Multi award-winning academic professional, acting as Convener for Department of Higher Education and Training in South Africa to develop academic entrepreneurship in South-Africa through the Education Development in Higher Education programme’s Community of Practice for academic entrepreneurship(www.theavander.com). Founder of SHAPE (Shifting Hope, Activating Potential Entrepreneurship) which was awarded as Best Youth Development Organization in KZN (www.shapentrepreneurs.com). She acts as International Director of Paddle for the Planet, the former official flagship project of the International Olympics Committee (www.paddlefortheplanet.org). Dr van der Westhuizen has over 20 years of international work experience in the corporate and academic sectors. High profile collaborations with Ambassadors, Municipality Managers, Sheikhs as well as CEOs of multi-national companies all forms part of her portfolio. She resides in the School of Management information Technology and Governance, Discipline of Management and Entrepreneurship at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
