Our Team
Illse-Jane Wessels – Business Manager
Illse joined Indaba in 2023 as the Business Manager of the Indaba Institute, overseeing HR, Operations and Finance. She is an experienced HR Executive with 20 years of expertise in diverse industries, from multinational corporations to tech startups. She is a registered Chartered HR Professional in South Africa and certified Organisational Design and Development Practitioner from the UK’s Chartered Institute of People Development. Proficient in HR domains like Diversity Equity and Inclusion, B-BBEE, Change Management, and Transformation, with qualifications in BCom HRM and BA Psychology and Economics.
Jennifer Moore – Head of Training
Jennifer has been fully involved in the Montessori world for the past 35 years in Cape Town. During this time, she has made two adventurous overland trips into Africa, visiting some eighteen different countries.
She now finds herself connecting with groups of women who look after children in the disadvantaged and rural communities in South Africa.
Jennifer’s life and work has opened her eyes to the nature of our species and to our indisputable connection to each other. She sees the environment in which we grow up,
both natural and communal, having a profound influence on us and the adult we will become. That this in turn shapes the communities we create and so the cycle is perpetuated. She hopes that by helping adults become aware of human needs and development, small steps towards change can be made.
Nomvelo Lupuzi – Senior Community Liaison Officer
Nomvelo joined the Indaba Institute in 2017 and is currently the Senior Community Liaison Officer. She works with the CoRE facilitators and practitioners, develops processes, and protocols, and manages all CoRE workshop inquiries, practitioner applications, and admissions, to facilitate the best experience for practitioners on the Indaba Institute CoRE Programme. She also provides operational support to the Business Manager.
Inshaaf Manuel – Administrator
Inshaaf joined the Indaba team in 2023 as the Administrator of the Indaba Institute. She is responsible for the front desk reception area and assists the team with admin-related tasks for CoRE and AMI. She also attends to various inquiries from the public and provides administrative support to the Business Manager.
She is currently completing her internship to graduate with a Diploma in Management Assistant.
Xoliswa Bala – CoRE Facilitator
Xoliswa Bala holds a 3-6 Montessori Certificate and has spent over 25 years working at a Montessori school, supporting teachers in the classroom, and teaching the Xhosa language to Primary (Elementary) school children of all ages. She played a central facilitating role in the First Children programme, both in Cape Town and in rural Eastern Cape. She is currently one of the Community Rooted Education (CoRE) facilitators at Indaba Institute for the CoRE Programme.
Piliswa Baliwe – CoRE Facilitator
Piliswa was first introduced to Montessori in 2004 when she received a job at Auburn House. She then obtained a 3 to 6 Diploma in 2005 and started working in the 3 to 6 environments. From there she moved to 6 to 9 and was also a part time Xhosa teacher. She left Auburn House in 2018 and began working with the Auburn House Trust in the Cape Town and Coffee Bay areas. In 2021 she started working for the Indaba Institute, first as a Facilitator in Training and then as of 2023, as a Facilitator for the CoRE program.
