MLP Master Leader Program, Go Inside. Liberate the world.
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Applications for the September 2023 intake are now closed.
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Welcome to the Master Leader Program

A nine-month open-edu online immersion program for leaders, entrepreneurs, managers, employees and lifelong learners committed to shifting consciousness and becoming powerful influencers and enablers of positive, ethical change within their organisations, communities and the world.
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Integrating Inner and Outer Worlds

the problem

The Problem

Traditional, theory-dense leadership programs are no longer working as the world wakes up to the fact that our inner development plays an integral role in our success at work, and in life.

the solution

The Solution

The Master Leader Program takes a three-pronged approach to learning, integrating neurological and behavioural science, social change and self-awareness to create a deeply transformative experience, developing the leader as a whole.

the outcome

The Outcome

By awakening this inner potential, participants re-emerge into the workplace as unstoppable forces of positive change, empowered with the internal resources, new capacities and practical tools necessary to navigate and thrive in a rapidly changing global landscape.

Master Leader Program Introduction with its founder, Anita Craig

Learn more about the inaugural program that promises to transform our heads, hands and hearts to better equip us for the work-life challenges of a post-Covid era.
Apply Now
Watch the MLP Promo Video

A Spotlight on Some of our Top Speakers, Faculty & Wisdom Teachers:

Mteto Myati (SA)

Group CEO of Altron

Larry Holmes (USA)

Creator and director of Larry Holmes Practical Wisdom

Eiman Alzaabi (Abu Dhabi)

Director, Executive Education - New York University Abu Dhabi

Dr. Eric Albertini (PhD) (SA)

Global authority on leadership and business

Tamu Al-Islam (USA)

Internationally acclaimed diversity and inclusion strategist

Why Enrol For This Program?

As the speed of change in the world increases, inner capabilities and capacities will become the differentiating factor between leaders and organisations that stagnate and those that flourish. MLP graduates will emerge into the world, and into their organizations, able to:
  • EMPLOY conscious mindfulness to leverage their strength and create and maintain values-driven cultures.
  • CREATE value through purposeful and meaningful contributions and achieve service-led, purpose-driven outcomes.
  • INCREASE innovation, productivity and commit to personal and positive sustainable social change.
  • LISTEN deeply, taking on other people's perspectives and uniting teams around a common goal.
  • NAVIGATE challenging social situations and interpersonal relationships with ease, growing organisations built on a deep sense of inclusion and belonging.
  • LEAD with greater mastery.
Apply Now

Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.

Deepak Chopra

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Faculty

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Richard Bello

Current Role and Organisation:

Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Arootah LLC

Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer, Blue Ridge Capital LLC

As a Co-Founder of Blue Ridge Capital, Rich serves as the firm’s Chief Operating Officer, a role he has held for over 24 years. Blue Ridge had $10 billion in assets under management at its peak. Prior to Blue Ridge, Rich held senior positions at Ernst and Young, Tiger Management and Morgan Stanley, after graduating from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. As the Founder of Arootah, The Center for Inspired Action, Rich leads various seminars, webinars, and workshops while consulting on a variety of business topics.

Rich has a deep-rooted passion for both personal and professional development, which surfaced early in his life and blossomed throughout his career. Rich has a born-to-coach personality and is uniquely qualified to provide valuable insights and practical solutions to business executives at the most senior levels. Rich enjoys working with partners, colleagues, and teams to share his philosophy on the importance of personal and professional drive, which he believes is the key to unlocking stellar performance. Rich empowers his clients to get superior results by setting clear objectives and designing strategic plans with an accountability strategy for flawless execution. He propels clients to reach their potential by combining inspiration and experience with practical solutions to their most difficult challenges.

Amongst various philanthropic endeavors, Rich proudly serves on the Board of iMentor, an organization that he was instrumental in founding. iMentor is an established leader in both high school and college mentoring and has served over 33,000 students, most of whom are from low-income communities. Through iMentor, Rich continues to provide direction, support, inspiration, and encouragement to the next generation of young leaders.

