Our Team

OWNER

Magda du Preez is a psychologist and management consultant specializing in leadership and team selection and development, transition management, and performance culture building. She is also an adjunct professor of management at Long Island University, teaching executive MBA courses on strategy implementation and organizational development. She has provided consultation to Fortune 500 companies, startups, and not-for-profit organizations in the United States and abroad. Her clients include mid-size privately owned and large publicly owned companies in retail and wholesale trade, not-for-profit organizations, educational institutions, and government agencies. She is an affiliate of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and the American Psychological Association, and she serves on the advisory board of the South Africa Chamber of Commerce in America. She holds a master’s degree in psychology from University of the Orange Free State, South Africa, and a PhD in Business at the Wits Business School, Johannesburg, South Africa, where her dissertation was The role of personality in the relationship between feeling bored and decision-making competence: A study of managers in the retail industry (Du Preez, M. M., 2016).

Kevin R. Nash, Ph.D is an industrial/organizational psychologist and management consultant specializing in organizational development, employee development, and human capital management. He has held senior management positions in marketing and human resources in the pharmaceutical and medical equipment industries, and is the president and founder of Aspen Organization Development Consulting. He has worked with clients in Europe, Africa, and the United States, including Hawker Sidley Engineering, Borden Dairies, El Paso Pipeline Company, Anglo American Corporation, SAS Hotels, and Eskom Power Generation. His consulting assignments have included coaching executives and management teams, designing and implementing management training and development programs, designing succession planning and performance management processes, and providing change management consulting for organizations engaged in significant organizational change. Kevin holds an undergraduate degree in marketing from the Dublin Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in management from the University of Kent at Canterbury, and a Ph.D in industrial/organizational psychology from Capella University, Minnesota. He is a member of the American Psychological Society, the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the American Society for Training and Development, and the Academy of Management.

Kathy Bluestone has over 30 years of experience in consumer marketing at Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, and not-for-profit organizations, where she has been responsible for new customer acquisition and retention, data mining, financial forecasting, team and project management, and working with consultants to assess culture and implement change. She has been an instructor at the Pace English Language Institute in Pleasantville, NY, where she taught classes in business writing, presentation skills, workplace pragmatics, conversation skills, and grammar. Her private English tutoring assignments have included clients at IBM, Siemens, Bayer Healthcare, Swiss Re, Hitachi Metals, and Mercedes USA. Kathy holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary in Virginia, an MBA from Duke University, and a master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from Teacher’s College at Columbia University. She is a member of the national and New York State TESOL organizations and the Council on Adult Basic Education.

Thandi Mvakali is principle director of Larona, one of South Africa’s most respected and innovative organizations in the field of human capital solutions. She has extensive experience providing executive and management assessments, team effectiveness analysis, and transformation management services to clients in the financial services, government, telecommunications, media, and oil industries. Thandi has applied her skills across multiple cultures, having lived and worked in multiple countries including South Africa, United States, Kenya, and the United Kingdom. Clients who have benefited from her services include the South African Department of Foreign Affairs, the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the South African Department of Economic Development and Planning, the United Cricket Board of South Africa, TOTAL, SAB Miller, Vodacom, Transnet, Eskom, First National Bank, IDT, the South African Broadcasting Company, and Premier Foods. Thandi received her M.Sc. in psychology from the Medical School of Southern Africa.

Joan Heynemann is a managing partner of Competence Incorporated, a consultancy specializing in the assessment and development of organizations and human capital for growth. At the Centre for Local Government Training: Western Cape (South Africa), she played a pivotal role in the acceptance and implementation of the use of assessment and development center technology as part of human capital development within the local government environment. She was also involved in other training related aspects of the Training Board which focused specifically on the development of newly appointed councilors following the 1994 South African national election. Joan also managed the selection/assessment department of Old Mutual South Africa (a multi-billion-dollar international financial services company), where she played an integral part in transforming Old Mutual’s human resource practices. As an independent consultant, Joan specializes in project management, facilitation, culture change/change management, leadership development, assessment, organizational design, role design, and the design of associated human capital practices. Representative clients include Old Mutual South Africa; Old Mutual Namibia; First National Bank; Sanlam; Safcor Panalpina (Logistics); E+PC (Engineering); Graham & Rhona Beck Skills Centre; DG Murray Trust; Local Government Training Board, Western Cape; and various local authorities within the Western Cape Province. Joan holds a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Richard Syrek is former chief operating officer for a consumer products company supplying decorative products for the home. He is also founder of Mentor Management, LLC, an executive management consulting firm located in Cold Spring, NY. During his 30 years as an executive he played a senior role in corporate acquisitions and oversaw the development of world-class systems and superior corporate staff. Richard has expertise in senior management counseling, strategic planning, business development, financial analysis, operations, and union contract negotiation. He uses his expertise to analyze symptoms, quickly determine problems, and break them down into simple solutions. He also uses his skills as a facilitator to help management teams resolve issues, develop strategies for success, and build or revise business plans. In addition to his consulting business, Richard has served as dean of The Center for Personal and Professional Development and is currently an adjunct professor at Rockland Community College. He also serves as treasurer for the Alice Curtis Desmond and Hamilton Fish Library, Garrison, NY; as secretary for the Rockland Business Association, on the board of the Suffern Rotary Club. He has a BS in Industrial Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and an Executive MBA from Pace University.

PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS

SENSE offers a unique SaaS program for teaching sound decision-making skills. https://getsense.net

Aspen Organization Development Consulting provides expertise is in driving organizational performance through innovative organizational development. www.aspenod.com

Denison Consulting provides research-based organizational culture and leadership development surveys that link to bottom-line performance metrics. www.denisonconsulting.com

QED Consulting specializes in consulting and training in the areas of leadership, values, culture, and change, and in the alignment of strategy, people and processes. www.qedconsulting.com

Competence Incorporated is a dynamic team of human resource consultants with expertise in psychometric assessments, leadership development, coaching, and role and competency design. www.competenceinc.co.za