Unashamedly Ethical

General information

outh Africa, a country rich in so many areas, is also a country where corruption and greed has allowed the rich to get richer while the poor is perpetually getting poorer.

Around 2006, Graham Power, founder of POWER Group, saw this devastation around him and knew that in order for South Africa to realise its tremendous potential, greed and corruption needs to stop. He understood that the tide of corruption and unethical behaviour in our institutions and societies can only be stemmed by active opposition to such behaviour and a groundswell of public support for ethics, values and clean living. Thus Unashamedly Ethical was born. It was only a few years prior that Graham had initiated a Day of Prayer with a gathering held at Newlands Rugby Stadium in 2001. In the following years, the Day of Prayer spread throughout South Africa, Africa and, by 2010, was held in 220 nations around the world, earning it the name, the Global Day of Prayer (visit: www.globaldayofprayer.com for more information).

Meanwhile, following Graham’s vision to see all 220 nations in the world committed to ethical living, he and his team developed the infrastructure and identity of the Unashamedly Ethical campaign and in May 2010 launched it globally. A Constitution was adopted and an Executive Committee established to oversee the campaign. The initial focus of Unashamedly Ethical was on South Africa and there was tremendous support from people in politics, business and local communities who grasped the vision and realised that they had a part to play in transforming South Africa.

Unashamedly Ethical was blessed to enlist the patronage of two esteemed leaders of society, namely, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, The Most Revd Dr Thabo Cecil Makgoba, and Michael Cassidy, the founder of African Enterprise. Both Archbishop Makgoba and Mr Cassidy continue to serve as the campaign’s patrons.

As at March 2015, Unashamedly Ethical had signatories in 107 countries. The top five countries with the most signatories were as follows: South Africa (21 409); Malaysia (3 787); USA (679); Kenya (547); and Jamaica (455).