Umhlaba Rural Services contracts a range of specialist development professionals and staff for its projects and programs. A core management team of three Directors manages all URS staff. These Umhlaba Rural Services Directors have more than 40 years of experience in the development sector.
Tom Lebert
Tom Lebert is a planning and policy specialist having provided project and program formulation services to state agencies, civil society organisations and donor institutions. His thematic areas of expertise are
land reform, rural development, and rural local government/decentralisation. Tom is currently providing project and program formulation, and evaluation and review services to the Austrian Development Agency in relation to their work in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Tom also has extensive research experience in relation to land reform, common property resource management, and water services planning.
Tom Lebert has an MPhil Degree in Land and Agrarian Studies from the University of the Western Cape.
Dave Husy
Dave Husy is a planning and policy specialist and provides program and project management design services to a range of donor, parastatals and private sector clients. He has facilitated strategic planning sessions and training in planning for a range of donor agencies and has provided formulation expertise to a variety of projects. He has also managed large scale policy review and formulation processes including national consultation processes with regard to civil society regulation, bi-lateral donor program and rural development and land reform.
Dave Husy has a Masters Degree in Development Studies (cum laude) and is currently completing a PhD degree in the politics of development finance at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Brendan Pearce
Brendan Pearce was the Director of the National Land Committee for seven years from 1993-1999, and has worked extensively on land reform policy. He is currently Project Manager of the Umhlaba support
program on land restitution to the DLA. Brendan Pearce has a broader range of experience through working with a range of large institutions engaged in skills and institutional development including for example the Local Government and Water SETA, the Legal Aid Board, and the Community Law and Rural Development Centre. Brendan also provided the senior management and the Managing Director of the Land and Agriculture Bank of South Africa with strategic and project management support in 1999-2001.
Brendan Pearce completed his law degree in 1990 and was admitted to the Johannesburg Bar Council as an advocate in 1998.
Johannesburg Staff
Dominique (Nicky) Omar
Dominique Omar is a Consultant with Umhlaba. Until recently, Nicky provided Project Coordination and Management Support to the Social Development Cluster of the Alexandra Renewal Project, and previously was a Project Support Consultant on the Katorus Presidential Project. Some of her recent roles have also included, facilitation, research and evaluations. Nicky is familiar with the Logical framework Approach ("LogFrame") to planning, and has facilitated many sessions for NGO's on this approach.
Nicky has good project monitoring, research and survey skills, and is particularly strong in her writing ability.
