Our Team

Meagan Norman
About Meagan

Meagan is the Operations Executive at Relativ Impact, where she develops, implements and monitor’s operation and administration processes across the company and as a key aspect of that, leads the coordination of the team in
executing these processes.

With a strong administrative background, Meagan has served organisations in various capacities, including Administration Manager, Marketing Administrator, and Coaching Consultant in a variety of industries, including financial services. She offers strong communication, active listening, decision-making and interpersonal skills and her expertise include office management, executive support, customer relations, financial management, staff coaching and training.

Her experience gained managing corporate operations has empowered her to play a key role in executive oversight, streamline how an office runs, and implement processes that contribute not only to the efficiency of the business but add to additional income streams, growth, and positive team culture.

Marsé Kirsten

About Marsé

Marsé completed her degree in Accounting, as well as her Postgraduate Certificate in Education, at Stellenbosch University, thereby combining her passions. She leverages her experience in education and languages with her unique expertise in accounting and mathematics.

Marsé is very adaptable and has explored a diverse range of work experiences and contexts to inform a unique perspective on the world. These work experiences always have people and social impact at the centre. She has been involved in various different projects across the impact management and measurement space, through which the main goal is optimization and maximization of positive impact.

Marsé is a self-motivated, hardworking and professional person with a passion for helping people reach their full potential.

Sophia Phieros
About Sophia

Sophia completed her honours degree in BCom Tourism management and hospitality at the University of Pretoria.  After working a year in Mozambique on an off-the-grid hotel, Sophia decided to complete a postgraduate certificate in Ecotourism to complement her tourism degree.  She has a particular interest in sustainable initiatives for tourism and tries to focus her efforts in promoting these principles within her industry.

Sophia has spent the better part of a decade traveling to different parts of the world, integrating with a variety of people, cultures and traditions and gaining an enlightened outlook on the world and humanity.  Her recent move to New Zealand has allowed her the opportunity to re-enter both the education and tourism industries, earning her a diverse set of skills, like patience, creativity, an ability to work under pressure, operational and excellence management and event coordination.  Connecting with people on a personal level is her forte and she uses this innate ability to build and develop strong relationships wherever she goes.  Sophia loves a challenge and is determined to use her skills to help see a positive change in our current linear ‘throwaway’  economy.

Percy Maimela
About Percy

Percy is a Monitoring and Evaluation specialist at Relativ Impact. He has 10 years’ experience in the fields of M&E, Research, Quality improvement and Programme management working in various sectors encompassing communications, public health, sports for development, advocacy and social investment.

His experience is rooted in having strong analytical skills with the ability to not only conduct technical analysis, but to build the capacity of others to do so. Percy is skilled in advanced data analysis, data mining, data auditing, data coding, framework development, database design, database management, system administration, as well as data visualisation and data communication which are all value adds in presenting information in a manner that concisely documents and presents the successes of projects to internal and external stakeholders. Throughout his career, he has experimented and became proficient in various
software and databases which he has leveraged in various types of evaluations, capacity building and trendspotting exercises across Africa, Latin America and Asia.

In addition to the qualifications obtained from Wits University, Percy also has a programme management qualification from the University of Cape Town and
was also a recipient of a the ASAP Ethiopia Local Partners scholarship programme to pursue a course in advanced data analysis with the foundation of professional development. Percy is passionate about channeling resources to actionable results by utilising M&E processes in showcasing and documenting impact and insights for various stakeholders.

Fiona Ngadze
About Fiona

Fiona is passionate about projects that use a social-ecological lens and strive to strike a balance between addressing social well-being needs and environmental
conservation. She believes this is essential for the achievement of SDGs at all scales as people are interconnected with the environment. She holds a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Geographical Information Science and Earth Observation from
the University of Zimbabwe, and also completed a Master of Philosophy degree in Sustainable Development Planning and Management at Stellenbosch University. Through her background in the GIS and Sustainable Development fields Fiona has a wide range of skills such as data collection and analysis, research and training
facilitation to mention a few.

She envisions a future in which human well-being needs of all social groups are met using environmentally sustainable measures. Fiona is fascinated by new experiences and problem-solving tasks, as this provides her with opportunities to learn and
acquire new skills.

Megan McCarthy
About Megan

Megan completed a Bachelor’s of Science in Conservation Ecology and a Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Development at Stellenbosch University. Her love of conservation started from a young age and has grown through the years, and was then cemented by her studies.

