Trustee, A Rocha International

I am a seasoned Leader who has journeyed towards Leadership from the grassroots onwards, this is to say, ‘bottom-up’. 

With a medical background and additional international grades and qualifications in various countries, I have been exposed to cross-cultural experience in Africa over the last 40 years in my journey of Management and Leadership. I have enjoyed great Leaders myself and endured under less suitable ones but came out with gained wisdom. 

Following eight years of living and working in the Turkana Desert (Kenya), where I also had to learn a new language, I was forced to listen intensely for a long time, observing different ways of living and discovering new ways of communicating. I am forever grateful for what the Turkana communities taught me about Leadership. There was mutual respect, treasuring relationships, and lively interactions about everyday life experiences. 

Following these eight years at the grassroots level, I saw the need to join the decision and policy table’ at the Management and Leadership level to become a voice for the voiceless. My biggest motivation was the impact of poor leadership, and I wanted to make a difference. 

My studies and practice in Counselling and Leadership Coaching equipped me further to empower other Leaders. I held an Executive Leadership role in an International NGO for fourteen years in Nairobi with Regional responsibilities and became aware of the Transformational Power of Coaching and Emotional Intelligence for myself and others in the workplace. Currently, I have a coaching practice on leadership, spiritual formation, and career change. I live and work in the Netherlands but remain part of the CDI Africa Faculty where I teach two afternoons a week virtually, coaches from Kenya and the Region. (CDI Africa (cdi-africa.com). 

I am grateful for this opportunity to serve as a trustee for A Rocha International in the role of safeguarding as the safety of people in the workplace is close to my heart.