First PGDip in Risk Management Graduates

Moving from undergraduate study to postgraduate study comes with a unique paradigm shift, and studying while working full time can seem an impossibly challenging task. Milpark’s first postgraduate risk management programme has not only proved academically rigorous, but it is more than possible to achieve ambitious goals and maintain a full-time career and personal responsibilities. This first graduating class is proof that with discipline, a plan, and Milpark’s support team on their side, success was always possible.

Every graduate in this cohort had substantial professional and personal responsibilities to start: some were managers and lecturers, others were parents and others had to navigate major personal challenges during the course of the programme. But not a single one paused their careers to study.

Andile Mahlalela and Deidre Blair-Henneberry both pointed out the need for structure, consistency and planning in order to enjoy the benefit of completing the course. “What helped me most,” notes Deidre, “was discipline, setting of healthy boundaries for my study times and planning." Andile adds the value of setting those boundaries when he agrees that “balancing my studies with full-time professional responsibilities and my role as a parent was both challenging and rewarding.”

The graduates attribute the impact of accessible lecturers, responsive academic support, practical learning experiences, and a professional community that encouraged collaboration and growth to their success. They had meaningful support to help them build confidence while they broadened their thinking and met the demands of postgraduate study.

Estel Scheepers describes it as, “[finding] something quite rare: an educational institution that feels closely aligned with my personal values and long-term ambition of continuous learning. The standard of professionalism, leadership, and academic delivery set a benchmark that was both motivating and grounding.”

Once the decision has been made to invest in further study with clear goals in mind, the path to reaching those goals needs to be equally clear. Because of this, Milpark’s Postgraduate Diploma in Risk Management is intentionally designed for professionals who already have experience and want to broaden their perspective, strengthen their decision-making, and contribute more strategically within their organisations.

Through building a broader understanding of risk and applying the learning to real workplace challenges, graduates develop confidence to contribute at a higher level because their experience is complemented by their academic skill.

Step 1: Build a broader understanding of risk

The programme approaches risk management as an organisational capability rather than a narrow technical specialisation. Most students arrive with expertise in one area, so the programme helps them understand how risks interact across an entire organisation.

As Tanika van den Berg and Estel Scheepers describe it, “risk culture fundamentally changed how I think about organisations” because “risk management is not simply about avoiding negative outcomes; it is about enabling organisations to achieve their objectives more effectively."

Students move beyond silo thinking and see that governance, compliance and strategy are connected. Understanding how decisions in one area affect another facilitate the kind of enterprise-wide thinking needed to work effectively in the current dynamic risk environment. Marisa Grundling explains that many students “enter the programme wanting to strengthen their technical understanding of risk, but they leave with a far more integrated perspective on governance, resilience, decision-making, and organisational strategy.”

Step 2: Apply learning to real workplace challenges

The programme uses learning activities and assessments designed around real organisational challenges. It is therefore designed for working professionals, so students are encouraged to connect the theory covered directly to their jobs.

Practical, rather than purely academic learning is a central part of what makes the programme valuable. Andile Mahlalela explains it as “continuously linking academic concepts to real-world scenarios within my work environment [which] not only enhanced my understanding but also allowed me to apply learning in a meaningful and immediate way.”

Step 3: Develop the confidence to contribute at a higher level

Having a holistic view of risk management and practical application to support that knowledge develops professionals who can contribute meaningfully within complex and evolving environments.

Graduates leave the programme with stronger judgement, better decision-making and greater leadership capability. The confidence they have is underpinned by critical and executive thinking, boardroom readiness and strategic communication. Risk management, as Estel Scheepers relates, is a leadership discipline.

Even though each graduate came with unique professional experiences and career goals, there is a similarity in their journey across the programme. They broadened their understanding of risk, applied new ideas to real workplace challenges, and developed the confidence to contribute more strategically within their organisations.

Risk management is not only important for the insurance or banking industries. The diversity of the cohort demonstrates that it is relevant to a much wider field. This graduating class alone included professionals from higher education, insurance, banking, central banking, compliance, operations and governance.

Learning alongside students from different professional fields had two significant results. It demonstrated that risk management is not limited to one or two professions. More importantly, as Marisa Grundling observes, “because risk touches every industry, the classroom became a space where students could learn from one another's realities.” Andile Mahlalela confirms this from his own experience by explaining that “engaging with individuals from different industries provided valuable perspectives and enriched the learning experience.”

“This cohort demonstrated the value of collaborative thinking exceptionally well,” observes Grundling. “Their discussions consistently showed that more diverse viewpoints lead to more comprehensive risk identification, better decision-making, and ultimately stronger organisational resilience and controls.”