Rich is currently in the editing process of his new book, The Return: Get the Highest Return on your Intrinsic Resources: Mindset, Time, Energy, Discipline and Focus.

Dr Ian Weinberg

Current Role and Organisation:

Neurosurgeon and Neoromodulator at Triangles Model Applications (TMA) Academy

Professional Qualifications:

Neurosurgical Fellowship

Professional Experience:

Private neurosurgical practice since 1988

Developed the first PNI-based clinical application – 1992

Started a comprehensive spinal clinic – 2000

Co-developed a prosthetic spinal disc (Kineflex) – 2001

Developed the first online PNI neuro-diagnostic – 2005

Formed Quantum Health Solutions – 2006
Kineflex prosthetic spinal disc FDA approved – 2008

Developed the definitive Neuromodulation program in 2010 – the first quantifiable coaching application incorporating the mind-body connection and based on the integration of neuroscience with psychoneuro-immunology (PNI)

Completed the development of two online neuro-diagnostics – quantifying wellness, performance as well as leadership and entrepreneurship potential

Created NeuroSurge in 2014 – an integrated neuro-coaching application based on the neurosciences and fully quantifiable through the online neuro-diagnostics

Completed the development of the E-Modulate program (2015) – an electronic online neurocoaching template in support of the online Neuro-Diagnostics and online audio-visual course

Eiman Alzaabi

Current Role and Organisation:

AWAITING BIO

Professional Qualifications:

Doctor of Philosophy – PhD, Personal, Interpersonal and Professional Leadership

Masters in Philosophy (Personal, Interpersonal and Professional Mastery)

B.Comm (Hons) in Financial Management (Cum Laude)

B.Comm Marketing

IMM Diploma in Marketing Management

Professional Experience:

He has taught and facilitated at leading local and global educational institutions for over 20 years. He has consulted to clients such as Standard Bank, Barclays, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, EY,Total SA, Liberty Life, Hollard, Edcon Group, Massmart, JD Group, Toyota, Jaguar LandRover, The Bidvest Group and various SOE’s and Public Sector companies.
“Leadership is about facilitating co-creation. To do this leaders must connect (to self and others), remain curious (suspend judgement) and leverage differences (collaborate)”.

Guru Kali

Current Role and Organisation:

AWAITING BIO *

Professional Qualifications:

Doctor of Philosophy – PhD, Personal, Interpersonal and Professional Leadership

Masters in Philosophy (Personal, Interpersonal and Professional Mastery)

B.Comm (Hons) in Financial Management (Cum Laude)

B.Comm Marketing

IMM Diploma in Marketing Management

Professional Experience:

He has taught and facilitated at leading local and global educational institutions for over 20 years. He has consulted to clients such as Standard Bank, Barclays, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, EY,Total SA, Liberty Life, Hollard, Edcon Group, Massmart, JD Group, Toyota, Jaguar LandRover, The Bidvest Group and various SOE’s and Public Sector companies.
“Leadership is about facilitating co-creation. To do this leaders must connect (to self and others), remain curious (suspend judgement) and leverage differences (collaborate)”.

Athena Mazarakis

Current Role and Organisation:

Managing Director – EMBODIMENT NOW

Professional Qualifications:

Masters in Dramatic Arts (MADA, Wits University) Certified Assessor

Professional Experience:

Development Manager – The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative & Ebhudlweni Arts Centre (Mpumalanga): responsible for curriculum development & design of Educational Programme, Monitoring & Evaluation, Grant-applications and grant reporting

Lecturer in Physical Theatre, Choreography, Dance & Mime: University of the Witwatersrand & The University currently known as Rhodes