She is passionate about the connection between the natural environment and human beings, and finding ways for both to work in harmony. Megan loves to learn and experience new things, and she believes that any challenge is a good challenge.

Kirsty Dewrance

About Kirsty

Kirsty has been with the Relativ team from the start in 2009. Living in Northern KZN in the heart of Zululand, by qualification she is a veterinary nurse, ballet and swimming teacher and dog trainer.

She has worked as a freelance graphic and web designer since 2007 and contributes to our Relativ team with all things visual.

Safiyya Karim
About Safiyya

Safiyya is a social and environmental justice activist, with a particular focus on the fashion industry. She is passionate about the role of the fashion industry in the South African economy and about transforming the industry so that it is more circular and ethical, prioritising people and planet over growth and profit. Safiyya completed her Bachelor of Social Sciences in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2017 and her Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Economics from UCT in 2018. She has also completed 2 short courses in garment construction from the Cape Town College of Fashion Design. She has 4,5 years of experience working in the financial industry and has volunteered with Fashion Revolution South Africa for 3 years. Safiyya is currently one of the Directors of Fashion Revolution South Africa, and is the co-Country Coordinator as well. Her expertise includes communications, data analysis, research, stakeholder engagement and sustainable fashion.

Jessica-Leigh Paul
About Jessica-Leigh

Jessica is passionate about social research, especially research related to gender,
education, mental health, and race. Since completing a masters degree in research
psychology in 2020, Jessica has been able to focus in on these areas of interest, while also
developing monitoring and evaluation skills, expanding her research methodology
knowledge, and gaining practical experience working with NGOs to develop and strengthen
their impact monitoring and research capacities.
Having worked with NGOs across Africa, Jessica is passionate about cross-country research
and interdisciplinary learning. She is always keen to engage with new people, and she
enjoys the flexibility and variety that consulting work offers.

Kerry Hagemann
About Kerry

Kerry is a Consultant for Relativ Impact with a mutual love for both business strategy and managing social impact. 

With over 15 years experience in multidisciplinary industries that have grown and shaped her business administration and communication skills, it is her experience in both fields of commerce and most recently, the impact industry, that has been most formative to her skills development. 

Kerry believes that bridging the gap between the bottom-line and stakeholder wellbeing is the secret to both operational success and sustainability. With a love for people, innovation and excellence, she prioritises relationship-building, trust and integrity in all engagements, and she brings enthusiasm and a strategic social focus to the team. Currently busy with her Advanced Research Methodology course from the University of Johannesburg, this will feed into her Masters in Social Impact Assessment, which she will pursue in 2025. 

Chloé Dobbins
About Chloé

Chloé completed both her bilingual undergraduate and Master’s degree in political science and environmental sustainability at the University of Ottawa. Her Master’s major research paper focuses on applying a “decolonial ecology” approach to problems of (un)sustainability in Palestinian-Israeli hydropolitics. She is curious about conceptual and ethical challenges related to sustainability transitions in their given sociopolitical contexts.

Chloé has a multidisciplinary background working hands-on in Canadian federal politics, the fashion industry, and education in Shanghai. Her eagerness to learn coupled with her empathetic nature, are key drivers in her professional and personal endeavours. She looks forward to collaborating with organizations around the world and providing rich insights to promote positive change.

Rujeko Tokotore
About Rujeko
Rujeko Tokotore is a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist consultant at Relativ Impact, where she designs and executes M&E and Impact Management and Measurement solutions for client projects, as well as internal initiatives. With over 10 years of experience in NGOs implementing projects across Africa, she has contributed to sectors such as health, education, and climate resilience. Her expertise includes data analysis, impact assessments, and knowledge management, ensuring that projects are strategically aligned and deliver measurable outcomes.
Rujeko’s approach focuses on creating tailored M&E frameworks that provide actionable insights, helping clients and organizations track progress, measure outcomes, and adapt strategies for better impact. She is committed to promoting continuous improvement through evidence-based monitoring.
She holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies from the University of the Free State and a BSc in Geography and Environmental Science from Midlands State University. Rujeko is passionate about using monitoring and evaluation to drive success and foster sustainable development.
Isabella Amaro Varas
About Isabella

Isabella is an Impact Analyst for Relativ Impact and passionate about collaborating with others to develop innovative solutions for SDG-related challenges. Born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico, her early exposure to inequality and migration sparked her deep commitment to fostering a critical understanding of global issues.​ 

