Curated, not crowded
Small groups selected for relevance, contribution and quality of exchange.
About Hela
A trusted space for
clearer thinking.
Hela Network is an independent executive network and advisory platform for leaders responsible for consequential decisions.
Our premise
Good judgement is strengthened in company.
Senior leaders operate amid noise, pressure and competing time horizons. Hela offers a setting apart: intimate, carefully curated and designed for candour.
We convene chief executives, board members, C-suite leaders and independent voices across sectors. The objective is not consensus. It is better perspective, more useful relationships and decisions informed by what others can see.
How we work
Candid, not performative
Confidential conversations, generally under the Chatham House Rule.
Relevant, not reactive
Questions selected for strategic consequence, not news-cycle prominence.
Connected, not transactional
Relationships built through repeated, substantive engagement.
People
Experience around the table.
Hela is led by Herman Warren and supported by senior advisors whose experience spans strategy, diplomacy, African markets, governance, geopolitics, security and public affairs.
Managing Partner
Herman Warren
Strategy · executive judgement · peer exchange
Herman leads Hela Network, designing and moderating intimate forums where senior leaders can test assumptions, interpret change and improve decision quality. His career spans more than three decades in strategy, external intelligence and business growth. Before founding Hela, he led the Economist Corporate Network in Africa and held senior roles at Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, the SABC and Hollard, having begun his career at Bain & Company. His approach is commercially grounded, context-aware and centred on the questions that matter most to leaders.
Senior advisors
Millard Arnold
Diplomacy · business · governance
Read profile
Millard Arnold brings a rare combination of diplomatic, commercial, legal and governance experience. He has served as Senior Advisor to Bowmans, executive chair of Black & Veatch Africa and an executive director of Murray & Roberts, alongside several non-executive directorships. His public-service career included roles as the first US Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs for Southern Africa and US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs. A Notre Dame-trained lawyer, he has also taught law, written extensively and contributed to public life through journalism and the arts.
Dr Rutendo Hwindingwi
African markets · growth · leadership
Read profile
Dr Rutendo Hwindingwi is an Africa-focused business strategist with more than two decades of experience leading growth and business-development initiatives across over 20 countries. He is the founder of Tribe Africa Advisory and has held senior roles at Deloitte, Sage and other international organisations. His work combines practical market-entry experience with leadership development, digital transformation and cross-sector advisory. Rutendo holds a PhD in International Business Strategy from the University of the Witwatersrand and is the author of books on navigating business in Africa and African leadership wisdom.
J. Brooks Spector
Geopolitics · diplomacy · public affairs
Read profile
J. Brooks Spector is a former American diplomat whose career included postings across Africa and East Asia, including three tours in South Africa. Since settling in Johannesburg, he has taught at the University of the Witwatersrand, advised CARE International and contributed widely to South African and international media. He is an associate editor and long-standing writer at Daily Maverick, hosts the weekly programme The Deep Dive on ChaiFM, and has held fellowships with the South African Institute of International Affairs and the University of Johannesburg’s Institute for Advanced Study.
Dr Terence McNamee
Geopolitics · security · development
Read profile
Dr Terence McNamee is a specialist in geopolitics, security and development. He completed his doctorate at the London School of Economics on South Africa’s nuclear weapons programme. Over more than two decades, he led research initiatives and shaped high-level strategy sessions at the Royal United Services Institute in London and The Brenthurst Foundation in Johannesburg, convening political, military and business leaders. A Wilson Center Global Fellow from 2018 to 2024, he has advised governments in fragile states on democratic consolidation, governance and stabilisation, including as an in-country adviser to a head of state. He has presented in more than 40 countries and published in outlets including The New York Times and the Financial Times, alongside scholarly and longer-form works.