The Power of Connection
Having worked with educators for years, Kimon has witnessed how a caring teacher helps a young person imagine and realize their greatest potential. He is convinced that loving relationships – in a strong educational system – are the engine of a young person’s prospects. This conviction drives both his programme development and his writing.
Current Mission
In 2026, Kimon was appointed to establish the PEP Foundation. Building on a long-standing partnership with PEP, his mandate is to institutionalize the PEP Academy—an after-school programme he developed—as the foundation’s flagship; to develop the funding and partnership strategy to support future growth; and to position the foundation to play a leading role in the sector by supporting a specified niche. He will continue with his advisory, research and facilitation work alongside this role.
Authorship & Academic Background
Kimon explores the impact of educators and relationships through his books:
- Where Light Shines Through (Bookstorm, 2020): Stories of “can-do” teachers excelling in South Africa’s no-fee public schools.
- thankful grateful blessed: A manuscript exploring how love and relationships shape lives after school. This work was submitted as his thesis for an MA in Creative Writing at UCT, awarded with distinction in 2025.
Professional Roots
Before immersing himself in education, Kimon was a consultant with the Brunswick Group in Johannesburg and London. There, he advised global clients—including British Airways, Rolls-Royce, and The World Bank—on communications and reputation management.
Kimon also holds a Bachelor of Commerce from UCT and lives with his family in Cape Town.
The spirit of my work
Some years ago I interviewed Prof. John Volmink – then chairman of various organisations including DG Murray Trust and the Umalusi Council – at his childhood home in Belgravia, Cape Town.
John’s life nearly followed a different path. After school, his father had secured him a job as a municipal clerk. In apartheid-era South Africa, it was not anticipated that a coloured child would study or enter a profession. But everything changed when a member of the Lion’s Club visited his school.