About elevate

We believe: Well Leaders, Lead Well

You’ve heard the call to “work smarter, not harder”. At elevate we know we can go one step further, which is why we’re dedicated to smarter wellbeing for women leaders. For us, wellbeing encompasses anti-discrimination in all forms and all places. This is at the heart of all our activities given that gender and racial justice are essential to any progress.

elevate’s programmes enhance wellbeing for successful women who are already familiar with the tasks and metrics for good health and wellness. We personalise this knowledge for you so you can go to the next level: integrated wellness in the service of smarter leaders.

Our approach to wellbeing prioritises strengths over deficits. We recognise you already have core skills that contribute to your wellbeing. We show you how to amplify these without adding to your workload. With our guidance, you’ll adopt new mindsets and heartsets to more easily and enjoyably attain your wellbeing goals.

Our Manifesto

We believe that all women are leaders and women leaders who do things differently are awesome. Because women are communal, inclusive and visionary, they help others achieve their full potential. We support women to reach world-changing heights and create powerful legacies. As women lead change, bringing heart into work and our world, the possibilities for inclusion, growth and human thriving expand for everyone. elevate’s unique worldview integrates wellbeing and leadership. Well leaders, lead well. Our values-based vision comes to life in our programmes. We work with women leaders one-to-one and in groups to transform limiting mindsets, habits and obstacles into pathways of freedom and meaning. To do so we align fundamentals like values, sleep, nutrition and hydration, with inspiration, fulfilment and joy. Our clients clarify personal values, meaning, globally-focussed ambition and an understanding of what it means to live in a truly interconnected world. elevate’s legacy will be a network of women who live purposefully and are certain of their own impactful legacy.

We drive change through recognising women in their entirety, working with every facet of life and bringing wellness to all areas of being. A broad view of well-being, with a focus on intentional habits, gives women the tools to change structures both from the inside out and the outside in. Our purpose is to create change in and through individual women’s lives.

Meet the Team

Ever wondered what the world would be like if we were all able to play to our strengths and create a world of belonging? And what if we were able to thrive and succeed and genuinely celebrate others’ achievements? We wondered the same thing too. And from our belief that well leaders lead well, came elevate. Over the course of many years of working together, and through many deep conversations, we realised we share a common vision for the transformations that emerge when wellness and women’s leadership converge. And we realised that now is the time for us to step up and step out so that we are actively contributing to shaping a better world, with you.

Dr Cathy-Mae Karelse

Bio pic Cath

We all know that women make things happen. We bring about creative changes that have lasting social impact. 

As a South African active in the anti-apartheid movement, I was privileged to work in collectives to optimise personal, organisational and social transformation. Actively engaged in nation-building, my work at global, national and regional levels revolved around change for women and societies at large. 

Currently, I support individuals and teams reap the benefits of making practical changes that enhance personal and collective wellness. To do this work I rely on expertise, intuition and insights gained to hone in on spoken and unvoiced challenges, even when these are carefully protected and guarded and hiding in plain sight. Through decades of gaining deeper understanding in what it takes to make change stick, I support you in converting revelations into strategies and solutions that allow you to live a fuller, richer and more meaningful life. 

I believe and have often seen that we are stronger when we work collectively, marking our individual contributions by bringing our voices and efforts ever more clearly to forging an ever-changing world.

Jo Gillibrand

Bio pic Jo

In my career, I’ve been inspired by many women leaders. The ones who stand out, in terms of effectiveness, calibre and ‘followability’ are the ones who care most about wellbeing. 

They don’t restrict this to their own lives but go above and beyond for the wellbeing of their teams, their communities, and their wider world. In this broad definition of wellbeing, magic happens: teams morph into superteams, the impossible becomes normal, and everyone has the opportunity to grow. 

Now, stepping into elevate has transformed my world. The 25+ years I’ve spent in developing my skills and expertise in various wellbeing approaches are now put to the best use I can think of: changing the world with one woman leader at a time. In combination with these wellbeing techniques, I’m putting at your service my experience in organisational change, HR, marketing, international cultural research, and the study of how we reimagine our world by telling a better story. 

I believe that now, more than ever, this combination is needed to help us all transform and soar.

Women who love elevate's approach to wellbeing tend to also love:

  • Growing in a community of like-minded women
  • Advancing gender, racial and all social justice
  • Excelling at health as much as they excel at business
  • Making a clear decision that piecemeal approaches to wellbeing are old hat and you’re ready for an integrated approach that you know works
  • Appreciating the wellbeing-leadership link
  • Forging new ways of leading
  • Setting and achieving quantifiable and tangible wellbeing goals
  • Being coachable
  • Being kind, caring and interested in others
  • Understanding that there’s no glass ceiling when it comes to health
  • Applying a strength (rather than a deficit) model in all areas of life
  • Building wellbeing into all facets of your life
  • Being caring, trying new things and helping others do the same
  • Being a mentor, coach and inspiration

Does this sound like you?

If it does, we’d love to work with you.

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