Board members

By law, a Trust requires at least a three-person management team, which – in this case – functions without financial compensation. They are:

Caroline van de Velde
Chairperson

Caroline is, together with her late husband Jan Graat, the founder of Stichting Symbulon in the Netherlands and Symbulon Charitable Trust in South Africa.

Caroline’s initial training and employment was as a physiotherapist. Later, as a clinical perfusionist she operated the bypass machine which maintains blood flow to the body’s tissues and regulates oxygen & carbon dioxide levels during cardiac surgery. In parallel, she completed two Master Degrees at the University of Maastricht including a focus on Business Intelligence. Caroline is clearly well prepared to manage the flow of life sustaining oxygen to the Stichting!

Louise van Riet
Treasurer

Louise

Louise is an architect with some 35 years experience in all aspects of the industry. She trained as a contemporary dance teacher while a student, but architecture took centre stage instead! She is fortunate to be in a position to contribute towards providing the youth of McGregor access to those after-school activities that she was privileged to have experienced growing up in Cape Town, particularly dance and music.

June Savage
Secretary

June qualified and worked as an Intellectual Property lawyer in South Africa and Australia. Nowadays she and her husband run a grape and stone fruit farm on the outskirts of McGregor. June has a keen interest in contributing to improving the lives of less privileged people in McGregor and in particular the children of McGregor and its surrounds. She is a great admirer of Mary Corpe Silver, the founder and director of First Step Ballet McGregor, and the late Jan Graat and Caroline van de Velde, the founders of Symbulon Trust. Inspired by their work, June is a strong believer that dance and similar pursuits, can and will, and does, influence and transform lives of young people in McGregor for the better.

Rene Nassen

Member

 

Rene Nassen is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and has worked in the public sector in a joint appointment delivering clinical services as well as senior lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at Stellenbosch University.

She recently retired from her role in the Department of Health and Wellness in the Western Cape as one of the lead clinicians of a specialist child and adolescent mental health service. For the past five years she additionally assumed the role of provincial  coordinator and lead to strengthen child and adolescent mental health services. She is committed to prevention and early intervention for children presenting with emotional and behavioural challenges and the linkages with childhood adversity. 
She will continue to provide mentoring and support on a part time basis,  to contribute to clinical systems strengthening as well as academic teaching and training.
 
Rene is passionate about the creative arts and specifically the transformative power of the arts. As a young person her creative expression was as a classical pianist. In latter years she has dedicated herself to a committed visual  art practice utilising mixed media methods.

IN MEMORIAM

Jan Graat

Founder, chairman and tireless force behind the Symbulon Charitable Trust

Jan Graat was no stranger to social engineering. Even before his university studies he ‘presided’ over an international set of young people who had the ‘ambition’ to resettle in the poorest neighbourhoods, from Tolosa in Spain, to Paris & Lyon in France. Jan was very grateful to find himself retired in a socially responsible environment, and was keen to make a contribution. Unfortunately, Jan died far too early.