Dr Saul Levin joined TIPS in April 2013 and was appointed Executive Director in December 2014. He has a PhD in Development Studies from the University of Johannesburg, with his thesis on industrial financing. He has a Master’s and Honour’s Degree in Sociology as well as a BCom from the University of Witwatersrand.
Saul was previously a chief director in the Economic Development Department (EDD) with oversight of the Development Finance Institutions reporting to EDD, including the Industrial Development Corporation and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency. As part of his responsibilities he oversaw the merger of the small business finance entities and ran several projects to support small business development. He also worked as the chief of staff for Lindiwe Hendricks, heading her office while she was Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry and when she was Minister of Minerals and Energy. From 2001 to 2005 he worked as an economist in the office of the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry. Prior to that Levin spent almost five years working in the field of enterprise development, as a project manager for government agency Ntsika (now Small Enterprise Development Agency).
From 2009 to 2011 Levin was as a senior manager at Standard Bank, working as a Business Operations Manager in the Corporate Affairs unit.