With a broad range of experience working in non-profit organizations, Isabella is enthusiastic about enhancing the effectiveness and operational strategies within the sector. She is eager to leverage her expertise to work towards innovative approaches that drive positive, lasting change across different sectors.​

Isabella completed a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and French, and a minor in Economics, from Connecticut College, and was awarded the prestigious Watson Fellowship. During her fellowship, Isabella spent a year living in Spain, Morocco, Germany, South Africa, Australia, and Indonesia. She explored how language learning programs support displaced people in urban areas and examined the ways in which migration impacts individuals’ relationships with language. Throughout her travels, Isabella volunteered with various organizations and engaged deeply with immigrant communities, learning by listening to the stories of their community members.

Stephanie Munn

About Stephanie

Stephanie is an Impact Analyst at Relativ Impact, where she collaborates with various teams to enhance impact management and measurement, resource mobilization, and strategic communications.

She is dedicated to driving positive socioeconomic change through strategic initiatives across public and private sectors globally. In her last position as an Impact Consulting Fellow at Propel Impact, she spearheaded projects for climate-action organizations and strengthened her expertise in market research and impact measurement. Her previous tenures as a fundraising and communications specialist at two American nonprofits focused on refugee resettlement and food security for homeless youth, respectively, underscore her passion for empowering marginalized communities.

Stephanie holds a degree in Political Science & International Development ​from McGill University, where she honed her analytical and problem-solving skills in research-based honours classes. 

Caitlin Leatherby
About Caitlin

Caitlin is passionate about cultivating collaborative approaches to meet the complex needs of people and the environment. Her unwavering commitment to social and ecological development is rooted in her love for the natural world. Caitlin has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stellenbosch University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Development. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Sustainable Development through the Centre of Sustainability Transitions at Stellenbosch University, which she hopes will help her contribute to resilient and inclusive socio-ecological change. Her academic background leaves her well-equipped to navigate the complexities of transdisciplinary work.

Caitlin’s thesis explores the practices that support environmental changemakers in maintaining resilience. From that, she holds a unique perspective that values intentional, effective, and inclusive solutions. Caitlin is dedicated to finding pathways toward meaningful change and takes a compassionate and targeted approach to her work.

Anne Korving
About Anne

Anne is a Dutch student with a passion for transdisciplinary problem-solving. During her studies at Erasmus University College, she majored in Sustainability, while also pursuing her interests in global health and politics by minoring in Biomedicine and Political Science & International Relations. This comprehensive education has provided her with a solid framework for solving contemporary pressing issues.
Anne has worked with NGOs within and outside of The Netherlands, allowing her to learn about various models of impact monitoring and management frameworks. Next to this, Anne has pursued her profound interest in event management, international health equitable food distribution. She is very eager to learn more about efficiently making impactful positive changes on people and the planet by working with Relativ’s clients.
Anne aspires to use her versatile background to help solve some of the biggest challenges of the 21st century while engaging and collaborating with people from all over the world.”

Melissa Lederle

About Melissa

Melissa is a data analyst in the global entertainment sector, specialising in tracking global commission market activity. With experience across various industries, including industrial, retail, NGOs, and analytics, she brings a unique perspective on the nexus between economy, society, and the environment. Her work with NGOs in South Africa and Nepal solidified her commitment to a bottom-up approach, emphasising community engagement and sustainable practices.

Melissa’s expertise includes policy co-creation and analysis, supply chain management, and stakeholder engagement. She holds an honours degree in International Relations and a masters degree in political science from Stellenbosch
University. She Is passionate about mitigating climate change impact and exploring Planetary Health, actively seeking new challenges that deepen her understanding of
interdependence and how to harmonize the needs of people and the planet. Melissa works to create innovative solutions that foster long-term sustainability and social
equity.

Shawn Buck
About Shawn

Shawn spent eight years at Ubuntu Football, a Cape Town-based NPO, in various program management, fundraising, and leadership roles. This experience gave him a wealth of experience in storytelling, building interpersonal relationships with donors, and strategizing creative ways to leverage stakeholder relationships. His fundraising work includes international major donor relationships, online crowdfunding, event planning, board management, communications, and foundation grant funding.

Shawn is now working as a fundraising consultant and web designer, which fits his passion for giving organizations and individuals the tools they need to make the world a better place for all who live in it. Alongside his work, he manages session leaders at the Resource Alliance’s annual International Fundraising Congress, chairs the board of South African NPO, Out Here Worldwide, and continues to volunteer at Ubuntu Football.