Award-winning independent choreographer & performer

Research and television production: Trial Productions

“I believe there has never been a greater need for this work of embodied mindfulness than NOW – this NOW of global pandemic, ecological crisis and global change. This NOW calls for the wisdom, compassion and empathy that emerges from mindful embodied presence. It is a call for the resourcefulness, resilience and creativity that will steer us both individually and collectively through this time of global transition. The time for a conscious engagement with our own embodiment, our complex inter-relatedness with each other and the planet, is NOW”

Lisa Firer

Current Role and Organisation:

Professional Qualifications:

Bachelor Arts (University of Witwatersrand)

Higher diploma in Education (University of Witwatersrand)

Honours in Psychology (University of Western cape)
Ceramic Design JHB (Technikon)

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (Centre for Mindfulness, University Massachusetts)

Diploma in Mindfulness-Based Intervention Design
(Stellenbosch University)

Internationally accredited Biodanza facilitator

Professional Experience:

Lisa Firer is a designer and facilitator. She has run a ceramic design business for the past 20 years and concurrently pursued a keen interest and practice in creative, movement and awareness-based processes as they pertain to human development, learning and awakening. 2006-2016 she offered basic Mindfulness practice to the full-time and modular MBA students at UCT Graduate School of Business, as well as to Executive Education groups from Anglo-Gold Ashanti, Standard Bank and Engen. She facilitated on the Business Acumen for Artists programme and GSB Leadership Executive Programme (LEP). She has also developed a programme entitled ‘Creative Awareness’, an 8-session intervention, as part of the Creativity in Business module offered on the Diploma in Entrepreneurship through the School of Management Studies, University of Cape Town. She has offered traditional Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programmes, as well as shorter Taste of Mindfulness retreats in various contexts.

Dr Lawrence Edwards

Current Role and Organisation:

Founder and Director at Optimal Mind®

Professional Qualifications:

PhD in Psychoeducational Processes (clinical psychology track) – Temple University

Licenced Psychotherapist (LMHC)

Professional Experience:

Teaching meditation for over 45 years. Trained as a monk in India, in Tibetan Buddhist practices, mindfulness, and Jungian depth psychology.

Licensed by the state of New York (LMHC) where he offers transpersonal psychotherapy, spiritual direction, biofeedback and neurofeedback training to children and adults for stress reduction and enhanced performance training in sports, business, and daily living

Offers neuro-biofeedback training to individuals with clinical issues such as ADHD, headaches, stroke, anxiety, closed head injury, PTSD, and spectrum disorders

Clinical Instructor at New York Medical College since 1998.

Author of The Soul’s Journey: Guidance From The Divine Within, Kali’s Bazaar(a collection of poetry), and Awakening Kundalini: The Path To Radical Freedom

“Through meditative practices and a heightened awareness of the profound meaning and purpose of your life you can strengthen your resilience, develop a calm, non-reactive centre of consciousness, and expand your vision of your work, your relationships and yourself. “

Tamu Al-Islam

Current Role and Organisation:

Independent Contractor, The Journey Global Diversity and Inclusion Consulting Network

Professional Qualifications:

Master’s degree in educational leadership, focusing on the intercultural development of collegiate faculty and staff.

Professional certification in diversity, equity, and inclusion as a practitioner/strategist.

Senior HR generalist.

Skilled at developing innovative inclusion and belonging initiatives.

Certified U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Investigator for gender-based discrimination and harassment.

Professional Experience:

20+ years of experience and expertise in human resources, organizational development, and higher education administration.

Deep background in conflict resolution, employee relations, and managing organizational change.

Experienced in designing and facilitating intercultural fluency development programs.

Accomplished record of leading teams, managing complex projects, building consensus, and developing and implementing strategic initiatives across a broad array of constituencies.

