Ian Ferguson and Rosie Leyden of Teamworks each have over 30 years' experience in the fields of leadership, general management, management consultancy, and editing and publishing. Here is what some of our clients say about us.
The Good Market, Colombo
“Over the past 12 years, I have been involved in many volunteer placements in Sri Lanka, and this was by far the most productive and beneficial volunteer visit that I have ever seen …”
“Ian and Rosie are professional and experienced … They went above and beyond the planned scope of work …”“Ian and Rosie made an enormous contribution, and we are very grateful for their support.”
Dr Amanda Kiessel, Board Member of The Good Market
Global Legal Action Network
"Teamworks were true professionals. We reached out to them when our human rights law organisation was seeking to conduct a thorough strategic review of our growing organisation."
"Our time spent together discussing where we wanted to take our organisation went extremely smoothly. We were dealing with a very capable and conscientious team."
"Thanks to Teamworks’ preparation and foresight, we managed to cover a huge range of issues in a very short space of time. And at the end of this process we had our strategic plan."
Gearóid Ó Cuinn, Chief Executive, Global Legal Action Network
Innovations for Poverty Action Uganda
"I highly recommend Teamworks as a company to conduct organizational-change-management support. Our organization had an excellent experience with Teamworks and felt they brought great value to us."
Daniele Ressler, Innovations for Poverty Action Uganda
Fix Forward, Cape Town
"During November and December 2018 Ian and Rosie worked with Fix Forward, providing strategic guidance … The outputs of their work are already being implemented with great effect. Their vast experience and approach to the work has left us in a far stronger position than we were before we engaged with them. I’d have no hesitation in recommending them to any organization or company as a strong team who can indeed add real, tangible value.”
Joshua Cox, Founder, CEO, Fix Forward
Ethical Apparel Africa, Ghana
[A collaboration in which Teamworks provided leadership training to build capacity of local managers in apparel factories in Ghana] … “has been a very fruitful experience for us and for our partners. Ian and Rosie adopt an extremely respectful and pragmatic approach when assessing people’s specific needs and adjusting their training curriculum to the on-the-ground reality and the context they work in. [We have received] extremely positive feedback from partners, whose teams still refer to this life changing training.
Ian and Rosie’s expertise, professionalism, rigour, humour and flexibility will make any collaboration a memorable and fruitful experience.”
Pauline Watine, Social Impact and HR Director, Ethical Apparel Africa, West Africa
Beautiful Gate, Cape Town
Ian and Rosie worked with us in defining and updating our Mission, Values and Vision and helping our Leadership and Board to develop a strategic plan for the next 2-3 years. They also did some Leadership Development training tailored to our needs, which our staff really enjoyed and benefitted from. … Ian and Rosie’s ability to connect and engage with everyone, whilst understanding, adapting and accommodating to our cross cultural diversity stood out as a highlight. Ian and Rosie, started out as consultants and have become trusted friends.
Minah Koela, CEO, Beautiful Gate
Child Action Lanka, Sri Lanka
“Having Ian and Rosie at Child Action Lanka (CAL) was the best thing that could have happened …”
“Their study and evaluation of our project was excellent and continues to be useful to us …”
“They delivered first-class training that was both enjoyable and of immense assistance to CAL …”
“I am extremely grateful to Ian and Rosie for their commitment and total dedication in working with our charity…”
Deborah Edirisinghe, Founder Director of Child Action LankaBusiness Activator, South Africa
"Upon arrival, Ian and Rosie immediately set out to destroy the stereotype of consultants, and especially that of foreign consultants, that is so common in the developing world NGO-sector. They listened with discernment and followed up with pertinent and incisive questions. Only after many hours of listening to all staff and a wide range of stakeholders did the co-labouring process of synthesising this information into a new construct start. Even then their insights were offered with no hubris. … We were presented and left with a well-crafted, comprehensive review of our organisation, as well as a plan and the roadmap to address the areas we needed to reconstruct."
Egbert Wessels, CEO, Business Activator
Action West London
"Teamworks’ report was a superb piece of work – professional, focussed and well argued."
