Speaker & MC · Cape Town

Nadia Gabier

Nadia spent over 20 years in corporate IT and telecoms, with IBM and Vodacom, before founding Smartcare 911, a care company. Her greatest passion is empowering women, particularly women in Africa, and she has helped more than 2,000 towards an income of their own.

She brings that range to every stage. Give her your theme and your audience, and she will deliver a talk or a programme that lands.

Check her availability See what she speaks on
Portrait of Nadia Gabier in a mustard head wrap and matching necklace, with white dot markings on her face, against a dark background

What you can book her for

On stage, or holding the whole day together

Three ways Nadia works with event organisers. If yours doesn't fit neatly into one, say so in your enquiry.

  • Keynotes & talks

    A prepared talk built around your theme and your audience, with stories from care work, corporate life and enterprise development where they help.

    Conferences, staff days, women's month events, graduations.

  • MC & programme director

    Nadia keeps the programme to time, introduces every speaker properly, reads the room and keeps the energy warm from the welcome to the vote of thanks.

    Galas, awards evenings, launches, fundraisers, community events.

  • Panels & conversations

    As a panellist or the person asking the questions. She listens closely, gives other voices space and makes sure the audience gets answers it can use.

    Panel discussions, fireside chats, Q&A sessions, workshops.

2,000+women empowered to earn a sustainable income of their own

Empowering women

A handout is a short-term solution. A skill is a life-altering tool.

Empowering women is the work Nadia cares about most, and women in Africa are a big part of that. She has given more than 2,000 women the information and skills to earn a sustainable income, because she believes dignified work changes a life in a way aid cannot. It is the subject she speaks on with the most conviction.

The quote is how her approach was described in “Beyond Aid: Building Dignity Through Work”, a profile in the Investing in Women series, August 2025.

Her story

Two decades in corporate IT, then a company of her own

Nadia has built a career across technology, media, business and community work. She is at home in a boardroom, a ballroom and a community hall.

  • Corporate IT

    Nadia spent over 20 years in corporate IT and telecoms, at IBM and later Vodacom.

    She knows large organisations from the inside: the deadlines, the systems and what it takes to be heard in a technical team.

  • Her own company

    She then founded Smartcare 911, a Cape Town care company.

  • The camera

    Her modelling work taught her presence, timing and how to stay composed when every eye is on her. It is the craft behind how she carries a stage as an MC.

Topics

Her signature subjects, and room for yours

Signature topics

  • Empowering women to earnWhat moves a woman from needing help to earning for herself, with a particular focus on women in Africa.
  • Dignity through workWhy skills last longer than aid, and how to design programmes that prove it.
  • Caring for ageing parentsWhat families face, what good care looks like, and how employers can support staff who are carers.
  • Starting again in a new fieldLeaving corporate IT after more than two decades to found a care company.
  • Women in technologyWhat two decades in IT taught her about being heard and getting ahead.
  • Leading with compassionBuilding a team whose work is looking after other people.
  • Presence and confidenceLessons from modelling on how to hold a room.

Your topic isn't on the list?

Bring it. Nadia's range across technology, business, care and community lets her speak to most audiences with authority.

For a new subject she prepares thoroughly. She researches it, talks to the people closest to it and arrives with a clear point of view. As an MC she makes your subject and your speakers shine, whatever the field.

Industry days, school events, faith and community gatherings, product launches, awareness campaigns: all welcome.

How booking works

From first message to the day itself

  1. Send the details

    Date, place, audience and what you would like Nadia to do. A rough idea is enough.

  2. Have a conversation

    She will ask about your audience, your goals and anything sensitive she should know.

  3. She prepares

    A talk outline or a running order for you to review, with names and pronunciations checked.

  4. The event

    She arrives early, meets your team and speakers, and stays until the programme is done.

Enquire

Tell Nadia about your event

Fill in what you know. The form writes your enquiry as a message you can send on WhatsApp or copy into an email.

WhatsApp or call +27 82 377 6662 Based in Cape Town. Open to travel and online events.
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