I am currently the Work Integrated Learning Coordinator as well as a lecturer in the School of Tourism and Hospitality at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) with 12 years lecturing experience in the fields of sport, tourism, events and hospitality both in South Africa and abroad. My position at UJ requires me to liaise with industry partners to secure placements for students looking to complete their Work Integrated Learning and also develop related curricula and course content. Prior to my appointment at UJ I lectured in the Department of Tourism and Event Management at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) and also guest lectured in tourism and conducted research on tourism and its role in social and economic development at the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Hebei University in Baoding, China; Shenyang University in Shenyang, China; the Universidade Unigranrio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the University of Pretoria and the University Portucalense in Porto, Portugal. I have a passion for travel and have travelled extensively for both work and leisure purposes. During my time living and working in China I developed a travel blog for expats which became extremely successful and had a large following. This helped to develop my creative writing and content development skills. Through my social media channels I regularly provide travel tips and feedback to potential travellers. This travel experience has also given me excellent skills in itinerary planning and development. For eight years I was the head researcher and research coordinator at the Centre for Tourism Research in Africa (CETRA), which has left me with a wide range of research skills and experience. The research conducted by CETRA was focused on social and economic development through tourism in developing countries across Africa as well as internationally. Currently I am supervising a number of postgraduate students whose research is on the cutting edge of development studies. The research projects that I have been involved in have provided significant findings and impacts in terms of economic development, enhancing positive social impacts and improving quality of life in developing countries through tourism and special events. My experience teaching, working and researching in a range of different environments and to a diverse range of students has given me the skills to adapt well to different scenarios and work well in a team. As an academic my personal mission is to conduct research which contributes to social change and development for emerging and developing nations. In doing so I have been involved in collaborative research projects which have used a number of innovative research and data collection tools in order to conduct applied research for social change. In these studies I have been involved in data collection and analysis, as well as report writing and presentation of research findings to both the private and public sectors. In terms of my specialization in Event Management, I have been involved in the planning, hosting, monitoring and evaluation of many local and international events of varying sizes including the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, 2010 FIFA World Cup, 2012 London Olympic Games, 2015 Rugby World Cup and many conferences. Through my passion for community and social development, this year I founded the School of Courage and Confidence, an empowerment and development programme for previously disadvantaged domestic workers in South Africa. The school provides these individuals with training on a range of areas including emotional wellbeing, women’s health, self defense, nutrition, labour laws, first aid, driving and swimming to name a few. The individuals who have successfully graduated from the school have gone on to become mentors and role models in their own communities.