ABOUT US

The establishment of Ubora Research Solutions (CC) formalised an existing working relationship between two researchers, Yolanda Mitchell (MSc - Psychology: Research Consultation) and Hanlie van Wyk (MA - Psychology: Research Consultation), who have collaborated on research projects in the social sciences since 2009.

Yolanda Mitchell started her corporate career in 1998 while studying via correspondence. Her business experience covers sales, client services, business administration and financial administration. She subsequently gained extensive research experience since commencing her training in Research Psychology in 2009. She has also had training in group facilitation and project management, which together with her formal training has culminated in the design of a work method tailor-made for research in the social sciences. Yolanda specialises in research project management, building collaborative relationships, developing funding proposals, and providing actionable recommendations based on research findings.

Hanlie van Wyk started her first business in 1992 when she noticed a need for innovation in the South African wellness industry. Since then she has founded several businesses culminating in the rollout of a four year Employee Assistance Program for the National Prosecuting Authority. Since 2009 she has been involved in various research projects during her training as and subsequent to her qualification as research consultant. With her unique background in business and her experience and skill as researcher, Hanlie is ideally suited to her role as product developer, consultant, client manager, and trainer.

Yolanda Mitchell and Hanlie van Wyk entered the close corporation as equal partners.

Vision
To excel as an interdisciplinary research company that enables and enhances decision-making resulting in economical, environmental, social and cultural transformation.

Mission
Our mission is to promote positive social change by bridging CSI with the most strategic and researched social interventions.

OUR APPROACH

Our approach
We use an integrated model of programme evaluation and sector specific social impact indicators to:

• maximise the social impact of CSI
• monitor and evaluate products and programmes suitable for CSI

We employ quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods customized to every unique research project and we work within a project management framework that is tailor-made for research in the social sciences.

What do we do

• We evaluate and monitor the impact of corporate social investment projects
• We collaborate with organisations to achieve strategic and discernable ROI for corporate social investments
• We assess the design, implementation and effectiveness of social interventions

For the corporate social investor:
Through linking and bridging CSI with the most strategic and researched social interventions, URS can establish a baseline to ensure a discernable return on corporate social investment projects. We address the following questions:

• Does the CSI project add brand/business value?
• Is the project aligned to business strategy?
• Is the project underpinned by a concomitant social strategy?
• How socially relevant is the CSI project?
• How is the CSI project measured and evaluated?

For the funding organisation/NGO/CBO/Programme developer:
We monitor & evaluate social interventions relating to education, health and the environment. We address the following questions:

• Is the product/programme theoretically sound?
• Is the product/programme scalable?
• Is the product/programme monitored and evaluated?
• Is the product/programme well matched to an investor?