Innocentia Mahlangu

Innocentia Mahlangu (Pr.Eng, PMP, MSc Eng)  is a Project Manager and Senior Civil Engineer at Hatch and the founder of SHEngineers. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree as well as Master of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Witwatersrand. Innocentia is a registered Professional Engineer with ECSA and has attained accreditation with PMI as a Project Management Professional (PMP). Innocentia’s technical background is in design and execution of railway infrastructure projects, where she has fulfilled various roles including design engineer, resident engineer as well as roles in project and construction management. In her current role, she is a specialist project manager, overseeing projects in the mining, metals and infrastructure sectors as part of Hatch’s project delivery group. She also serves as a project delivery sponsor, providing governance oversight on several projects. 

Innocentia considers herself as a champion for gender diversity & inclusion especially pertaining to the engineering sector. She serves as the Diversity and Inclusion champion for the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE), the largest association of civil engineering in South Africa, where she advises on diversity and inclusion issues as it pertains to civil engineering. She is also the chair of Education and Training committee at SAICE and serves on the organisation’s executive board. She is also part of the SIACE project management and construction division as well as SAICE Council. Additionally, her passion for mentoring women has resulted in her founding a non-profit organisation, SHEngineers due to the realisation that women remain underrepresented in engineering careers. SHEngineers is established as a virtual mentorship network for women in engineering, which connects experienced female engineers with young female engineering professionals and engineering students. Through SHEngineers, Innocentia also mentors young women, she publishes career related articles on LinkedIn and engages in public speaking specifically targeted at younger professionals in the industry. She has become a thought leader in project management, diversity, equity, inclusion as well as advancement of women. She was recently featured on the Project Management’s Institutes’ Projectified Podcast, where she shared emerging trends on infrastructure delivery and the PMI’s Megatrends of 2022, providing commentary on diversity, equity and inclusion.

Innocentia has been recognised both locally and internationally. She was recognised by the Mail & Guardian as one of the Top 200 young South Africans in 2018. She was awarded the Young Engineer of the Year award for 2019 in the SAICE Regional Awards and was also nominated for the SAICE National Awards. She was also announced as a winner in Accenture’s Rising Star Awards in 2020 in a highly contested Construction and Industrial category. Innocentia was also named as one of fifty inspiring women in South Africa in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics careers in the same year. She was recently recognised globally by the world’s leading association for Project Professionals, Project Management Institute (PMI), as One of the 50 Global Young Leaders of the Future. In 2021, she was a runner-up in the Standard Bank Top Women Awards in the Women in Science Category, for her work in advancing women. Innocentia is also a recipient of the 2021 SAICE President’s award for her contributions to the industry.