Milpark’s Postgraduate Diploma in Risk Management is designed to offer a practical advantage along with its academic challenge. The graduates describe how the knowledge and skills they developed are already shaping their approach to decision-making, leadership, governance and organisational performance.

Strategic risk thinking in insurance

For Kalwyn Samuel, who works in the insurance sector, the qualification has strengthened his ability to approach challenges more strategically and contribute more effectively to business performance. He credits the programme with helping him move from a reactive approach to a more proactive one, enabling him to identify potential risks earlier and make better-informed decisions.

He also notes that the knowledge gained through the programme has increased his confidence and strengthened his professional credibility within his organisation. As Kalwyn reflects, “The skills I've gained have been invaluable in improving how I contribute to business performance.”

Governance and compliance in higher education

Similarly, Tanika van den Berg explains that the qualification has strengthened her ability to approach challenges through a more strategic and risk-focused lens. Working in higher education, she has found that the programme has improved her decision-making and deepened her understanding of how governance, compliance and risk management contribute to organisational success.

Career progression in central banking

For Andile Mahlalela, who works in central banking, the benefits have been equally practical. He explains that the programme has strengthened his ability to review governance documents, improve reporting processes and communicate more effectively with senior stakeholders. The qualification has also supported his professional growth, contributing to his recent appointment in an acting Lead Specialist role and preparing him for greater leadership responsibilities.

Confidence in strategic risk leadership

Deidre Blair-Henneberry says the programme has increased her confidence in contributing to strategic discussions and broadened the way she thinks about risk. As she explains, "I've become more confident in contributing to strategic discussions," a shift that aligns with her ambition to move into increasingly strategic risk leadership roles.

Having spent many years in insurance, she now finds herself engaging more actively in conversations that extend beyond operational concerns and into broader organisational decision-making.

Risk management as a leadership discipline

For Estel Scheepers, the programme reinforced the connection between risk management and leadership. The knowledge gained has strengthened her ability to address operational challenges, understand root causes and contribute more meaningfully to organisational performance. It has also sharpened her focus on helping teams navigate uncertainty while maintaining strong outcomes.

Their experiences, taken together, highlight one of the programme's defining strengths: the ability to apply learning immediately in the workplace. Whether through stronger governance, better decision-making, increased confidence or career progression, the benefits of the qualification are already evident in the professional lives of Milpark's first graduates.

Marisa Grundling, Head of Department for Risk and Insurance at Milpark notes, “Risk management is becoming increasingly important because uncertainty itself has become a defining feature of modern business.” With growing complexity, regulation changes, technology risk, cybersecurity and governance expectations, risk professionals need to become strategic leaders that enable business to function and scale.

“The next generation of risk professionals must be able to translate uncertainty into informed decision-making,” adds Grundling. “They need to move beyond being viewed purely as compliance enforcers and instead become trusted advisors.”

Milpark not only partners with the The Institute of Risk Management South Africa (IRMSA) to present an accredited course, but was awarded the IRMSA Award for Education and Training for its Postgraduate Diploma in Risk Management, recognising outstanding leadership in advancing the discipline of risk management.

While the academic demand, both in engagement and in deliverable submissions, is what can be expected of a course that is presented by a top academic institution like Milpark, the Milpark team are keenly focused on the success of their students and the support from lecturers, administrative staff and mentors enables students to achieve their goals.

The success of the first graduating class of Milpark’s Postgraduate Diploma in Risk Management is a clear case study that this programme is more than a qualification.

As Marisa Grundling explains, “we focus strongly on cultivating professionals who are assertive, bold, creative, devoted, and ethical, because modern organisations require far more than technical competence alone. Risk professionals often need to challenge assumptions, speak up about emerging threats, make difficult decisions under pressure, and find innovative solutions to increasingly complex problems.”

The cohort themselves have expressed their ambitions to further their careers in senior and executive leadership for sustainable organisational impact. These goals are much more achievable as a result of their confidence, professional growth, leadership skills, judgement, broader perspective that have all improved and developed as they have completed this programme for the first time that it has been offered. Their legacy as the first class of graduates has set the bar of excellence high for those who are to come: because these kinds of professionals are so needed.

The graduates of this inaugural class represent where the profession is heading. Marisa Grundling reinforces the idea that it “signals the beginning of what we hope will become a strong pipeline of highly capable risk professionals contributing meaningfully across industries.”

For this group, who came from a diverse range of professional environments, studied while maintaining their full-time jobs and their personal lives and who came out stronger and even more capable at the end, the future is bright. And it lights the way for those who are to come.

If you are also interested in developing technical capability, and becoming a risk professional who can lead responsibly, adapt courageously, and contribute meaningfully within complex and evolving environments, doing so while working full-time and with a team to support you, start your application with Milpark today.