MOLWENI! My name is Shanon Kannigan I am a Proudly Gay, Cancer Surviving, 28-year-old from the city of Benoni in Johannesburg. Over the last nine years I have had a flourishing career in the Banking Industry and have obtained qualifications in relation to banking and finance.
I would like to start off by giving you a short InSite of my community as a huge part of my essence comes from growing up in Actonville. Both of my parents and all four of my grandparents originated from Actonville. Actonville is a small district based in the city of Benoni whereby Indian and Colored people were brought to during the apartheid error. During the course of time we have overcome many obstacles, however today the community needs as much assistance as it can get, as it endures challenges alarmingly rising such as drugs ,violence(including gun violence),unemployment and sadly suicide amongst our youth.
Growing up Queer in my community was definitely a difficult and hurtful challenge as children were not exposed to Gay culture, however today there has been a substantial growth amongst the LGBTI community , even to an extent where our Trans brothers and sisters are feeling more comfortable to come out.
After matriculating I got a lucky opportunity to do missionary work with my Church, I got the opportunity to travel to all the provinces in South Africa as well as the country of Lesotho .This definitely ignited a spark within me to connect with people from all walks of our beautiful country. In 2012 as well I joined the local Benoni CPF (Community Police Forum),I joined the Benoni VCSI (Vulnerable Citizen Support Initiative) as part of the youth desk whereby I was trained to be a trauma counselor.
In 2012 I was selected as one 12 of Learners to be a part of the Katglego Learnership for one of South Africa’s retail Banks, It allowed me to work in of the branches while still obtaining my qualification in Banking and Finance. This was the start of my career and since then I have been in the banking industry still employed by the same bank, over the years I have been nearly in every position in branch banking assisting clients on a day to day basis with their financial needs. In 2014 at the age of 21 I was promoted to my first managerial position. Today I fall under head office working in external sales whereby I go out to business owners to create a Business relationship. I 2017 I obtained my RE05 and was deemed FAIS accredited.
Working in the bank as an essential worker during the Covid19 Pandemic I have been exposed to the public that faces serious financial aftereffects. Being on the frontline I have got to see the financial damage the pandemic has caused to our people, It is even realer up close as I hear the stories of the community struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis. Starting from an underprivileged background this matter sits close to my heart, this is mainly caused through lack of income due to unemployment. My dream is to develop a free of charge job agency that serves as in intermediary between the unemployed and large businesses, It will aim to develop and prep all possible recruits for future vacancies, some of the services I will like to render is to source out vacancies, assist in drafting professional CVs, getting sponsorships to dress for the interview to boost image and confidence, to complete training on how to project in an Interview. These are just some of the small initiatives however it will make a huge impact and hopefully in near future I would like to develop as a Non-profit Organization.
