Mentor and support team
A highly experienced and expert team that is dedicated to peoples' personal growth and learning
Kevin Lawrence
Kevin facilitates and designs the Ubuholi, Ukukhula, Iqembu and Invictus Indabas
Kevin is the Managing Founder of Odyssey Invictus and Managing Director and Founder of the Odyssey Group.
Passionate and driven in his desire to support people with their development, whether corporately or through social projects and helping to conserve the few wild places and endangered wildlife of the natural world, Kevin is incredibly pleased to be able to offer unique and potentially transformative development experiences and retreats in KwaZulu Natal, where he has, as part of his work at Odyssey Group, been supporting disadvantaged young adults from the UK and rural school and conservation work in South Africa.
In the corporate world his unique style and insight has been instrumental in transforming and revolutionising the development functions and practices in major household known companies across the retail, insurance and construction service industries.
In South Africa, Kevin’s UK based companies have helped transform the learning resources at the rural Ntokozo School in KwaZulu Natal, built an education centre for rural villagers on the banks of the Pongola River (to help them better understand and manage the natural flora and fauna resources their sustainable lifestyles depend upon), sponsored and been actively involved in the first ever Spotted Hyena collaring and telemetry tracking project and supported the work of the Wild Volunteers in re-wilding and populating the Ukuwela Conservancy.
With a background in Operations, Sales Management, Customer Service, Public Relations, Communications and Human Resources, Kevin’s pragmatic understanding of both the personal and commercial application of development theory and practice continues to add value across a broad range of businesses. Kevin’s approach has often been described as a ‘breath of fresh air’ by those he works with. At a personal level, perhaps the greatest feedback he has ever received from an individual was:
“when asked what my life-changing experiences have been, I’ll look back,
point at you and your programme and say, that was”
Kevin specialises in leadership, talent and management development, coaching, personal development, change, and team development.
Angus Wingfield
Angus Wingfield and his company Africa Wild Trails is the partner of choice for Kevin and Odyssey Invictus and Angus provides support either directly or indirectly for all indabas.
Following a chance meeting in 2013 when Angus and Kevin realised they had a shared passion for people development and Africa, they have been working together to deliver the Invictus programme that Kevin provides and funds for disadvantaged young adults in the UK. Such is their trust and friendship, they have extended their work relationship to include all the Odyssey Invictus Indabas.
In 2003 Angus travelled to South Africa with Col. Chris Blessington OBE and fell in love with the country. Then, following a successful career working with youth organisations and passionate about wildlife conservation and Southern Africa, in 2009 he formed Africa Wild Trails and the company now has 8 partners in South Africa. Angus has always known that having key people resident in a country of operation is vital in terms of safety and risk management, logistical expertise, maintaining high standards and the quality of learning about the local cultures and environment.
“There is no better way to understand the importance of conserving wild places and the wildlife that live their lives there, than to go and immerse yourself in them, if only for a short while. The impact on each individual is very real and will last a lifetime.”
Andy Moore
Andy joins us an an associate to support all our Indabas and brings a wealth of experience of both Africa and managing CSR programmes
Andy specializes in working with individuals and teams to help them to become more compelling in the way they lead, communicate and innovate.
He has 14 years of experience successfully leading large teams for Barclays across a unique variety of front line, support function and head office roles. He has led regional sales and service teams, recruitment and L&D teams and managed multi-million pound CSR programmes.
Having led many outdoor learning expeditions in Africa, he is a trained Mountain Leader and Accredited Practitioner with the Institute of Outdoor Learning. As well being a qualified leadership coach with the Coaches Training Institute and team coach with the Centre for Right Relationships.
His career has always led him from one challenging situation to another and this has taught him the importance of having purpose, engaging people’s spirits and doing things the right way. It has also reinforced the importance of getting out of your comfort zone as the key way to grow, understand yourself better and build resilience.
His clients like working with him because he brings a strong sense of clarity, balances challenge with support, and creates a fun environment to learn in.