I retied from the corporate world in 2014 and now work as a volunteer with CoolPlay Trust. My main role is that of ensuring solid corporate governance within CoolPlay, and as financial manager.CoolPlay Trust is an NGO focused on the development of Life Skills, through the medium of team sport, within the disadvantaged communities of the Western Cape. We focus on children between the ages of 8 and 17 who attend no fee / low fee schools within our area. CoolPlay has grown rapidly over the past few years and currently reaches over 2,200 children on a 2x per week basis. We focus on developing a child’s emotional literacy through our life skills program - by building self-awareness, self-regulation, strong social skills, self-motivation, empathy and resilience. Our youth’s ability to succeed academically, professionally and personally is strongly correlated with their emotional and social intelligence, but social-emotional learning is not happening consistently in schools or at home. Our primary objective is to address this gap by teaching valuable life skills to our beneficiaries, to set them up for success as they navigate life. The eight social and emotional competencies on which we focus are- Development of one's own character- Learning how to maintain composure- Learning clear communication- Learning how to set and achieve goals- Learning how to develop team spirit- Understanding and adopting values- Learning to think optimistically- Learning to make responsible decisionsBy doing this we believe that we are helping learners build a strong foundation for success.

My role was International Sales Executive, heading up the team responsible for the sale of all I&J group seafood products into an extensive export customer base that covered both the retail and foodservice sectors in the USA, Canada, most EU countries, the UK, and Australia. The team's responsibilities included product innovation and the active development of new export customers in both the retail and foodservice sector.

I held various general management and executive roles, including General Manager, Specialty Seafoods, which was a separate value added seafood products company within Sea Harvest, and Group Sales & Marketing Director when the company was listed on the JSE in the 1990's. From 1993 to 1998 I was responsible for all sales & marketing of Sea Harvest product both locally and internationally, actively working across the USA, most European countries and Australia. From 1999 my focus was specifically on the growth of Sea Harvest business internationally in both the retail and foodservice sectors, as well as managing the local market seafood importing and trading business