IndabaINSTITUTECoursesOUR PEOPLE
An institution takes shape through its people. Meet our team, facilitators and the wider Montessori community whose experience connects learning with practice.
Meet the team listed on the Institute’s community page, alongside three international profiles introduced by the Institute. Teaching appointments are confirmed separately for each course cohort.
Leadership & Operations
Business Manager
Illse-Jane oversees the Institute’s people, operations and finances. A Chartered HR Professional, she brings experience across established organisations and growing businesses, helping create the conditions in which the team and its educational work can thrive.
Head of Training
Jennifer brings decades of Montessori experience in Cape Town to the preparation of adults. Her work with community-based practitioners connects an understanding of child development with the relationships and environments that shape everyday life.
Senior Community Liaison Officer
Nomvelo connects practitioners, facilitators and the Institute team. Since joining Indaba in 2017, she has supported CoRE enquiries, admissions and the processes that help educators find their way into learning.
Administrator
Inshaaf helps people feel welcome and keeps the everyday work of the Institute moving. She supports public enquiries, reception and administration across the CoRE and AMI programmes.
CoRE Facilitators
CoRE Facilitator
Xoliswa brings extensive Montessori classroom experience and a background in teaching isiXhosa. Her work with the First Children programme and CoRE connects educational practice with the knowledge and strengths of local communities.
CoRE Facilitator
Piliswa began her Montessori journey at Auburn House, completing a 3–6 diploma before working across early childhood and elementary environments. She brings classroom and community experience to her role as a CoRE facilitator.
CoRE Facilitator
Claire’s experience centres on the earliest years. An AMI 0–3 diploma holder and former Montessori school co-owner, she brings sustained work with toddlers to the preparation and support of CoRE practitioners.
CoRE Facilitator
Emma draws on years of working with children aged three to six and co-running a Montessori school. Through CoRE, she shares practical experience with adults seeking to deepen the quality of children’s everyday learning.
CoRE Facilitator
Colleen brings experience in community preschool leadership and AMI diplomas for both birth to three and three to six. Her work combines a commitment to accessible early education with practical understanding of the classroom.
Advisors & Collaborators
Consultant & mentor
Pru’s contribution spans teaching, Montessori training and educator development. She introduced the CoRE pilot in Kayamandi in 2021 and mentors facilitators, connecting decades of experience with community-rooted practice.
Consultant
Theodora brings experience in early childhood settings, community development and human rights. Based in Cape Town, her work connects the realities of local provision with wider efforts to strengthen education and support children’s rights.
International Montessori community
AMI Auxiliary Teacher Trainer · Birth to three
Zoe prepares educators to support children from birth to three. The founder of Studio Montessori in San Francisco, she brings international experience to teacher education and helps schools strengthen the preparation and support of their early-years teams.
AMI trainer · EsF CoRE developer
Uma connects Montessori teacher education with community-rooted practice. Director of blended 3–6 training at MINT, she helped develop AMI’s blended training approach and designed EsF CoRE. Her work with communities around the world centres on children’s rights and meaningful access to early education.
Regional Programme Coordinator
Linh brings a background in education, languages and programme coordination to AMI. She holds a business administration degree from Hanoi University and a master’s in TESOL from Victoria University in Melbourne, and previously taught English to children and young people in Vietnam.
AMI FACULTY
Teaching teams are confirmed for individual courses. Contact admissions for the current faculty and handbook; a wider professional connection does not imply a teaching appointment.
Ask about programme facultyAN INVITATION