Deborah van Dongen Honored for Excellence in Human Resources

    BRYANSTON, SOUTH AFRICA, November 07, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Deborah van Dongen, Director of Common Ground and Hearts of Hope, was recently named a VIP member of Worldwide Branding. This special distinction honors individuals who have shown exceptional commitment to achieving personal and professional success.

Ms. van Dongen has 29 years of professional experience, with 18 years as a director of Common Ground and 11 years as a director of Hearts of Hope. Throughout her career, she has established herself as an expert in human resource systems and processes, facilitation, business and nonprofit management. On a daily basis, she is responsible for providing quality human resource management services, overseeing daily operations, including marketing and advertising, and searching for potential clients. At Hearts of Hope, she oversees all daily operations, including finance, fundraising, human resources and financial reporting, while managing a 20-person staff. Ms. van Dongen feels that the highlights of her career were becoming a human resource director at the age of 28 and starting her own company at the age of 30.

After completing her degree, Ms. van Dongen started working while continuing to study part time for the next eight years. She worked in a number of organizations, gaining valuable exposure and experience in the human resources field. After attaining her goal of becoming a human resource director at age 28, she decided to start her own consulting firm and be able to have more control over her career path and clients she worked for. She has successfully run her own company for the past 18 years. In 1997, she started volunteering at a children's home and after a number of years of volunteering and setting up educational structures for children, she, together with some friends, founded Hearts of Hope, an organization caring for orphaned and vulnerable children in a children's home that they own and run. The organization also assists communities in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Ms. van Dongen's philosophy is that very little is achieved without hard work. Consistent effort and sacrifice of short term goals for a longer term vision results in success. It may not be quick but it results in perseverance and an ability to cope with pressure, loss and challenges. She lives by three phrases of wisdom:

"If your vision doesn't scare you - it isn't big enough."

"I believe we were each created to change the world for someone."

"No project is too small."

Ms. Van Dongen separates herself from her peers by giving them personalized services. She is able to accomplish this by not taking on too many clients, many of whom have been with her for more than 10 years. She never says 'no' to a job that she can do. The greatest achievement of her career thus far has been to build a flourishing nonprofit business while raising three socially responsible children of her own. Her organization has helped thousands of children over the years and has been able to employ a staff made up of primarily women to enable them to care for their families and have an impact on their communities.

Looking back, Ms. Van Dongen attributes her success to her hard work, integrity and good working relationships with clients. She became involved in her profession because she has always been interested in the human resources field. She enjoys working with people and building professional relationships and developing people. The most gratifying aspect of her career has been running her own business successfully for the last 18 years.

Ms. van Dongen received a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Kwazulu Natal, a diploma in personnel management from The Institute of Personnel Management, a Diploma in Higher Education from the University of South Africa, and a Master of Business Leadership from the University of South Africa. In five years, Ms. van Dongen would like to help develop other professionals, and provide mentoring and training services.

For more information about Common Ground, visit http://www.common-ground.co.za.
For more information about Hearts of Hope, visit http://www.heartsofhope.org.za.

About Worldwide Branding
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For more information, please visit http://www.worldwidebranding.com.

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