My name is Mia Coetzee and I have been working in the social justice and social welfare field for 14 years. In 2002 I graduated from the University of Stellenbosch with a BA Social Work degree which is recognized as an equivalent of an Honours degree. That same year I was accepted by the University of Stellenbosch to enroll for their MPhil degree in Gender Studies. These studies I'm currently completing via UNISA. My first employment was with Child Welfare South Africa in Oudtshoorn. During my employment period, I gained experience in child protection, the implementation of the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 and foster care. Support services were also rendered to rural schools and their surrounding communities. In 2006 I was appointed as a Probation Officer with the Dept. of Social Development (DSD) –Western Cape. I was responsible for probation services in 3 Magistrate courts; Prince Albert; Leeu Gamka and Laingsburg. My work here consisted of the assessment of children in conflict with the law, facilitation of diversion programs and the compilation of pre-trial and pre-sentence reports for children and adults. In 2009 I was appointed as the Provincial Youth Coordinator at DSD where my primary responsibility was project management. One of the projects I managed was the matric drive, a skills development project aimed at increasing the employability of matriculants. In addition to this, I managed the funding of 50 youth development organisations and was also responsible for the monitoring and evaluation of the services they rendered. In 2011 I was appointed as a Social Work Policy Developer. Though policy orientated, this position also had project management and training responsibilities. I was responsible for the training of Probation Officers and Assistant Probation Officers in the Child Justice Act 75 of 2008 and national child justice policies. Another big component of this position was to manage the national accreditation process of diversion programs in the Western Cape. In 2015 I returned to probation services where my duties were predominantly court-related in that I was responsible for presentence reports to Cape Town High Court and regional courts throughout the province. I am dedicated and hardworking and the plight of my fellow woman/man has always been a driving force.