"We believe that Teamworks has given us a clear way forward, enabling us to strengthen the leadership, sustainability and effectiveness of Action West London."
Rod Cahill, Chair, Action West London more...
Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, Cape Town
"The effects of Teamworks’ coaching is still visible in how we manage our daily operations. Our team has become stronger and we are able to share our organisational vision more broadly and empower more junior staff members to be able to carry forward that vision.
Through our engagement with Teamworks, this team has managed to overcome one of our biggest challenges which was execution … Our ideas now come to life!
Ian and Rosie, in sharing not only their professional experiences but truly taking the time to engage and understand us, have left an indelible mark of positivity on this team."
Ellen Morta, Operations Manager, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator: Cape Town
Innovations for Poverty Action HQ, New York City, USA
“I am very grateful for Ian and Rosie’s support! They have a strong understanding of non-profits, of the international environment, and make a great effort to understand an organization’s specificities and their people. Their focus on management and accountability was very helpful to us.”
Annie Duflo, Innovations for Poverty Action HQ, New York City, USA
U-turn, Cape Town
Ian and Rosie are incredibly warm, professional and sensitive. Their observations and recommendations showed profound leadership insight and experience. Yet, despite their obvious expertise, they came in as students of the organisation and held off with making recommendations until they had thoroughly understood our business and the dynamics within our teams. This was deeply appreciated—especially in an environment that is particularly nuanced and complex, and into which most “consultants” seem to step with a sense of arrogant presupposition.
CamKids, Cambodia
“Rosie and Ian were highly effective, very accommodating, flexible and friendly. They were ever cognizant of possible cultural differences and the challenges of working in such an environment … ”
“They always acted with integrity and were empathetic yet remained consistent in their views and advice where they deemed change or improvement in CamKids’ operations was appropriate …”
“We would have no hesitation in recommending Rosie and Ian for any role of a similar nature and believe their input will only benefit any organisation for which they consult.”
Dominic Sharpe, Trustee of CamKids
Innovations for Poverty Action Ghana
“Rosie Leyden and Ian Ferguson spent two months as volunteer consultants for Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) Ghana in 2015. We had asked them to help us think through our management practices, organizational structure, staff development strategy, and our strategic priorities at large. … Their approach was particularly effective. They had a tremendous positive influence on our plans and organizational structure. … I am particularly confident that the large majority of the ideas generated will effectively be implemented, and a number are already under way.” “Rosie and Ian are also outstanding trainers.” “Rosie and Ian also were a real pleasure to interact with. They were professional but also very friendly and approachable.” “My team and I are very thankful for the difference they made at IPA Ghana, and we would recommend them for any similar consultancy without reservation.”
Loïc Watine, Country Director, IPA Ghana
Ethical Apparel Africa
“We had the pleasure of working with Ian and Rosie on structuring the purpose, vision and strategic plan for our Foundation.”
“We ended our engagement with Teamworks with a clear vision and strategic plan, arrived at much more efficiently than we would have been able to achieve without their direction, input/insight and facilitation. We are very grateful for their support and recommend them enthusiastically.”
Paloma Pineda, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Ethical Apparel Africa
Common Good, Cape Town
“The quality of their work, their excellent insights on the basis of a wealth of experience as well as benchmarking with other NGO’s provided us with a great ‘snapshot’ of our organization as well as clear and pragmatic and actionable recommendations for improvement. …
They provided a team of around 15 leaders with two great days of excellent leadership training. …
Ian and Rosie quickly adapted themselves to the culture and values of our organization and blended in extremely well. I would highly recommend them to any NGO.”
Klaas van Mill, CEO Common Good
CoolPlay, Cape Town
“At a crucial point in restructuring the management of CoolPlay, Ian and Rosie ran a short leadership workshop. They went out of their way to individually tailor the course to our unique needs. … Our staff found them approachable, light-hearted and appreciated their insights born from years of experience. … My experience has taught me to be wary of overseas consultants, but Ian and Rosie's approach has proven the value that can be gained from external review and analysis.”
Scott Sloan, Founder and Executive Director, CoolPlay
Leadership training in Accra, Ghana