My Background & Experience

I feel fortunate having had the opportunity to gather a vast amount of experiences since leaving high-school oh so many years ago. These experiences have made me grow and develop into who I am now, they taught me about people, organisations, businesses and social development and they enable me to do the work I do today.

Between 2002 and 2013, I spent:

Isabel Essen_Development Consultant_Background & Experience 01

 

  • Five years completing a masters degree in Education & Business Studies at the University of Stuttgart, Germany.
  • One year gaining international work experience in Ireland.
  • Four years working as Early Childhood Development Programme Manager for the educational non-profit organisation SAEP. This position gave me the opportunity to work closely with the people in the Philippi community, Cape Town / South Africa, learning and growing in my role every day.

Isabel Essen_Development Consultant_Background & Experience 02

 

  • Two years working as Fundraising Manager for the Cape Town based NGO Primary Science Programme, deepening my understanding of resource mobilization and fundraising.
  • Two years as voluntary member of the Board of Directors of the South African and Environment Project.
  • Two years as a volunteer Counsellor for the LifeLine / ChildLine Telephone Counselling Services in the Western Cape.

I am passionate about education and social development, about supporting people and organisations in reaching their full potential and about giving back to the community.

Since 2013, I have been fortunate to be working as independent Development Consultant with a variety of interesting and inspiring clients, supporting non-profit organisations, businesses and individuals alike in flying high and growing their work. Furthermore, I have had the privilege to take over as Chairperson of the South African Education and Environment Project (SAEP) in 2017.

Take a look at what my Consultancy services entail and who some of my clients have been in the past few years.