Anthea Taljaard (Van Der Pluym)
34 Thomas Elgie Drive, Toronto · +1 416 723 2223
[email protected] · LinkedIn.com/in/antheavanderpluym
Work status: New Canadian – permanent resident of Canada
Objective: A meaningful strategic leadership and administrative role in Education or NGO’s. .
Management / Strategic Leadership /Education Administration
I am an experienced senior manager with strong Educational administration and training experience, and many years of dealing with violence against women in multicultural workplace and domestic environments. My expertise within organisations is strategic direction and execution of vision using high performing teams to accomplish this, and building collaborative partnerships with stakeholders.
Professional Summary:
· I restructure, train and develop organisations with my last 2019 outcome being an increase of 21% academic achievement for my all Female team of 50 staff, within the adult vocational training space across multiple disciplines.
· I consistently execute complex projects on time and in budget, empowering and strengthening my teams to perform even better next time.
· I champion the reduction of violence towards women, (SA) and education of adult women (Middle East) through tailored projects, consistent education, and the implementation of collaborative and legal institutional processes.
Areas of Expertise:
· Education management
. Strategic leadership
· Operational planning
· Human resource management
Skills:
· Big picture thinking
· Collaboration and teamwork
. Data analysis
· Solid decision making on complex issues.
Career Experience
Dean/Department Head/ | 2015 – Present
Colleges of Excellence, Saudi Arabia – (Al Qatief, Arar and Al Majmaah campuses)
I was rapidly promoted from trainer to Academic Manager, then Department Head and finally to Dean, due to my ability to achieve results using collaborative teams.
As the Dean, I was responsible for
– Strategic and operational leadership – specifically of the vision and mission of the Female College within COE’s nationalisation framework in Saudi Arabia.
– Consulting and collaborating with female faculty, staff, students and key male and female stakeholders in the government to develop a culture of engagement, and empowerment in the workplace for women.
– College budget administration.
– Overall responsibility for curriculum review, staff development and quality assessment.
– Leadership of 30 female staff, mentoring/enabling them to realise their potential, and to value their multicultural contributions to the organisation and students.
– Operationalising the Saudi Skills Development program within two years.
In the HOD role, I
– Directed the daily operations of the Female Vocational Faculty including the recruitment, onboarding, supervision and mentoring of 50+ women, +1000 students, within seven academic disciplines over two years of curriculum. (Associate Diploma and Diploma).
– Collaborated in the Senior Management Team to prepare annual operational plans and longer term strategic plans to execute the organization’s vison, mission and goals.
– Set, evaluated and monitored standards of performance for training delivery, preferred teaching and learning methodologies, as well as assessment tools.
– Liaised and developed key relationships with external Employer Advisory Boards, and government programs to create vocational employment paths for female graduates.
– Managed the quality improvements processes including the IQA department, lesson observations, learning walks and staff mentoring activities.
– Actively encouraged and supported the implementation of the college campaigns.
– Contributed to the College Self-Assessment, Improvement planning and implementation process.
– Championed the development of new digital technologies, data management, and innovative work simulation activities that enhance the student learning experience.
Selected Accomplishments:
Best COE vocational results for 2019 year in the Eastern Province. (Improvement of 21%).
Volunteer Experience
Co-Founder NGO/ International Motivational Speaker | 2003 – 2015
Co-Founder of a non-profit that assists individuals in South Africa who have been subjected to personal domestic violence. Lead housing community projects to help these women, providing financial independence, art therapy, and mental health support.
Participated in many radio, TV interviews, as well as videos and events.
Selected Accomplishments:
Letters of commendation from Western Cape Provincial Government and various local municipalities for the work of the NGO.
Created the non-profit “We Build Zwelihle” which designed and built fireproof eco-homes for women and children who had been burnt.
Mentor for Women in Saudi Arabia | 2015-2018
As a female role model in Saudi Arabia, I championed the development of young adult women in Saudi Arabia, to enter, function and succeed in the workplace under the government’s new programs which called for and enabled cultural and workplace adjustments to legitimately accommodate female workers.
Selected Accomplishments:
Eight hundred students graduated during my time across the campuses with half the students finding meaningful employment positions.
Additional Experience
Marketing Manager| Cashcows.com Hermanus, South Africa |2012 – 2015 Managed a financial intermediary’s various social media, marketing accounts, web interface , and online marketing presence for Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom
Director: Operations | Contact Solutions, Johannesburg, South Africa | 2008 – 2010: Managed a hosted call centre with 45 employees that provided financial and retail services to businesses.
CRM and Focus Group Manager| Siemens LTD, Johannesburg, South Africa| 2005 – 2008: Managed operations of a multimedia contact centre, a staff of 35, and CAD4 million budget. Built relationships with large, multinational corporations such as Daimler Chrysler, Tracker, and ADT Security.
Divisional Manager-Service Quality | Discovery Health, Johannesburg, South Africa | 2004 – 2005: Accountable for service quality for seven national call centre teams which focused on claims processing and health partner environments.
Commercial Service Manager | Siemens LTD, Johannesburg, South Africa | 2002 – 2004: Directed the business development practices for the plant maintenance division including the supervision of 30 employees and CAD7 million budget.
Group Strategy Manager | Siemens LTD, Johannesburg, South Africa | 2000 – 2002: Drove the Corporate strategic planning and strategy implementation process for multiple business units, including the energy, industry, and medical solutions units.
Education
Master in Business Administration (Cum Laude) – De Montfort University, United Kingdom.(Degree)
Bachelor of Commerce – University of South Africa (Degree)
International Organisations Management – University of Geneva (Certificate)
– Crash course in Data Science
– Building a Data Science Team
– Managing Data Analysis – John Hopkins University (Certificate)
IOSH Occupational Health and Safety – Green Lantern Company UK (Certificate)
TEFL Teach English in a Foreign Language – The Knowledge Workshop
Computer Skills
Office 365
Website Design Wordpress & Wi
Windows NT Professional
SPSS – Statistical Package for Social Sciences
Languages
English
Afrikaans
References
Written references available on request.
Linked in Profile – https://www.linkedin.com/in/antheavanderpluym