Marc Rogatschnig

Current Role and Organisation:

Founder & Director – Tidal

Professional Qualifications:

MA Clinical Psychology

Completing PhD in Consulting Psychology

Numerous Accreditations – including MBTI, Heartstyles, Insights, DISC & EQi

External Faculty General Electric Crotonville University, NY (2008 – 2015)

Professional Experience:

Clinical Psychologist in Psychiatry – 4 years (Head of Dept)

Clinical Psychologist in Private Practice – 8 years

Consulting Psychologist as a sole proprietor 2 years – Joint Ventures with DuePoint

General Manager – Connemara Western Cape – 6 years

Executive Heartstyles Global (UK) – 2 years

Founder/Director – Tidal – 5 years

The body keeps the time of NOW. Through mindful attention to the senses of hearing, sight and touch, we come home to the body and explore being fully embodied in the present moment. Our sensory perception is the bridge between our internal and external world. Through mindful awareness of the senses, we are able to practice deep listening and tuning in to self, to the world around us and importantly to ourselves in relation to the world.

Graham Smale

Current Role and Organisation:

Managing Director of Gordian Risk Advisors and innoFindo and Co-Founder of Venture Designers

Professional Qualifications:

B.Sc. (Chem Eng)

MBA

CFA

Alumni of the THNK School of Creative Leadership

Professional Experience:

35 years in the financial markets in roles spanning product and business development, risk management and the C-suite.

Dr Mamohau Del Sekgaphane

Current Role and Organisation:

Founder: Global Center for Integral Rebirth.

Professional Qualifications:

Doctor of Philosophy – PhD, Management of Technology and Innovation.

Professional Experience:

DaVinci Institute of Management in Technology and Innovation – Faculty: Management of Innovation (MoI); Management of Systems (MSW); Management of People (MoP).

Henley Business School – Adjunct Faculty (Innovation PGDIP)
WESBANK – Head: Organizational Change and Development (OCD).

FNB Premium (previously FNB Wealth) – Head: Change Management
Diphororo Consulting – Founder.

“In the knowledge economy, sustainable return on investment (ROI) will be a compound effect of relevant practices organisations inculcate to awaken conscious energy in their people.”

Joni Peddie

Current Role and Organisation:

Behavioural Strategist and CEO of Resilient People

Professional Qualifications:

Professional Experience:

Managing Partner at Resilient Energy using the FAB Quotient (2008-Present)

Founding Associate of The Enneagram Institute SA (2005-Present)

Training Director at BizComm Group (1998-Present)

“To inspire actionable resilience in body, mind, emotion and purpose – to live an optimal life”

Debbie Craig

Current Role and Organisation:

Managing Director & Founder, Catalyst Consulting

Professional Qualifications:

Heriot-Watt University -Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Wits Business School – Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration and Human Resources

University of the Witwatersrand – B.Comm and PDM (Industrial Psychology and Business Economics)

Professional Experience:

Over 20 years’ experience in the field of strategy, leadership, change, talent, culture, teams and HR transformation and has worked and consulted at leading local and global organisations in the private and public sector throughout Southern Africa and internationally in 15 countries across five continents.

Dr Preeya Daya

Current Role and Organisation:

Executive Director at Leadership Dialogue

Executive Academic Director at the Achievement Awards Group

Part-time faculty for several business schools

Associate researcher at the UCT Allan Gray Centre for Values-based leadership

Professional Qualifications:

Doctorate of Business Administration (PhD)

Diploma, Honours and Masters Degrees in Human Resource Management

Professional Experience:

Practitioner in Corporate for 13 years (globally) Academic and Consultant for 10 years

Dr Eric Albertini

Current Role and Organisation:

Director: Learning Solutions – Future Fit Academy (Pty) Ltd.

Professional Qualifications:

Doctor of Philosophy – PhD, Personal, Interpersonal and Professional Leadership

Masters in Philosophy (Personal, Interpersonal and Professional Mastery)

B.Comm (Hons) in Financial Management (Cum Laude)

B.Comm Marketing

IMM Diploma in Marketing Management

Professional Experience:

He has taught and facilitated at leading local and global educational institutions for over 20 years. He has consulted to clients such as Standard Bank, Barclays, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, EY,Total SA, Liberty Life, Hollard, Edcon Group, Massmart, JD Group, Toyota, Jaguar LandRover, The Bidvest Group and various SOE’s and Public Sector companies.
“Leadership is about facilitating co-creation. To do this leaders must connect (to self and others), remain curious (suspend judgement) and leverage differences (collaborate)”.

