With an extensive communications and theatrical background, native Dubliner Annette now enables businesses and managers to reach their true potential with her action-based learning company, Jikijela. After gradating in communications and marketing, she spent 10 years in the pharmaceutical industry in sales, marketing and commercial development, winning awards and gaining a reputation for innovation. A new career path lead her to train as an actor and spend time working in Irish theatre and television.

It was Annette’s combined experience in business and theatre that brought her to realise a need in corporate training where an impact was required beyond traditional learning methods. By adapting forum theatre techniques to suit the business community, she founded the principles upon which Jikijela’s work is based. With proven success, development and expansion, Annette and her team address the constantly changing needs of Irish business, through management and team development.

A talented festival and project director, and prolific theatre and film director who has worked with the best of talent in Ireland and the UK, Vanessa now brings Jikijela’s workshops to life through performance, creating engaging and powerful experiences.

As a facilitator Vanessa enables the individual’s development through techniques like forum theatre, allowing groups to find creative and empowering new ways to meet workplace challenges. Creating a workshop environment of comfortable participation, her skills in group dynamics let each individual find the best in themselves and clearly identify the contribution they make in their role at work.

Bringing Jikijela into the community, Vanessa works with varied groups to give voice to those with obstacles to overcome, assisting them in achieving their own goals. Theatre is used as an educational tool and a medium to portray disadvantage and enable empowerment; whether economic, physical or social.

Originally from Wexford, Elaine has been acting and performing from a young age. Having received an Arts Degree from the University College of Dublin, Elaine lived and worked in Spain for eight years teaching English both academically and in business, while continuing her studies in performance. Her professional acting career brought her back to Ireland, where she has participated in many theatrical productions and worked in film and video, while using her teaching skills as a practitioner of the dramatic arts.

Now in her work with Jikijela, Elaine uses her interest and experience in the application of dramatic techniques to the learning process, to facilitate challenging and empowering workshops.

With a background in journalism and marketing, U.S. born Kate now resides in Ireland and brings a breadth of knowledge and experience to Jikijela. Having achieved a BA in Humanities from Florida State University and Post-baccalaureate training in Journalism and Communications, Kate went on to work in several disciplines including journalism and print media, research and marketing.

In her work with Jikijela, Kate supports client needs and develops communication channels to meet the requests of our customers, colleagues and associates. She also uses her skills to keep abreast of industry trends within key client sectors, and manages regular contact and events for those interested in experiencing Jikijela for themselves.

Aidan is Head of the Department of Marketing in the National University of Ireland, Galway, having previously held challenging senior management positions. Active in business through consultancy and training, he is also involved with the EC and UN training agencies in management training in Africa, the Middle and Far East and Russia.

For years Aidan has championed the customer service/drama relationship – one of a few academics globally to argue that front of house staff are ‘on stage, playing roles, performing.’ his question is; what can service businesses learn, adapt and apply from drama that would assist them to deliver branded customer service? He specialises in improvisation and rehearsal, a seminar on improvisation is included on his Services Marketing courses for graduates and undergraduates. With US colleagues he pioneered the world’s first research on improvisation for front of house staff to deliver excellent customer service. He is now investigating theatrical techniques for staff facing the challenges of cross-cultural communication.

A native of Durban, Jethro abandoned his promising teaching career in South Africa to venture into his father’s homeland of Ireland. His experience in Irish business in the engineering industry in the management of sales, service and training gave Jethro insights and understanding into our modern economy and the necessity for sustaining a supportive business culture and climate. Jethro has worked with managers in areas such as empowering change, finding new ways to measure innovation, and increasing revenue growth from process and service design. Jethro has developed the cycle of experiential learning used within Jikijela’s work both in practical workshops and as a template for continuous client development. He has also designed an academic process model based on crucial steps for a company’s competitiveness, ranging from brand implementation, through service experience simulation, to empowering innovation.