People
Magda du Preez, Founder
MA, Psychology, University of the Free State, South Africa, 1992 Research on Role of Purpose and Motivation on Academic Achievement.
PhD, Wits Business School, South Africa, 2016Research on Impact of Feelings and Personality on Middle Managers’ Decision-Making and Performance.
Practice
1993-present: Organizational Development / Talent Assessment Specialist, Founder of Informed Talent Decisions
KPI selects candidates for leadership teams, develops leaders, and facilitates culture transformation. We have worked with startups, Fortune 500 companies, and not-for-profits in the USA, Africa, Asia and Europe.
Retained by mid-sized privately owned growth companies. Our results-based approach helped us retain key clients since 2003. Recurring “project based” clients date as far back as 1993.
Teaching
2003-present: Adjunct Professor and Outcomes Assessment Fellow, Long Island University, NY Teach Strategy Implementation and Organizational Behavior in Executive MBA program.
People
Magda du Preez, Founder
PhD, Wits Business School, South Africa, 2016
Research on Impact of Feelings and Personality on Middle Managers’ Decision-Making and Performance.
MA, Psychology, University of the Free State, South Africa, 1992 Research on Role of Purpose and Motivation on Academic Achievement.
Practice
Organizational Development / Talent Assessment Specialist, Founder of Informed Talent Decisions and KUDU Performance Initiative
We select candidates for leadership teams, develop leaders, and facilitate culture transformation. We have worked with startups, Fortune 500 companies, and not-for-profits in the USA, Africa, Asia and Europe.
Our results-based approach has helped us retain key clients since 2003. Recurring project-based clients date back to 1993.
Teaching
Adjunct Professor and Outcomes Assessment Fellow, Long Island University, NY, teaching strategy implementation and organizational behavior in Executive MBA Program.
Kevin R. Nash, PhD
Kevin is an industrial/organizational psychologist and management consultant specializing in organizational development, employee development, and human capital management. Kevin has held senior management positions in marketing and human resources in the pharmaceutical and medical equipment industries, and he is the president and founder of Aspen Organization Development Consulting.
He has worked with clients in Europe, Africa, and the United States, including Hawker Sidley Engineering, Borden Dairies, El Paso Pipeline Company, Anglo American Corporation, SAS Hotels, and Eskom Power Generation. His consulting assignments have included coaching executives and management teams, designing and implementing management training and development programs, designing succession planning and performance management processes, and providing change management consulting for organizations engaged in significant organizational change.
Kevin's research into cross-cultural coaching practices in over twenty countries found that the way employees accept coaching is significantly affected by their cultural background and level of education. He subsequently developed and led workshops for clients to raise awareness of these differences and to enhance cross-cultural employee coaching skills.
Kevin holds an undergraduate degree in marketing from the Dublin Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in management from the University of Kent at Canterbury, and a PhD in industrial/organizational psychology from Capella University, Minnesota, where his dissertation was Differences in the responses of managers to 360-degree feedback in low, medium, and high power distance cultures (Nash, K., 2005).
He is a member of the American Psychological Society, the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the American Society for Training and Development, and the Academy of Management.
Kathy Bluestone
Kathy has over 25 years of experience in consumer marketing at Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, and not-for-profit organizations, where she has been responsible for new customer acquisition and retention, data mining, financial forecasting, team and project management, and working with consultants to assess culture and implement change. She is also an instructor in the Pace English Language Institute in Pleasantville, NY, where she teaches classes in business writing, presentation skills, workplace pragmatics, conversation skills, and grammar.
Her private English tutoring assignments have included clients at IBM, Siemens, Bayer Healthcare, Swiss Re, Hitachi Metals, and Mercedes USA. Kathy holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary in Virginia, an MBA from Duke University, and a master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from Teacher’s College at Columbia University. She is a member of the national and New York State TESOL organizations and the Council on Adult Basic Education.
Joan Heynemann
Joan is a managing partner of Competence Incorporated, a consultancy specializing in the assessment and development of organizations and human capital for growth. At the Centre for Local Government Training: Western Cape (South Africa), she played a pivotal role in the acceptance and implementation of the use of assessment and development center technology as part of human capital development within the local government environment. She was also involved in other training related aspects of the Training Board which focused specifically on the development of newly appointed councilors following the 1994 South African national election.
Joan also managed the selection/assessment department of Old Mutual South Africa (a multi-billion-dollar international financial services company), where she played an integral part in transforming Old Mutual’s human resource practices. As an independent consultant, Joan specializes in project management, facilitation, culture change/change management, leadership development, assessment, organizational design, role design, and the design of associated human capital practices. Representative clients include Old Mutual South Africa; Old Mutual Namibia; First National Bank; Sanlam; Safcor Panalpina (Logistics); E+PC (Engineering); Graham & Rhona Beck Skills Centre; DG Murray Trust; Local Government Training Board, Western Cape; and various local authorities within the Western Cape Province.
Joan holds a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Richard Syrek
Richard is former chief operating officer for a consumer products company supplying decorative products for the home. He is also founder of Mentor Management, LLC, an executive management consulting firm located in Cold Spring, NY.
During his 30 years as an executive he played a senior role in corporate acquisitions and oversaw the development of world-class systems and superior corporate staff. Richard has expertise in senior management counseling, strategic planning, business development, financial analysis, operations, and union contract negotiation. He uses his expertise to analyze symptoms, quickly determine problems, and break them down into simple solutions. He also uses his skills as a facilitator to help management teams resolve issues, develop strategies for success, and build or revise business plans.
In addition to his consulting business, Richard has served as dean of The Center for Personal and Professional Development and is currently an adjunct professor at Rockland Community College. He also serves as treasurer for the Alice Curtis Desmond and Hamilton Fish Library, Garrison, NY; as secretary for the Rockland Business Association, on the board of the Suffern Rotary Club. He has a BS in Industrial Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and an Executive MBA from Pace University.
Thandi Mvakali
Thandi is principle director of Larona, one of South Africa’s most respected and innovative organizations in the field of human capital solutions. She has extensive experience providing executive and management assessments, team effectiveness analysis, and transformation management services to clients in the financial services, government, telecommunications, media, and oil industries.
Thandi has applied her skills across multiple cultures, having lived and worked in multiple countries including South Africa, United States, Kenya, and the United Kingdom. Clients who have benefited from her services include the South African Department of Foreign Affairs, the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the South African Department of Economic Development and Planning, the United Cricket Board of South Africa, TOTAL, SAB Miller, Vodacom, Transnet, Eskom, First National Bank, IDT, the South African Broadcasting Company, and Premier Foods.
Thandi received her M.Sc. in psychology from the Medical School of Southern Africa.