An introduction to an embodied mindfulness approach, focusing on gentle movement-based breathwork, centring and grounding practices.

This session provides practical tools to support the down-regulation of the stress response and lays the foundation for developing a mindful and embodied self-awareness.

Contemporary neuroscience confirms what ancient wisdom traditions have long known – that we have three intelligence centres or ‘brains’: the head (cephalic) brain, the heart (cardiac) brain and the gut (enteric) brain.

Our ability to balance these three brains or three ways of ‘knowing’ (through cognitive thought, creativity, feeling and intuition) is key in times of transformational change.
This session is an embodied meditation that guides participants to tune into, activate and balance these ‘three brains’.

Larry Holmes

Current Role and Organisation:

Creator and director of Larry Holmes Practical Wisdom

Professional Qualifications:

Larry is a graduate of the University of Michigan in psychology with postgraduate studies in organisation behavior and dynamics, sociology, and educational psychology.

Professional Experience:

Larry Holmes is an adjunct faculty member of the Australian Graduate School of Management. He is a corporate and Conscious leadership development consultant, mentor and confidante to leaders in business, government, education, sport and the arts. He is an international teacher of organisational change and learning, and “Mindsports” individual and team development strategies and skills.
“Leadership is not a destination, but an exciting and challenging journey. It is an outward and conscious expression of the intersection between the organization’s objectives; and the individual leader’s values, skills, experience, and purpose. The Master Leaders program is designed to facilitate that journey.”
This session will explore some of the many definitions of mindfulness, followed by a guided mindfulness meditation practice.

Why Mindfulness is not enough.

Let’s explore why, and the vital role of self-compassion and its development alongside a mindfulness practice.

The 5 senses are our portals through the body to presence.

This session includes a guided meditation practice, Coming to our Senses, inspired by modern mindfulness pioneer Jon-Kabat-Zinn.

Join us for a session of mindful poetry, experiencing how poetry can be a gateway into the present moment.
This session will introduce the body of work that is Somatics, and include a neck and shoulder tension release practice from Clinical Somatics.
This session will investigate the language that points to Presence, and will include a guided meditation practice.
In this session, we will enquire into the Present Moment, and experience why Eckhart Tolle, well-known teacher of secular spirituality, calls it the “Power of Now”.

Mary-Joe Emde

Current Role and Organisation:

Core of U – Director

Professional Qualifications:

MPhil Personal and Professional Leadership – UJ

Executive Masters – NeuroLeadership Institute

Level 2 BWRT practitioner

Certified Brain Based Coach – Neuroleadership Institute

PCC Coach – ICF

Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning – UFS

Professional Experience:

Mary-Joe worked at Investec for 7 years – left to start training and development business focussing on the financial services industry. Got coached and decided to pursue coaching as a career. Enrolled in Results Coaching and completed all their training over a period of three years after which I took over the corporate licence for Results Coaching. Results rebranded to The Neuroleadership Institute and I ran the company for 7 years in South Africa. Sold the business three years ago and now focus on personal and leadership development from a transformational perspective.

The Core of U Pty Ltd was registered three years ago and Belinda Young and I focus on authentic leadership and accessing core values through greater self-awareness and conscious living.

The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek – Joseph Campbell

An embodied mindfulness practice that assists us in connecting to and staying present with what is alive or present within us, and balancing that awareness with our perception of our external environment.

It is a balancing of interoception (feeling from the inside out) and exteroception (awareness from the outside in).

