Dr. Louise van Rhyn

Dr. Louise van Rhyn is a social entrepreneur. She believes the worlds' huge intractable problems can be solved through cross-sector collaboration and a solid understanding of complex social change. Her approach to change is shaped by 20 years of working as an Organisational Change and Leadership Development practitioner. She holds a Doctorate in Complex Social Change and has founded a few entrepreneurial organisations. Having worked in the UK, US and many countries around Europe, she returned to South Africa in 2004 to help make democracy work ‘at home’. In 2008 she started a social enterprise with a purpose to mobilise active citizenship around the significant social issues facing the country. In 2010 she launched Partners for Possibility, an innovative leadership development process for business and school leaders. In 2017 Louise was shortlisted for a Distinguished Achievement Award in the Thinkers50 Global Awards in the Ideas into Practice category. The judges commented on the fact that Partners for Possibility is a home-grown solution for the specific and pressing issues facing under-resourced schools in South Africa. Overall, this category identifies leaders who have “made a meaningful contribution in the real world”.