Fiona Milligan
About Fiona

Fiona is a media professional by training, holding a Bachelors in Journalism from Rhodes University, and has worked in diverse capacities for magazines, newspapers and television. After completing a couple of development-focused courses through UNISA, Fiona moved her focus to the non-profit sphere. She went on to head up the Content and Communications department of a well-established education-focused non-profit, gold Youth Development Agency. After graduating from Iris Global Leaders School in the USA, she co-pioneered an outreach project for at-risk women in California, and went on to direct Iris Leaders School, gaining valuable leadership and administrative experience. She is currently based in Varanasi, India.

Alexandra Escobar
About Alexandra

Alexandra is a dynamic sustainability consultant and social impact leader dedicated to integrating sustainable practices within business operations. As a specialist in CSR strategy and stakeholder engagement, she helps align organizations with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to foster long-term value. She believes that sustainability is no longer optional but essential for future competitiveness, with early adopters poised to lead transformative change.

Her professional journey spans multiple sectors, including consulting, social entrepreneurship, and nonprofit collaboration, equipping her with expertise in strategy development, impact reporting, and community engagement. Alexandra’s goal is to contribute to sustainability initiatives globally, balancing profitability with social and environmental responsibility.

Currently pursuing an MBA in Social Innovation Management at Lynn University, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Social Entrepreneurship, graduating magna cum laude in 2023. Alexandra’s bilingual skills in English and Spanish complement her commitment to fostering meaningful change across cultural and industry boundaries.

Advisors and Associates

Chris Whelan

Board Advisor

About Chris

Chris is a supportive and dynamic coach and facilitator who
brings foresight and a wealth of business experience and hunger
to find new solutions to help leaders reach their full potential. Chris is a business executive and strategic transformation practitioner with over 20 years of experience facilitating and delivering change and shaping effective leadership. He has worked in operational management and the consulting sector, holding Chief Executive Officer positions in New Zealand and South Africa.
Chris has specialist expertise and experience in systems thinking, strategy execution and transformation and change leadership. He is a highly skilled executive leader who has a breadth of experience across various sectors, including Government and Public Sector, Financial Services, Retail, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods and Manufacturing. Chris has a broad array of expertise in financial and operational management, stakeholder management, managing the board/executive interface and providing governance oversight. Chris is an experienced leader, facilitator, mentor and coach with an aptitude for solving ‘wicked’ problems. He supports other leaders to ‘step up’, overcome challenges and optimise opportunities. Others describe Chris as “dynamic”, “passionate”, “committed”, “knowledgeable”,
“insightful” and “trusted”, with the utmost professionalism.

Aine McGlynn

Digital Technology Specialist

About Aine

Working at the intersection of social good and cloud computing since 2010, Aine McGlynn is an “accidental techie” with more than ten years of experience in closing the digital divide for nonprofits. She holds a doctorate from the University of Toronto with a focus on global activism and gender formations and has published widely. Aine runs a consultancy dedicated to helping small non-profit organizations do big things with tech. She is a course designer and instructor at Humber College and McMaster University and serves on the advisory committee of Tech Impact’s Technology Learning Centre, and was an inaugural Okta Nonprofit Technology Fellow.

Duncan Parker

Enterprise Development Specialist

About Duncan

Duncan has a unique academic and professional background in the third sector and the investment world and is passionate and committed to blending commercial solutions to social and environmental issues. Appointments include International Director for one of the world’s largest Development / Humanitarian Aid organisations – The Salvation Army, with a global portfolio of economic development and aid projects of £50m p.a. Duncan engaged in long term appointments living and working in Africa, Americas and Asia running field programmes focused on enterprise led development. This included responding to man-made and natural disasters that forced the movement of people. Of note the religious /civil war in Uganda operating child focused psycho social projects in a refugee camp in Lira, and the reestablishment of enterprise following the South Asia Tsunami.

After leaving the third sector to pioneer an African Agricultural investment fund in 2009 and then to create a successful exit, Duncan founded a PE backed social enterprise that created cause marketing relationships between Business and Charity securing partnership deals with BDO and IMG who manage the Ethical Goods brand to this day in addition to an executive role with Crowdfunder having taken a shareholding within the organisation. Duncan is also founding Trustee/ambassador of two anti-human trafficking charities.

