard Foundation and UN country directors. Kenyan-born and Cape Town-based, she speaks across Africa and internationally.
TopicsLeadership reinvention · Leading through change · Leadership pipelines· Women in leadership
Based in Cape Town, South Africa
Speaks in Across Africa and internationally, in person and virtually
Recognition Closing keynote, IPMA World Congress · TEDx speaker · Speaker Factor 2026, Top 5 finalist · Certified Reinvention Practitioner
Formats Keynote (45-60 min) · Keynote with interactive session (75-90 min) · Half-day Reinvention workshop · Single-C workshops · Virtual keynote or series · MC and panel moderator
When Karimi is the right call
- You promoted your strongest people, and they're struggling. They still see themselves as the person who was brilliant at the old job.
- Your high-potentials are busy and capable, and not growing into the next level.
- You've funded the courses, the AI upskilling and the leadership programme, and people still feel behind.
- People agree in the meeting, then carry on as before.
Karimi calls this the identity lag: people change what they do faster than they change who they believe they are. Her work closes that gap.
Karimi's signature keynote
Stuck Is a Story
Reinvention for leaders who keep doing everything right and still feel stuck
THE QUESTION IT ANSWERS
How do we get our capable leaders unstuck and growing into the roles we need them in?
For: Leadership pipelines and high-potential programmes, including leaders being prepared for EXCO. Organisations going through restructure, AI change or change fatigue. Leadership conferences, executive offsites, business schools and women's leadership events.
When change stalls, there's usually a story underneath it: "I'll look incompetent." "We tried this before." Drawing on her own path from reluctant CEO to professional speaker, Karimi shows leaders how to notice the story they're holding, rewrite it, and move before they feel certain.
Your audience leaves with:
Words for what they're feeling: change stacking up, and the identity lag that follows
A way to spot the story behind their own stuck patterns, and their team's
An honest read on which of the 5 Cs is holding them back
Permission to not know yet, and how leaders can admit uncertainty without losing credibility
One small experiment to run this week
Formats:
Keynote (45-60 min) · Keynote with interactive session (75-90 min) · Half-day workshop · Virtual
“No one can change at a behaviour level. You change at a belief level, and that's where we get it wrong.”
- Karimi Fondaumière
From keynote to programme: the 5 Cs of Reinvention
Each C is one shift in the story a leader holds about themselves. Each becomes its own workshop, so you can build a programme around what your people need.
The C
The shift
The story that changes
Clarity
Reactivity to clarity
"I react instinctively" becomes "I choose intentionally"
Curiosity
Certainty to curiosity
"My value comes from knowing" becomes "My value comes from learning"
Courage
Waiting to self-disruption
"I need to know before I begin" becomes "I'll know more because I began"
Connection
Control to connection
"Everything depends on me" becomes "Growth happens through others"
Consistency
Intensity to consistency
"I prove my value through intensity" becomes "I build myself through consistency"
The 5 Cs Reinvention Assessment runs before the keynote and shows which C each person and each team is stuck on, so Karimi speaks to what your audience is actually facing and L&D knows which workshop to run next. Run it again afterwards to see what has shifted.
Watch Karimi speak
Read transcript
I think the assumption there is that leadership is a skill in and of itself. Whereas I don't want to say that it's not a skill, but I do want to challenge that it actually starts first with a mindset shift. It's about beginning to see the world differently and because of that beginning to show up differently as the leader.
(00:28) And let's look at women, right? How many of those things are true? Women are often the minority. There's often publicity. People are watching what they do. And it's definitely a novelty. They might not have done it before cuz who has? And so those three things lead to what we're calling imposter syndrome.
(00:44) And it's a manifestation that I think has been simplified, but there's some real data that tells us what it is and what it should be. You walk into a room, and you sit at the table, ordering table, and you think, I have to have all the answers. I have to know how to respond when questions come up, right? What is the reality there? First, let's agree that it's probably unrealistic to have all the answers.
(01:07) It's also quite limiting because your knowledge is limited. So, instead, what if you turn that question around and you say, instead of saying I need to have all the answers, the response should be, I actually need to ask some great questions. Sit with that for a little bit. I need to ask a question. Hi, I'm Karimi Fondaumiere
(01:55) I help leaders and teams shift how they think, lead, and grow, especially in fast-changing environments. I do this through speaking and workshops that really focus on mindset, behaviour, and leadership that actually sticks. I work with organisations globally to turn complexity into clarity and change into progress.
(02:17) Let's start something beautiful together. I'd love to work with you.
Organisations Karimi has worked with
"Karimi, this is exactly what I want you to share with our pipeline of future EXCO leaders."
CEO
“If I could give Karimi 20 out of 10, I would. Best facilitator I've ever experienced.”
Delegate
About Karimi
Karimi has a confession: she hates change. When her office moved to hot-desking, she arrived early every day just to keep the same desk, and she is not a morning person. She has still spent her career helping people through change, because she does "the work I wish was done for me."
Offered a CEO role at 31, she turned it down because she couldn't see herself in it. She took it anyway, and stood shaking outside the room before her first company address. Each time she got stuck, it wasn't the situation holding her back. It was the story she was telling herself. Rewriting those stories became her work, and the 5 Cs of Reinvention is the framework she built from what worked.
Today she designs and delivers keynotes, workshops and leadership programmes across financial services, mining, healthcare, professional services and international development. She is a Certified Reinvention Practitioner, sits on boards in education and healthcare, and is Western Cape Chair of Business Engage (30% Club).
Booking Karimi Fondaumière
What does Karimi Fondaumière speak about?
Leadership reinvention: why capable leaders get stuck after a promotion or during change, and how they move again by rewriting the story they hold about themselves. Her signature keynote is Stuck Is a Story.
What are the 5 Cs of Reinvention?
Clarity, Curiosity, Courage, Connection and Consistency. Each is one shift in how a leader sees themselves, and each can run as its own workshop after the keynote.
Can Karimi's keynote become a leadership programme?
Yes. Her 5 Cs Reinvention Assessment shows where each person and team is stuck, and each C becomes a workshop, so the keynote leads into a programme you can measure.
Does Karimi Fondaumière speak outside South Africa?
Yes. She is based in Cape Town and speaks across Africa and internationally, in person and virtually.
Can Karimi MC or facilitate our event?
Yes. She MCs, moderates panels and facilitates executive offsites and strategy sessions.
How do we book Karimi Fondaumière?
Send us your brief: the date, the city and what's going on for your people. We'll confirm whether she's available and will connect with you to find out how best she can serve your event.
Thinking about Karimi for your event?
Send us the date, the city and what's going on for your people. We'll confirm whether she's available and will connect with you to find out how best she can serve your event.
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