I didn't set out to start an organisation. I set out to start somewhere.
Where it began
I grew up in the Timbavati Game Reserve, in the Greater Kruger. As a child that meant elephants at the waterhole and lions calling at night. It also meant noticing, slowly and then all at once, that the communities living just beyond the reserve fence were dealing with something very different: poverty, unemployment and the long shadow of apartheid.
Both things were true at the same time — the extraordinary beauty and the deep inequality. I couldn't stop thinking about the gap between them.
Starting at 23
In 2011, at 23, I started Nourish. I had very few resources, no grand strategy and a strong suspicion that doing something practical was better than waiting until I felt qualified. (I'm still waiting to feel qualified, for the record.)
Over fifteen years, that small start grew into an Eco Village approach that connects early childhood education, nutrition, environmental learning, skills development, women's empowerment, entrepreneurship and livelihoods. Today a team of around 50 people runs that work across three developing sites in rural Limpopo. The results belong to them.
Documentary
Beyond the Gun
Beyond the Gun explores the relationship between wildlife conservation, poverty and the communities living alongside South Africa's protected areas. The film offers a closer look at the issues that shaped my thinking and the work we've been building through Nourish.
Learning to lead
Nobody tells you that founding something is mostly about people. Building teams, navigating uncertainty, making decisions without enough information — and getting some of them wrong.
The biggest lessons have been about dignity: that how we help matters as much as whether we help. And about knowing when to step aside so that others can lead. That last one is still a work in progress.
Ubuntu sits underneath all of it — how we lead ourselves, how we show up for others, and what we build together.
What I'm curious about now
Women's leadership. Ethical authority. Whose knowledge counts when decisions get made. How to build organisations that can thrive beyond their founders. I explore these through my MBA studies, through writing, and on stages and panels in South Africa, Canada and the United States.
A short timeline
Childhood
Grows up in the Timbavati Game Reserve, part of the Greater Kruger landscape.
2011
Founds Nourish at 23, starting small with whatever was at hand.
The years between
Nourish grows into an integrated Eco Village model; partner nonprofits are established in the United States and Canada.
Today
Around 50 staff across three developing Eco Village sites in rural Limpopo.
October 2026
Nourish named Charity of the Year by the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism.
Now
Writing, speaking, completing an MBA — and learning to build something that thrives beyond its founder.