Prof Mirna Nel is deputy dean for research in the Faculty of Humanities, North-West University (NWU), South Africa and a researcher in the Optentia Research Focus Area.

I am a distinguished young female academic with a passion for quantitative analysis of socio-economic issues. I am energetic, persistent, self-motivated, dynamic and hard working. I have more than six years’ experience in the teaching of several modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate level including Introductory macro- and microeconomics, Monetary Economics at third-year level and Monetary and Fiscal Policy at honours level.

I have almost 20 years of experience spanning electronic engineering, software development and education in the South African context where I have worked for a variety of companies, from research institutions to startups and corporate software giants to my current position as lecturer at the North-West University.

Jacques Rothmann is an associate professor in Sociology at the North-West University, Potchefstroom campus. His key research interests include gender and sexuality studies, with a particular focus on masculinity and gay studies. He has published on a number of gender and sexuality foci including gay masculinity and sexual identity in higher education.

Jaco Hoffman (DPhil, Oxon) is Professor of Socio-Gerontology in the Optentia Research Unit, North-West University (Vanderbijlpark Campus), South Africa where he leads the Ageing and Generational Dynamics in Africa (AGenDA) programme. He is also Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Population Ageing, University of Oxford, UK where he co-ordinates the UN endorsed African Research Network on Ageing (AFRAN).

Prof. Ian Rothmann’s research interest is the assessment and development of human potential and flourishing in institutions within multicultural contexts. After completing his PhD, he focused on burnout, stress, coping and suicide within multicultural organisational contexts.

Marita Heyns is a researcher in the Optentia Research Entity of the NWU. She has a PhD in Psychology and a Master degree in Business Administration (MBA) as academic background. Her interests generally reflect Positive Psychology and Positive Organizational Scholarship related topics. She has a particular interest in the development of models for interpersonal- and organizational trust within workplace contexts characterised by transition and uncertainty. Through her research, she strives to promote pathways for individuals and organisations to flourish.

Marius Stander is a lecturer, researcher, and management consultant specialising in assessing and optimising talented people and teams. He is an NRF-rated researcher (C2). He has been lecturing Industrial Psychology on a postgraduate level at the Potchefstroom University for CHE, North-West University (Potchefstroom & Vaal Triangle campus) as well the University of Johannesburg (4 years - previously RAU) and the University of Namibia (3 years).

Dr Hayley Walker-Williams is Deputy Director of the School of Psychosocial Health; Senior Lecturer in the Psychology Subject Group and a registered practicing clinical psychologist within the Faculty of Health Sciences at the North-West University, Vanderbijlpark Campus in South Africa. She lectures undergraduate and postgraduate students in psychology, with special interest in abnormal psychology, trauma and strengths-based interventions and posttraumatic growth. Dr Walker-Williams has published and presented her work both nationally and internationally.

As a second generation social gerontologist in the African context, my research focuses on older individuals and their relationships with people and space (place).