Dr Larry van Niekerk

Dr Larry Van Niekerk – Founder & Director Dr Larry Van Niekerk founded the Institute for Veterinary Practice Development (IVPD) in 2002 to help private practitioners understand the business of veterinary science and develop leadership capabilities. He continues to serve as an offshore director, sharing insights from international veterinary business trends.

Current Work: Larry is owner of Vetsquared Innovet Ltd, where he works as a speaker, facilitator, and leadership coach specializing in creating psychologically safe cultures for veterinary business owners and their teams. With extensive experience as both a general practitioner and specialist surgeon, Larry recognized that the lack of non-clinical leadership skills and business intelligence contributes significantly to stress and anxiety in the veterinary profession. This led him on a journey to understand resilience, emotional fitness, and effective leadership.

Qualifications: Larry is a Certified Behavioural Profiler, Emotional Fitness Coach, and Registered Professional Coach with the International Coaching Institute. He has developed comprehensive programs to help veterinary leaders stay emotionally healthy, deepen their business understanding, and build resilient teams. He works with individuals, teams, and business leaders to create psychologically safer environments by improving emotional and financial fitness—enabling them to better care for themselves, their families, and their businesses.

Background: BVSc, University of Pretoria, South Africa (1982) Masters in Surgery (2002) – Specialist Surgeon qualification Co-founder of Animal Aid Africa Former Vet Director and surgeon at Greencross Vet, Australia Former surgeon at Animal Referral Hospital, Gosford, NSW Larry now lives in Glenbrook Beach, New Zealand.

Secretariat

Secretariat Services are provided by

Vetlink:
012 346 1590

Dr Keith MacWilliam

Keith MacWilliam graduated from the University of Pretoria with a BVSc in 1982.He also completed a BVSc(Hons) in 1988.Keith has worked since 1984 in private practice as a member of the Orange Grove Veterinary Hospital which is one of the founding members of the IVPD.
He has served as chairman of the Johannesburg branch of the SAVA . He was also chairman of the Ethics committee of SAVA for numerous years.His passions include family life,visiting game parks and gym.

Brian Shear

Brian was born and educated in Johannesburg and studied Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand. He spent 25 years in the manufacturing sector, with electrical engineering companies, where his prime focus was the determination of men, money, machines and materials required for the production of industrial plant and equipment. Major projects included HT switch gear for Eskom as they started developing the national electricity grid in South Africa. In 1992, he started a financial services company providing holistic financial solutions to individuals and small/medium businesses. The business was founded on a principle of adding value to each clients’ circumstances through careful analysis and understanding of the current situation, visualising future scenarios and developing strategies to move from the present to the future.
For individuals, this means comprehensive Risk, Estate and Retirement planning, taking into account the individuals desire for adequacy and financial independence and never losing sight of affordability issues. For corporates, this entails understanding the relationship between owners and partners of business, how they interact regarding starting, growing and exiting a business, with a view to appropriate succession planning. Furthermore, the relationship between employer and employee is developed with Provident funds with risk and retirement benefits, Group Medical aid and staff retention/loyalty schemes. Brian’s wife Dorian, works with him in the business. He has 2 daughters and 6 grandchildren. This leaves just enough time to pursue his interest in photography.