Beatrix Bouwman is a seasoned development practitioner, academic, and researcher with a wealth of experience in microbiology, agriculture, business, sustainable development, technology transfer, and community engagement. She is a talented PRA (participatory rural appraisal) and needs assessment specialist, who has worked with disadvantaged communities to understand their problems and help them become self-sustaining.

Bouwman has also participated in the R&D and commercialization of biotech products, and her company, Mycoroot, was a finalist in the tt100 Da Vinci Institutes’ annual emerging enterprise competition for three years running. She is a passionate mentor, a community engagement expert, an entrepreneurship teacher, and an SMME (small, medium, and micro-sized enterprises) assistant.

Bouwman is a trustee of the NWU Social Development Trust and the executive manager, as well as a trustee of Mosaic SA. She is also a board member of the Dr. Kenneth Kaunda Resource Centre and the South African Higher Education Community Engagement Forum, where she currently serves as chair.

As a da Vinci-type personality, Bouwman is highly entrepreneurial, creative, and a whole-brain/lateral thinker. She has a disciplined and task-oriented approach, stemming from her scientific training and background, while also possessing a high EQ and a futuristic mindset that enables her to be an early adopter of new technology and to turn new ideas into reality.

Bouwman's academic credentials include an MBA from North-West University/Noordwes-Universiteit, an MSc from the University of Johannesburg, and a Certificate from Université de Geneve.

Her professional experience includes director of sustainability and community impact at North West University Institutional Office, director & co-owner at AC-ADS, manager & executive director marketing at Mycoroot CC and Mycoroot PTY(Ltd), lecturer, researcher, and study leader at North West University Potchefstroom Campus, project manager & director at Amphigro CC, project manager at ARC Plant Protection Roodeplaat, various roles at PU for CHE, part-time lecturer at Technikon RSA Johannesburg, and technical assistant & researcher at Medical Research Council Tygerberg.

In addition to her professional pursuits, Bouwman enjoys gardening, painting, reading, and ballroom dancing. Her specialties include mycorrhizal fungi and commercial production, marketing and communicating complex concepts in an appropriate manner, networking & liaison, government liaison, non-profits, SMME'S, fundraising, socio-economic development, sustainability, environmental responsibility, management, enterprise development, and ABCD.