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Niel Stander

Niel is an experienced Organisational Development and Change practitioner and coach, based in South Africa, but working globally using virtual and remote mechanisms.  His journey through life is witness to his energy and passion to learn at the edge of discomfort.

Niel has many years’ experience changing and developing organisations (in volatile, demanding and uncertain environments) from the inside, while serving as frontline medical staff and as line and executive management.  He has led and successfully delivered on various high-profile and ambitious projects in the medical field.  

His background makes him a versatile and experienced Organisational Learning, Development and Change specialist with extensive experience in adult education, project management and senior management.  Areas of operation include remote West Africa, Middle East, Southern Africa, and Europe. 

His approach is collaborative and succeeds in getting the best from teams.  Niel is able to work with high complexity and ambiguity to help individuals and organisations become more effective and efficient in decision-making and strategic execution.  He brings his skill and knowledge to organisations as an independent consultant and in collaboration with others. 

Niel has a Master’s Degree (passed with distinction) and is currently studying his doctoral degree at the Ashridge Business School in the UK.

He brings competence in:

  • Project management 
  • Organisational Development
  • Leadership and Learning Development
  • Workshop creation and facilitation
  • Culture Change

After a stop-start early career, Niel joined the French Foreign Legion to see the world - which developed his leadership skills and instilled values of tenacity, awareness and connectivity which persist today.

After returning to South Africa in late 2004 and running an adventure training company, he changed track again in 2006 when he started out in the Emergency Medical Service as a Basic Ambulance Assistant and worked his way upwards to qualify as an Advance Life Support (Critical Care in some countries) Paramedic in 2010.  Moving to Qatar, he held a range of front-line and eventually senior management positions in the Medical Service, before embarking on the MSc in Org Change in 2015 in the UK.

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Niel works with Lacerta on a number of projects including the ground-breaking BIMA RUN empowering women programme in 2018, on which he took a lead role.

He collaborates with Lacerta through his own Development Consultancy, Sensibus Consulting.

Based in South Africa.