For Angel Jones, who had been living in the UK for 7 years, Madiba’s words really marked a pivotal moment.

She returned to Johannesburg in 2000 and put her determination into practice, establishing an organisation called Homecoming Revolution which was aimed at encouraging South Africans abroad to return home with the messaging:

Angel, who had worked at M&C Saatchi during her time in London, set up Morrisjones&Co Advertising in Johannesburg with business partner, Nina Morris.

In 2003, Morrisjones launched the Homecoming Revolution Brand to 20,000 South Africans worldwide with Marina Smithers PR and South Africans Worldwide, inviting students from the Funda Fine Art School & the Vega School of Brand Leadership to participate. Paul Harris, well-known philanthropist and co-founder of FirstRand, believed in the campaign and arranged for FNB to become the founding sponsor.

What started as a small launch quickly spread into a global campaign, with Martine Schaffer as the Managing Director. Thousands of South Africans around the world wanted to come home.

Storytelling helped the campaign go viral. Hearing the true & inspirational stories of people who had returned home, helped give others the push they needed to make the decision to return.

The organisation began to host successful events around the world where South African expats could gather to hear about home from London to Dubai, Washington to Sydney, Dublin to Chicago.

On Homecoming Revolution’s 10^th birthday, the organisation became a commercial entity with shareholder investment from the Paul Harris Family Office.

The business expanded across the continent to bring African skills back home to South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Other speakers and ambassadors have included: Francois Pienaar, Okendo Lewis-Gayle, Ryk Neethling, Cheryl Carolus, Aly-Khan Satchu, Aaron Mokoena, Yusuf Abramjee, Isaac Fokuo, Eddie Mandhry, Gwede Mantashe, Mizinga Melu, Mmusi Maimane, Mamphela Ramphele, Helen Zille, Lira, Mabouba Diagne, Danny Jordaan and Trevor Noah.

Headquartered in Rosebank, Johannesburg, Homecoming Revolution provides Executive Search & Headhunting services for multi-national companies across Sub-Saharan Africa, working across a host of industries including the FMCG, Retail and Fintech.

The three core offerings are Executive Recruitment, Customized Candidate Maps and Bespoke Events.

Homecoming Revolution continues to operate with the aim of creating a powerful wave of prosperity for the continent by bringing top skills back home.