I am a registered occupational therapist (OT) and have worked in mental health since 2005 when I was employed as an OT in Dementia and older person care at 2 NGOs in Hanover Park, Cape Town. In 2007, I became the project director of these two NGOs and served for 4 years in this senior management position.I was appointed at Cape Mental Health (CMH) in 2011 as the manager of the Learning for Life (LfL) training and development programme that provided quality training within the South African mental health sector. As manager of LfL, I was responsible for training in the mental disability sector to external entities as well as the quality assurance of the training programmes for adults with intellectual disability (trainees) at the CMH protective workshop programme, Training Workshops Unlimited (TWU). I developed and facilitated training to the TWU programme staff to improve the delivery of services for their trainees. I also was responsible for the clinical supervision of final year UCT OT students placed at TWU.In 2020, I took the LfL programme through a transformation process which resulted in it becoming the Innovation and Training Department (ITD) of CMH, developing ground breaking innovations such as the Easy-to-Read project for persons with intellectual disability.In 2018 I graduated with my Master’s in Science degree in Occupational Therapy, with distinction, from the University of Cape Town. My thesis topic was “How learning facilitators teach adults with mild and moderate intellectual disability in learnership programmes at post-school institutions in Cape Town: A descriptive qualitative study”. I resigned from Cape Mental Health to pursue a career in higher education as a lecturer in OT and am doing my PhD.I am passionate about working collaboratively towards making society a more inclusive environment where all persons can learn, grow, thrive and achieve their dreams.