Adriana Leigh

DEI/PSEAH Policy/Training Specialist

About Adriana

Adriana draws on a unique blend of 19+ years of diverse global experience as a workplace human rights lawyer and facilitator in gender equality, the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, and gender-based violence prevention, diversity and inclusion.

She has vast experience working nationally and internationally with the United Nations, universities as well as the non-profit and private sector. Prior to her consulting work, Adriana spent several years as a human rights lawyer specializing in workplace discrimination and sexual harassment and taught Women and the Law at the University of Ottawa.

Adriana previously held the position of Director, Organizational Wellness at Homewood Health, and worked with Equitas – International Centre for Human Rights Education leading the development of gender equality action planning and international guidelines.

On International’s Women’s Day 2021, Adriana was honoured to be featured by World Pulse in the article: “Her Story Makes History: 21 Women Leaders to Watch in 2021” and in 2022, to be included on the list of Brainz Magazine’s 7 Female Entrepreneurs and How they are Changing the World. She has also received multiple CREA Global Awards and the Digital Changemaker Award as one of the World Pulse 50 Rising Voices.

Adriana is from Montreal, hailing from a long line of progressive Ashkenazi Jewish social entrepreneurs, which she channels in her work.

Through ALG Consulting, Adriana’s team offers services which include access to ongoing advisory services on policy development and implementation. Ask us about our solution suite with ALG’s services.

Elvira van Hooff

Business Development Specialist

About Elvira

Elvira is a seasoned strategic fundraising and change communications professional based in The Netherlands. Having lived and worked in various countries in Europe, Asia and Africa, she has a broad and international perspective on making social impact. Elvira’s work includes strategic fundraising and philanthropy advice, social impact management & measurement and organisational change management.

 

She strongly believes that creating a meaningful dialogue is key in connecting people and indispensable when aiming for behavioral change in society. This insight originates from over two decades working in corporate and change communications in the global maritime industry and hospital health sector, as well as many years as a professional fundraiser and philanthropy advisor for Doctors without Borders (MSF) and the Red Cross.

 

Elvira built successful strategic donor partnerships to support the international work of Doctors without Borders in The Netherlands and southern Africa. As Head of Philanthropy for MSF Southern Africa, she made a major contribution to the research report, The Duality of Giving: Contemporary Perspectives on Formalized African Philanthropy which studies what drives African philanthropists to give to social causes and how ancient concepts such as Ubuntu relate to formalized giving.

Jessica Wilson

Climate Change Specialist

About Jessica

Jessica completed her bachelors and honours in Finance and Accounting at the University of Cape Town. While attending the university she ran an outreach mathematics programme which sparked her passion for helping our community and the incredible people that form part of it.

Over the past years Jessica has combined her passions through teaching Investment finance, whilst working as a financial analyst. Both of these roles have given her the skills and knowledge to become a hardworking and dedicated professional. Teaching has taught her the patience and determination she needs to conquer new challenges.

Lindokuhle Njozela

PhD in Economics

About Lindo

Lindokuhle is a lecturer and researcher in development economics with a specific focus on social cohesion and  social attitudes. He works on a wide range of research projects from conception, data analysis, and reporting. He is also actively involved in the management and facilitation of initiatives to promote transformation, belonging, and inclusion.

Lindokuhle has collaborated on policy relevant research with the South African Presidency, Department of Health, and NGO’s. These collaborations have spanned a wide array of topics including COVID-19 vaccination, value-added tax related analysis, mental health, and educational attainment. 

His qualifications include a Bachelor of Business Science, a Master of Commerce, and a PhD, all specialising in Economics and awarded by the University of Cape Town.

Aurelia van Eeden

Environmental Impact Specialist

About Aurelia

Aurelia van Eeden holds an MSc in International Environmental Studies from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. She specialises in sustainably oriented innovation strategies for the mining and resources industry. With over ten years of subject matter experience, she focuses on developing and implementing strategies to foster the inclusion and empowerment of underrepresented groups in the sector. She is passionate about the Just Transition and its meaning for the developing world. The low-carbon-energy transition requires a critical understanding of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. Aurelia is actively working with the mining industry to internalise such issues, becoming a force for good and establishing the industry’s role in advancing global sustainable development.

Aurelia further researches and develops solutions on the status of mining finance, existing models of innovation and how changes in mining finance and venture capital can stimulate much-needed entrepreneurship and innovation in the industry.”

