Who I am

Personally, my life has not been moving towards a specific destination but a journey where sometimes it has been easy for me to keep to the itinerary I set and other times I wander off exploring different interesting things.

Marisa Profile
As a manager, I draw upon diverse experiences in corporate settings, particularly within professional services, pharmaceuticals and the food industry, where I worked closely with leadership teams operationally and strategically, in both international and local companies, as a Human Resources Manager.
As a researcher, I have studied second language acquisition and developing critical thinking skills in learners in less-resourced schools.
I have presented on research ethics and written a chapter for a book.
As a coach and consultant, I bring all of the above but more importantly, I bring curiosity, attentive listening, challenging perspectives, and collaborative partnership which will help guide clients through periods of change towards purposeful choices.
Academically, I bring a multidisciplinary perspective that integrates insights from psychology, change theory, human resources, and education. I am a certified practitioner in personality, aptitude and strengths assessments and I have also completed specialized training in narrative career coaching and organizational career guidance. For my doctorate, I designed a framework for intervention implementation that considers individual and collective behaviour change that is sustainable in diverse contexts.
What I have learnt is the importance of self-care. So I try and go on weekly walks to connect with nature. Walking amongst trees brings tranquillity and peace to my soul, hence all the tree pictures on my website.

QUALIFICATIONS

Masters (with Distinction)

University of Pretoria, 2014

BA Honours in Educational Psychology

University of Pretoria, 2011

Organisational Career Guidance

UNISA, 2009

Masters Diploma in Human Resource Management

University of Johannesburg, 2001

BA Honours in Psychology

University of Johannesburg, 1988

BA Applied Psychology

University of the Witwatersrand, 1986

Author

Leask, M.C. (2019). Enablers of teaching language in multilingual classrooms, in Omidire, M.F. (ed) Multilingualism in challenging education settings: Supporting learning and development. UCT Press, pp.23-34

Memberships

Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA)
Association for Coaching (AC)
Henley Business School
Coaches & Mentors of South Africa
(COMENSA)