Ian now heads up Disrupting Consultancy and is an author and global speaker. Russell has more than 25 years' experience of leading and strengthening large organisations around the world.

"I am delighted, honoured and immensely humbled to be asked to chair the Christel House South Africa Board," says Russel. "The school has made the most incredible impact on the local community over the years, and I am looking forward to helping support the management of the school in driving even greater success in the future."
 
Christel House expressed its gratitude to Steve Ross, previous chair of Edcon, for his eight years at Christel House — seven of which were as chair. Ross's involvement and leadership impacted the organisation's strategic direction and improved sustainability.

The outgoing chair, who remains on the board, says, "It has been my privilege these last eight years to serve the wonderful children of Christel House and a further honour to work with such a talented, committed and compassionate team."
 
"We are very fortunate to have excellence and commitment in every party of our faculty and senior team," Ross adds. The board additionally appointed three new board members: Derrick Petersen (legal and human resources specialist), Baba Mogase (business and marketing specialist) and Professor Linda Ronnie (education and transformative education specialist).

Christel House is an international charity that globally serves more than 5 000 students every year through eight educational institutions. The organisation's mission is to break the cycle of poverty by providing character-based and career-focused education to severely impoverished students.

Since its establishment in 2001, Christel House South Africa has achieved a 100% matric pass rate, and 96% of its school-leavers are in tertiary education or gainfully employed.

For more information, visit www.sa.christelhouse.org. You can also follow Christel House SA Facebook or on Twitter.