Nanke Lavrijsen – Nanke was born to Dutch parents on the African continent. She spent her early childhood on a Kenyan coffee plantation, then moved to the seaside on Cabo Verde and later to Harare, Zimbabwe.
It’s Nanke’s life work to unravel the journey of the leader all the way down to its very essence. Through her background in Industrial engineering and Management, her successful career in corporate consultancy, her lifelong experience in moving between different worlds, and her unshakeable love for nature, Nanke developed a unique style of guiding leaders on the road of their professional development and self discovery.
Marieke van Werven – Marieke gets people moving. She is sharp and intuitive in her observations and knows how to get to the essence.
Marieke has been providing leadership programs with impact for 15 years. With many years of experience as a product manager within FMCG and her background in management consultancy, she is a pro in designing and delivering impactful learning programmes. In guiding people and organisations she observes and analyses from a systemic point of view. As a result, she creates awareness with regard to deeper patterns. She always works from a sense of interconnectedness and with a clear goal in mind. Her values: fun, connection, love and adventure.
In line with Nanke’s African roots we strongly believe in the power of community. As they say in Africa ‘If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together’. For Thuja’s journeys, intensives and organisational change interventions, we collaborate with other professionals and a circle of dear friends from the field of leadership development and coaching.
Thuja is the scientific name for the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life is a widespread myth or archetype in the wisdom traditions across the world, symbolising the connection to both heaven and the underworld, and ultimately connecting all forms of creation. The sap, bark and twigs of Thuja also possess healing properties.
Thuja’s work is rooted in the vision of Interconnectedness and it is Thuja’s mission to bring not only intelligence and experience to the leadership arena but also a healing presence.