We practice this balancing in the session so that we are more easily able to stay present to ourselves, and to what is happening within our heads, hearts and guts when faced with challenging circumstances in our work and home lives.

Evan Klisser

Current Role and Organisation:

Owner Evan Klisser Associates

Professional Qualifications:

Heart Styles Accredited

Insights and Lumina Accredited

ESCI, ILS & OCS Accredited

Clinical Psychology internship

Clinical Psychology Masters course work

BA (Honours) Psychology and Philosophy

Clinical Psychometrist

Professional Experience:

Evan has coached, facilitated and consulted to corporations, NGO’s, small businesses and individuals for 30 years. He has specialised in EQ and Shadow work.
“Culture can only function if we live out the unwanted elements symbolically. All healthy societies have a rich ceremonial life. Less healthy ones rely on unconscious expressions: war, violence, psychosomatic illness, neurotic suffering, and accidents are very low-grade ways of living out the shadow. Ceremony and ritual are a far more intelligent means of accomplishing the same thing.” ― Robert A. Johnson, Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche

Tom Fels

Current Role and Organisation:

Founder & CEO, Animarem

Professional Qualifications:

Bachelor of Business Science (Hons)

Professional Experience:

Tom is the Founder & CEO of Animarem, a business advisory and conscious movement builder focused on enabling business as a force for good. He has worked in the UAE, UK and South Africa, having held Executive leadership positions in award winning communication groups and an iconic conservation-tourism business. An active community builder, Tom is the Southern Africa lead for the B Corp movement, a Transformational Travel Council Ambassador and B Tourism lead for Middle East / Africa. He is also a non-executive Director, wilderness retreat host, author and speaker on sustainable business and transformational leadership.
The most significant responsibility of leaders today is to reconcile our humanity with the way in which we work, create, and consume. – Tom Fels Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small – Lao Tzu

Natalie Wessels

Current Role and Organisation:

Positive Psychology Practitioner and Coach for Unapologetically Authentic (Pty) Ltd

Professional Qualifications:

B.A. Clinical Psychology Honours

B.A. Industrial Psychology Honours

Post Graduate Diploma in Labour Relations

Professional Experience:

Natalie has over 20 years’ experience in Financial Services, specialising in Organisation Development, Strategy, Change Management, Talent Management and Human Resources Management at senior management, executive and board level.

She is a specialist in bringing people management to the forefront of business strategy, developing and implementing Human Resources strategies aligned to business objectives, leadership development and coaching, driving diversity, inclusion and transformation, and facilitating courageous conversations in developing corporate cultures of accountability.

Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving; We get stronger and more resilient.
(Steve Maraboli)

A somatic activation that facilitates personal self-enquiry and intention setting.
It asks the following questions –

To be the fullest version of yourself:

a) what can you let go of or release?
b) in letting go of that, what have you made space for? What can you invite in?
c) What is the offer you can then make the world?

An exploration of archetypal body postures to activate particular states of readiness, focus and agility.

The session allows for self-enquiry around habitual responses and states in particularly high stress situations and provides the opportunity to begin practicing new responses.

In this session, the symbolic dimension of the sense of sight is explored as a portal for self-enquiry.

Through embodied explorations based on sight and focus, the session activates states that support the ability to zoom in to detail, and zoom out to big-picture thinking.

It also facilitates self-reflection around VISIONING.

An embodied exploration of the body systems of skeleton, joints, musculature and circulation as the basis for self-enquiry.

The metaphoric dimension of these systems is used as the portal for self-enquiry and investigation around the themes of structure and support (skeleton), agility (joints), mobility and vitality (musculature), and flow (circulation).

Paul Mooney

Current Role and Organisation:

Founder CeltiCrescent 

Professional Qualifications:

Marketing Degree 

Marketing Diploma 

Masters in Resilient Engagement 

PhD in process 

Professional Experience:

12 years public services telecommunications 

12 years international telecommunications 

10 years technology entrepreneur 

10 years leadership development 

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