About Us
empower- educate- support
Meet founder
Jessica Bateman
Jess is Motswana, an entrepreneur, and a digital marketing expert. She is passionate about building connections in every aspect of her life. Jess is the co-founder of FamilyGems.co.bw which is a directory and online magazine that connects parents to family-friendly Botswana. It is the biggest website of its kind.
She is also the owner and CEO of Botswana Digital Gems, an innovative digital marketing company that creates digital conversations through websites, email campaigns and social media marketing. AND, of course, is the founder of our Botswana Business Gems a space where we can connect, educate and inspire one another.
Meet Co-admin
Amanda Workman
An American by birth, Amanda was raised in Kenya. Her family has spent over 38 years on this continent 20 of them here in Botswana. In 2020, she moved to be closer to her family and now calls Gaborone home.
She is an international consultant, corporate trainer and facilitator who is happiest when helping people learn how to
better connect to themselves.
In 2014, she embarked on a mission to support and empower global managers and leaders within the ever-changing patterns of the global workforce. With that in mind, she built a multi-faceted consulting company developed around the development of strategic systems and self-knowledge.
Meet Contributor
Bokamoso Kumwenda (BK)
Botswana by birth and an adventurer at heart Bk started her entrepreneur journey when she moved to the Middle East 11 years ago.
In 2022, Bk launched Elev8d Business Management which turned her focus on empowering business owners with the business operations, project and processes support and partnership. She is a systems architect and personal productivity designer who helps legacy-building business owners regain their time and the mental clarity they need to move their businesses from surviving to thriving by curating and optimizing the systems and workflows that will support their longevity and release the team to creativity.
At her core, she is an artist and weaves art and beauty in everything she does because there is artistry in everything – even your business.
Meet Contributor
Nasreen Essack
Born and raised in Botswana, Nasreen has worked extensively in the accounting field employed by corporates, then ventured into business and now after 33 years has opened an accounting firm together with a partner.
Her motto is “taking care of you and your business.” She has the ability to bring light heartedness into the facts of figures while still ensuring a high standard of professionalism.
As an owner of Account It (Pty) Ltd she provides financial advice and accounting services such as preparation of Annual Financial Statements and Tax Computations and submissions to BURS. As well as, she trains small business owners with what is required to operate a smooth efficient business.
Together with her experience and high level of intuition is able to advise and guide people in their businesses. She is proficient with accounting and tax principles and strives to provide her clients with what they require.
Our Special Sauce
With our combined cultural upbringing combined with almost three decades of program
development, business consulting, and executive training together we bring a unique perspective on leadership competencies, multi-disciplinary business acumen and doing business in Botswana and the surrounding countries..
We specialize in working with business owners to help them develop the competencies they are looking for within their own lives
needs and providing professional training and individualized development paths that ensure successful women in leadership across every industry in our beloved Botswana.
How it all began…
Botswana Business Gems began in 2021 as a small facebook community started by Jess Bateman. As a local businesswoman herself, she knew just how hard it could be as a woman to get a business started, find the right advice, and get the help one needed when it was actually needed. Determined to be a part the change she wanted to see here in Botswana, she decided to create an online space where the business women of Botswana could come together and form a supportive and safe community.
Then – just as things really started to take off – she “decided” to have a pandemic baby. Not wanting to leave the newly forming community in the lurch, she reached out to Amanda and asked her step in to help with the day to day administration of the group.
After a beautiful baby girl was born, Jess came back with a renewed passion and inspiration for this community. One in which she could create a world where Charlotte could grow up and see herself represented in any boardroom she wanted to step into when she grows up.
Amanda was all in.
Through collaboration and the combining of their respective business experience and strengths they partnered together to develop a company that empowers, educates, and supports women in business all around Botswana.