Renald Morris

Networks Elder at The Wellbeing Project

Johannesburg; Gauteng Province,
South Africa

Renald is a South African living on the outskirts of the city of Johannesburg. He grew up during the time when the apartheid government was in power having to endure and overcome the injustices of the time. Upon completion of his secondary education he ventured into the mechanical engineering field where he gained experience in the areas of quality assurance, design and development, client liaison, and, production management. He left this sector for the Non-Governmental Sector after 15 years as result of his deep interest in social justice and community development.

The next phase of his career spans over a period of 25 years. In his newly-found path, he played a key role in dealing with the political violence which preceded and threatened the birth of the New South Africa. This included working with opposing political leaders towards stabalising communities so that the aspirations of the new democratic government could find fertile ground. This work later contributed to courses in peace education in schools and the University of South Africa.

His passion for the protection of women and children’s rights presented him with further opportunities to contribute to the national policy framework and to set up a national leadership development network directed at improving government services to women and children – especially those most vulnerable. Similar leadership development initiatives were also undertaken on a global scale working with multi-stakeholder social changemakers on in-country social and economic challenges.

Over the past eight years, Renald engaged with the work of The Wellbeing Project which inspired him to incorporate personal and organisational wellbeing into his leadership development work. After serving The Wellbeing Project as a co-creator under the banner of Synergos, he transitioned to the role of Network Elder where he continues to work with a fabulous team of people on growing and expanding the knowledge and practice-base on personal and organisational wellbeing globally.

Collectively his skills can be summarised as (among others) fundraising, program design and implementation, project management, fluency in English and Afrikaans, computer literacy, convening and facilitating gatherings, knowledge sharing, training, story collection, collaboration, partnership building, research, mentoring, M&E, reporting, advocacy, stakeholder liaison, grant-making and management.

He is an avid rugby and cricket supporter and loves classic and vintage cars. His philosophy is to look for opportunity in unusual places because, the dark reveals no horizons and therefore no limits.

What does inner wellbeing mean to you?

Understanding what is needed to sustain you from within.

How would you define wellbeing in one word?

Gratification.

Are there any rituals or practices you use to enhance your wellbeing?

Reflection time.

Why is it important that we prioritise individual and collective wellbeing?

So that we have a healthy and happy world.