Dr Arnel Huisamen

GCBR Board Director

Arnel is a retired social worker who (extremely loyal) stuck with her first job in the South African Police Service (SAPS) for 27 years. She describes it as an amazing journey where she could learn and grow on numerous levels. During her time at SAPS, she realised that her passion for people and love of learning could perfectly combine by focusing on skills development. She subsequently pursued a Master’s (2004) and Doctorate (2006) in Social Work, concentrating on the evaluation and ROI of Soft Skills Training. She published research articles and did oral and poster presentations at local and international conferences and is still partially involved in the academic world through research guidance, lecturing and external examination.

While in SAPS, demands on personal (and life in general) increased, and the need for mental toughness became more evident. In her planning and designing of a Resilience Programme, she stumbled upon the field of Positive Psychology, and her natural curiosity led her to enrol for a Master’s Degree (2018) in Positive Psychology. With inherent optimism, this science was embraced wholeheartedly, and currently, she combines all of the above to facilitate, train, and coach to optimise potential.

She values relationships, integrity, kindness, gratitude, and spirituality and describes her life philosophy with two words: “Choose Life!”

She embraces empowerment without equivocation and is a co-owner of A2Z Training Academy and partner and co-developer of the EI Activator, focussing on Emotional Intelligence. She feels she adds value by:

· creating awareness (knowing),
· living in harmony (flowing) and
· optimising the potential (growing) of self, others and the world.

It is therefore no surprise that she joined the board of the Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve as a director on 1 January 2023 to discover and focus on more flourishing factors.