 

Nikolaus Hutter

Impact Investing Specialist

About Nikolaus

Nikolaus Hutter is the Founder of New Paradigm Ventures, an advisory firm focused on accelerating the shift to an impact driven economy. He works with International NGOs on Impact Ventures & Investment, is a Director of Impact Investment firm Susterra Capital and serves on the Board of US Development NGO Heifer International, the Hungarian Impact Investors Association and the Hellenic Impact Investing Network.

Together with Impact Hub Vienna, he co-founded the Investment Ready Program (www.investment-ready.org), the first accelerator for social innovators in the CEE region, and the CEE Impact Day (www.ceeimpactday.org), an annual gathering for impact investors, entrepreneurs and practitioners from the region. Previously, he served as Managing Director Europe of the international impact investor network Toniic (www.toniic.com), held operational roles in the Cleantech industry, and worked as a venture capital investor for over a decade. Nikolaus read Business and Political Economy in Vienna, Strasburg, and at the London School of Economics. He lives in Vienna with his wife and two children.

Cyril Naicker

Fashion Sustainability Specialist

About Cyril
Cyril Naicker has built a reputation for his ethical stance on fashion and in 2021 represented South Africa at the United Nations panel discussion on sustainable fashion. He is the Country Coordinator of Fashion Revolution South Africa, an international fashion activism NGO, a movement for the fashion industry that values people and planet over profit. He serves as the Chief Executive at Imprint Luxury, an events, PR and marketing company as well as the Chief Sustainability Executive at Plain Tiger where he conceptualised and wrote their Sustainability Accelerator Program that launched in 2021.

Bill Toliver

Strategy Specialist

About Bill

After two decades developing leadership, branding, and communications programs for Fortune 500 clients like Westin Hotels and Hewlett Packard, Bill founded The Matale Line to offer more innovative thinking to social impact organizations.

With a global reputation as a transformational change agent, his work has helped some of the world’s most consequential nonprofits, foundations, education and social enterprise organizations reframe their approach to strategic decision-making, resource development, and advocacy communications. He is privileged to have worked with organizations across a broad spectrum of social issues, and has a strong pedigree in public and private education institutions in the U.S. 

Bill grew up in the developing world, and his desire to effect change is deeply rooted in his childhood experiences. Coupled with a degree in systems engineering he has a unique ability to help guide organizations through challenging times. He has served on boards of both for-profit and nonprofit organizations, and currently serves as board chair of The Resource Alliance—a global nonprofit committed to transformational change in the social impact sector. Bill is a widely sought-after speaker for his unique perspective and compelling approach to storytelling.

David Phipson

Education Experience Specialist

About David

David is an educator, learning specialist, and tactician with nearly two decades of experience in education and people development. Over the years, he has collaborated on diverse learning projects across various industries, including insurance, financial services, education, healthcare, telecoms, packaging, and fast-moving consumer goods. This wide-ranging experience has given him a holistic understanding of the learning and development domain.

David prides himself on designing innovative, cutting-edge solutions to learning challenges. His contributions to the field have been recognised globally, notably winning the Global Learning Experience Design Sprint in 2020.

He holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a Certificate of Instructional Design from the University of Witwatersrand.

James Lawrenson

Learning Experience Designer

About James

James Lawrenson is a learning experience designer (LXD) and content strategist. As a lifelong learner, James holds a Bachelor Degree in Brand Communications and has completed a range of certificate
and short courses that support his passion for creating impactful digital experiences.

For almost a decade, James has worked with multidisciplinary teams on projects that span retail, health, government, development, finance, and higher-education. With the insights he has gained,
James aims to bring together innovative technology with sound design thinking practices.

James has unique expertise in online learning strategy, content development, curriculum design, learning technology, workshop facilitation, and public speaking.

Kim Glazebrook

Maori Studies Specialist

About Kim

Kim Glazebrook grew up in Hicks Bay, East Coast, and now lives in the Hawke’s Bay. Kim has a PhD from the University of Auckland in Māori Studies. Her thesis explored contemporary Māori political representation in central and local government in New Zealand. Kim has worked at the Waitangi Tribunal Unit (Ministry of Justice) as a commissioned researcher and as an inquiry facilitator. Most recently, Kim has owned and operated hospitality businesses with her husband. 

