Baobab Centre Team in York North-East UK

The team at The Baobab Centre are highly qualified professionals who bring a wealth of experience in counselling, coaching, mediation, management and human resource consultancy, mentoring, change management and developing professional relationships.

Founding Members

Manar Matusiak, MA Education Management Manar has sixteen years of management experience, ten of which have been at Regional and Managing Director level. Her experience is in the field of general management and she has worked in a wide range of industries and sectors, from the steel industry to property development to specialist education. She is also Montessori trained and has worked as a teacher in both primary and secondary schools in England and abroad. She is a strong believer in the learning organisation and specialises in setting up and developing organisations and their people and delivers training and coaching in leadership and team development.	Gayle-Anne Drury, MA Counselling Gayle-Anne’s primary interest is in encouraging growth within individuals. She has ten years’ experience in personal counselling and works as a workplace coach and trainer. She has established and developed two workplace counselling services and regularly facilitates groups, away days and personalised training sessions on a range of developmental, managerial and organisational issues. She has undertaken mediation for a number of organisations including a central government department. She is an accredited counsellor with BACP. Gayle-Anne trained as a Health Service Manager and previously held a senior management post in a London Teaching Hospital.
Communications Team

Nicola Neath, Joint BA (Hons), Grad Dip. Counselling Nic is a practicing integrative counsellor with an interest in creative techniques, power dynamics and difference and diversity. She has a background in retail management, business and community project administration and voluntary sector training. She brings 12 years experience in individual and group training sessions. She specialises in team dynamics, communication, time management, team building and non violent communication.
Senior Consultants

Janet Coles, BEd, Chartered Institute Personnel and Development (CIPD) Janet is an experienced human resources and training professional who has worked in a variety of business settings and with staff at a senior level. She has over fifteen years’ senior management experience. Janet is an experienced trainer and facilitator who has provided management development and team management training across a range of skills areas, including change management, leadership and motivation skills, communication skills, assertiveness, performance and management, effective appraisals, and handling difficult issues.	Roy Searle, MA Applied Theology Roy has a deep interest in promoting relational management in order to help people, organisations and communities realise and develop their potential. Roy has been a Director of a Charitable Trust and a leader of the Northumbria Community for 20 years. He is an experienced personal and corporate coach, a consultant working with issues of leadership and organisational change and a leader of both secular and religious retreats. He writes and lectures on issues of relational ways of living. His first book will be published in 2007.

Outside of this team The Baobab Centre has a number of associates who work with us, each fully qualified and experienced in their own field. Both male and female professionals are available. This enables the organisation to offer a wide range of staff and expertise and increases our ability to provide the right person for the task. It also ensures continuity of our services and provides contingencies when specific personnel are unavailable.