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Community Builder: Anne Siroky

Brand South Africa
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June 19th, 2008

Founder: The Future Factory

Why is Anne a Community Builder?

At the age of 37, Anne Siroky was South Africa’s number one beach volleyball player. After sustaining a back injury in 2001 – just one year after her coveted title was earned – Anne retired from the sport and translated her passion for playing volleyball into a compulsion to coach the sport and mentor the youth.

This was how The Future Factory was born. Starting off in a couple of schools in the Western Cape, The Future Factory has now grown to over 30 schools in the province – without any outside funding, operating only from Anne’s car and cellphone.

Anne’s vision for The Future Factory is to keep young South Africans entertained and, ultimately, off the streets.

In her own words .

“It’s not just about sports. It’s about teaching them the necessary life skills that will help them to understand that education is very, very important to their life.”

Fast Facts

- Anne’s programmes focuses on life skills and sports development, including volleyball coaching, teambuilding, HIV/Aids education, feeding programmes, camp facilitation for the Novalis Institute, and holiday programmes for Cape Town communities.
- Anne also runs a jazz dance academy and teambuilding workshops and does motivational speaking throughout the Western Cape.
- Anne is very aware of what is happening in the South African communities; she recently spent the night under a bridge with homeless people as part of a radio station campaign to experience life as “the other half” live it.

Anne was named the Shoprite Checkers SABC2 Woman of the Year for Sport in 2007. To date, Anne has helped more than 100 000 kids in the Western Cape region.