David Harlley

Venture Capital Specialist

About David

David is co-founder and CEO of ThirdWay Capital, an impact-driven Venture Capital firm, operating in Sub-Saharan Africa. He began his career in design-management and project management of large-scale mechanical systems in the construction industry. After completing an entrepreneurship focused MBA at IE Business School (Madrid, Spain) he pivoted towards his current career in the Venture Capital Space. He is also an adjunct lecturer at IE University, where he teaches a course called “Building the New Economy: Distributive Capitalism.

Kelvin Ivankovic

Entrepreneurship Specialist

About Kelvin

Kelvin completed his bachelors, honours, and master’s degrees (Cum Laude) at Stellenbosch University. Whilst at Stellenbosch, Kelvin majored in financial management, strategic management, and entrepreneurship and innovation management.

Kelvin has a background in research design and execution and has been involved in projects across a diverse range of topics, such as entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, the sharing economy, and impact investing. Kelvin has conducted both quantitative and qualitative research and has experience using a variety of data analysis tools and techniques. He has been involved in research projects on board diversity and corporate social responsibility among South African JSE listed companies. He has also conducted studies on entrepreneurial development in South African high schools, as well as pioneering research on the emergence of the sharing economy in South Africa.

Kelvin has several years of work experience in the non-profit sector through his role as director of a South African based NPO. This is a position that he is particularly fond of as it strongly aligns with his passion and mission to contribute towards community development and upliftment. Through his experience in the non-profit sector, Kelvin has gained direct experience in managing organisational development, stakeholder engagement, marketing, and fundraising. Kelvin has also gained valuable experience as a member of consulting teams which conducted organisational analyses for South African based start-ups, as well as a human behaviour analysis for a division of Toyota in North Carolina USA.

Steve McCallum

Impact Investing Specialist

About Stephen
Stephen completed his MCom Cum Laude at Stellenbosch University in 2017 where his research focused on impact investment in water purification infrastructure.

He is passionate about using business to transform society by utilizing private and public finance through impact investing. He also completed the Oxford University impact measurement and management programme in 2018.

Currently Stephen is Senior Analyst at Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Prior, he was a lecturer at Stellenbosch University in the Business Management department and provides impact strategy, measurement and management consultation services. Some of the entities he’s worked with include: WWF-SA, Ukubavimba, SocioNovus, and Adaquo

Graeme Hodge

Sustainability Specialist

About Graeme

Graeme is the Managing Director of Ethical Good, a consultancy dedicated to helping organizations find the new perspectives towards funding and innovation. At Ethical Good, Graeme thrives on the collaborative spirit. He sees the company as a bridge connecting the worlds of charity, business, and impact investing, fostering impactful partnerships that generate tangible results. Together, the team has raised over £150 million for worthy causes and social enterprises, empowering businesses to become positive forces in their communities.

Beyond Ethical Good, Graeme’s dedication extends to fostering movements for global good. He has played a key role in mobilising people and transformational funding around issues of social justice, equality, and sustainable development, including initiatives specifically focused on engaging specific demographics and enabling opportunities for vulnerable populations to create self-led change.

His commitment to social impact transcends words. As a non-executive director at Fika Catering Co. and Bloom Coffee Academy, Graeme champions ethical business practices and uses his expertise to support these organisations in their mission to support sector change, enable livelihoods and training and promote positive change.

Directors

Dr. Colin Habberton

Executive Director

About Colin

Colin has proven experience in business development, strategic marketing, corporate governance, impact investing and fundraising. He has worked in each of these disciplines both theoretically and in practice for more than 20 years in the US, UK, Europe and Southern Africa.

His client engagements include executive level negotiation and project completion with enterprises, SMEs, government and civil society organisations. He has played a role in key stages of the tech business lifecycle from startup through scaling growth in the finance, property, marketing and media sectors. Colin has focussed his career on serving organisations with one common feature – clear intent to create positive social and/or environmental impact.

He has contributed to a variety of industry and media reviews and presented at conferences across the world on investment, analytics, fundraising, and strategic communications and the perspectives they bring to business and social systems.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa, a member of the South African Institute of Fundraisers, and serves on the boards of a number of for-purpose organisations.

Gabrielle Habberton

Executive Director

About Gabrielle

Gabrielle is the Co-Founder of the Relativ Group (serving clients in over 45 countries and with offices in South Africa, Canada and New Zealand) and a specialist in Impact Management. Gabrielle has been working across the social investment continuum for over fifteen years, since completing her Master’s in Development Studies at the University of Cape Town. Gabrielle has been involved in each aspect of the life cycle of benefit-driven organizations, the investors that support them and the contexts in which they operate to enhance innovative and sustainable solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. Gabrielle has played leading roles in a number of pioneering organisations and projects across the clients and markets Relativ serves.

Gabrielle’s work has included areas such as impact strategy (including Theory of Change), impact management and measurement; capability design and integration into organisations and teams; research and analysis; government policy co-creation and design; impact  due diligence, evaluation and verification of social and impact investments; deployment and management of impact capital; strategic and product development and planning; Executive education and training; enterprise development and social business incubation and innovation.

Marcel Henry

Executive Director

About Marcel

Marcel Henry is a qualified Architect and Landscape Architect with 24 years of experience in architectural and landscape design and the implementation of various buildings and landscape projects.

In addition, he has past teaching experience at the Architectural Department, University of Kwazulu-Natal (UKZN) and currently the University of Cape Town (UCT) Department of Landscape Architecture and Geomatics.

He is the founding member of Urban Architects CC, Urban Landscape Studio and recently HenryDesign Architecture + Landscape.

Sarah Nielsen

Managing Director

About Sarah

Sarah leads Relativ’s operations in North America as well as projects with clients and partners globally.

 Before joining Relativ, Sarah held various management positions at organizations, mainly youth development focused, in Canada and across Southern Africa. Her educational background is in international development and fundraising management.

 Sarah has experience in multiple levels and areas of social sector management including project development, impact measurement, fundraising, and communications. She is the Campaign Chair for one of the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka’s endowment funds and is leading the development of an Impact Measurement and Management Community of Practice for the Canada Forum for Impact Investment and Development.

 Having served a diverse range of stakeholders from around the world, Sarah is dedicated to advancing creative approaches to development through sustainable resource mobilization.

Chris Habberton

Non-Executive Director

About Chris

Chris is a Computer Science educator who has a passion for developing future problem solvers by incorporating code into foundational education. He believes that programming is not only a vital skill that all people should understand, but that the true value is in developing computational thinkers. 

Computational thinking is a powerful problem solving strategy which has the power to unlock the door to gritty problem solvers who will impact the future by addressing world problems.

Chris believes in looking at a problem and identifying a solution that can be implemented at its grass-root level. This is why he focused on creating an educational strategy that starts at the earliest level of schooling. He spent time researching, developing and sourcing tools that will supplement the teaching of computational thinking across all year levels which culminated in the establishment of a hands-on research project call ‘incode’ in 2017.

The incode project is designed to bring computational thinking  to children’s foundational learning and to develop a clear path of progressive development throughout their schooling career through professional development for teachers and outsourced after-school programmes. 

Outside of education, Chris has developed a number of full-stack solutions to address specific needs within schools and businesses. He enjoys creating computational solutions for everyday problems by combining his expertise in software development and database architecture.

Damon Hyland

Executive Director

About Damon

Damon is an award-winning photographer, filmmaker, creative director, and public speaker. He is passionate about using the medium of visual storytelling and creativity to inspire and spark positive change. Damon was instrumental in the success of some of South Africa’s biggest short-form narrative focussed content pieces which included prominent figures such as Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Gary Player, and many others who shaped South Africa during some of its most difficult years. Damon was also responsible for producing over 100 films dedicated to celebrating the remarkable ingenuity, innovation, and resilience of everyday South Africans, a platform called Beautiful News that has now reached over one billion people.

Damon is a purpose-driven social entrepreneur with an interest in creating positive change. He is resourceful, passionate, and has the ability to speak to a diverse audience through original content, storytelling, and experiences.

Therese Havenga

Non-Executive Director

About Therese

Therèse Havenga has a Masters in Research Psychology. She started her career in the market research industry with a focus on retail and consumer goods but has been working in the financial services industry for the past 18 years. She has a strong track record for leading functions and high-performance teams responsible for insights, research & development, segmentation, value proposition development, client strategy, client experience and more recently also client-led digital solutions and digital transformation.

She has a deep understanding of South African consumers within the financial services, health as well as wellness & rewards industries and is passionate about looking at these consumers through various data lenses. Her proficiency across disciplines allows her to apply a solution-focused approach that connects the right skills and team to solve client challenges. She enjoys working in partnership with businesses to use insights to co-create products and solutions that unlock value for current and prospective clients in a simplified way.

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