Reed puts people first

Marsia Reed’s purpose in life is to make a lasting impact on the lives of people by motivating, listening, mentoring, connecting and guiding.
ELIZABETH JOSEPH
Elizabeth Joseph

For Lithon Foundation CEO Marsia Reed, the purpose is people.

Reed has always believed in living an impactful life.

Reed is a Jill of all trades and holds a B.Com degree which she obtained from the University of Stellenbosch. She was a stay at home mother for 13 years, while running her own wellness business. She then moved on and was employed as the purchasing officer for Rössing and Group 5.

Reed has not only made waves in the corporate world, but also in the sport industry. She was the sport organiser at Pionierspark Primary School for a few years and also the development manager at Cricket Namibia.

Reed is now the CEO of the Lithon Foundation for the Lithon Project Consultants.

“My purpose in life is to make a lasting impact on the lives of people by motivating, listening, mentoring, connecting and guiding. Being involved in the Lithon Foundation opened a huge platform for me to do exactly that, but on a much larger scale.

“Through networking, significant impact is also made possible with welfare organisations; we believe by adding value, increasing their influence in communities and impacting through excellence and integrity, but remaining focused on people,” Reed said.

Triumphs and trials

The ‘Sharing the Dream’ breakfast, which the foundation hosted every second week this year, has provided an incredible platform for organisations and individuals to share their stories, passion, activities and dreams with other organisations and businesspeople, according to Reed.

“The sessions are extremely successful because we are all desperate to hear good stories that uplift us and revive the hope that people are inherently good and want to help those who are less fortunate. The foundation’s executing arm, Impact for Life, was launched in October. The purpose is to provide a platform for interaction and collaboration between like-minded people and organisations to impact and improve people’s lives,” Reed said.

Some of the challenges Reed has faced include the country’s dire economic situation, which forced the Lithon Foundation to terminate all financial support to various organisations, with whom the foundation has had relationships for more than 10 years.

“The foundation, through the sponsorship of Lithon Project Consultants carrying our administrative costs, and by the grace of God alone, has been able to continue the passion of the foundation, to bring God’s love and hope to communities, despite having no funds available,” she added.

Reed says they have been able to remain focused on bringing God’s love and hope to communities, by steering Impact for Life to execute dreams and address problems and partnering with organisations like Loving Thy Neighbour.

A day in the office

“A great deal of the day goes into administration, planning and networking. I also value talking to individuals and organisations, sharing information and learning from each other. Meetings are important to align ideas and plan ahead and sometimes I get the time to visit an organisation to see the successes and challenges they are facing daily,” she says.

The next step

“In 2019, Impact for Life will be activated with various identified projects for purpose and think tanks, which have already been establish to address national problems in Namibia. Our focus will be to ensure the network of leaders are aligned and focused in addressing problems productively, and executing to success.

With the Ministry of Health and Social Services, the Lithon Foundation would like to present the first-ever Namibia Welfare Organisations Day, to promote cooperation and celebrate their achievements.

“Following this event the foundation will assist the ministry to register all welfare organisations on the Loving Thy Neighbour platform, which will enable the ministry to have a clear understanding and insight of all activities and actions in the country.

“Our focus will also be on creating a substantial fund to support national projects,” Reed added.

Marsia Reed fact box:

She has been married for 28 years.

She has read the 66 books of the Bible this year.

She loves rock music

She loves camping with family and friends in nature.

She has been to Sossusvlei 10 times.

She enjoys CrossFit.

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Namibian Sun 2024-04-18

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Premier League: Chelsea 6 vs 0 Everton LaLiga: Osasuna 0 vs 1 Valencia SerieA: Atalanta 2 vs 2 Hellas Verona | Fiorentina 1 vs 1 Genoa European Championships Qualifying: Southampton 3 vs 0 Preston North End English Championship: Southampton 3 vs 0 Preston North End Katima Mulilo: 18° | 34° Rundu: 18° | 33° Eenhana: 20° | 36° Oshakati: 22° | 35° Ruacana: 21° | 35° Tsumeb: 20° | 33° Otjiwarongo: 18° | 32° Omaruru: 20° | 34° Windhoek: 17° | 31° Gobabis: 18° | 31° Henties Bay: 16° | 24° Wind speed: 22km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 06:51, High tide: 13:03, Low Tide: 18:49, High tide: 01:16 Swakopmund: 16° | 19° Wind speed: 23km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 06:49, High tide: 13:01, Low Tide: 18:47, High tide: 01:14 Walvis Bay: 17° | 26° Wind speed: 28km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 06:49, High tide: 13:00, Low Tide: 18:47, High tide: 01:13 Rehoboth: 18° | 32° Mariental: 21° | 34° Keetmanshoop: 21° | 35° Aranos: 20° | 33° Lüderitz: 15° | 28° Ariamsvlei: 21° | 35° Oranjemund: 15° | 24° Luanda: 26° | 29° Gaborone: 18° | 30° Lubumbashi: 16° | 25° Mbabane: 15° | 26° Maseru: 11° | 24° Antananarivo: 10° | 24° Lilongwe: 17° | 24° Maputo: 19° | 30° Windhoek: 17° | 31° Cape Town: 16° | 24° Durban: 19° | 26° Johannesburg: 15° | 26° Dar es Salaam: 23° | 29° Lusaka: 18° | 28° Harare: 15° | 28° Currency: GBP to NAD 23.76 | EUR to NAD 20.36 | CNY to NAD 2.64 | USD to NAD 19.14 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.38 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.02 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.62 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.2 | USD to AOA 832.83 | USD to BWP 13.77 | USD to EGP 48.28 | USD to KES 132.73 | USD to NGN 1147.53 | USD to ZAR 19.14 | USD to ZMW 25.5 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 73271.44 Up +0.38% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1531.99 Up +0.70% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 13455.65 Up +0.53% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 28332.65 Down -4.5% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 379.05/OZ UP +0.47% | Copper US$ 4.41/lb UP +2.18% | Zinc US$ 2 831.90/T UP 0.11% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.16/BBP DOWN -0.0062 | Platinum US$ 936.69/OZ DOWN -0.0035 Sport results: Premier League: Chelsea 6 vs 0 Everton LaLiga: Osasuna 0 vs 1 Valencia SerieA: Atalanta 2 vs 2 Hellas Verona | Fiorentina 1 vs 1 Genoa European Championships Qualifying: Southampton 3 vs 0 Preston North End English Championship: Southampton 3 vs 0 Preston North End Weather: Katima Mulilo: 18° | 34° Rundu: 18° | 33° Eenhana: 20° | 36° Oshakati: 22° | 35° Ruacana: 21° | 35° Tsumeb: 20° | 33° Otjiwarongo: 18° | 32° Omaruru: 20° | 34° Windhoek: 17° | 31° Gobabis: 18° | 31° Henties Bay: 16° | 24° Wind speed: 22km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 06:51, High tide: 13:03, Low Tide: 18:49, High tide: 01:16 Swakopmund: 16° | 19° Wind speed: 23km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 06:49, High tide: 13:01, Low Tide: 18:47, High tide: 01:14 Walvis Bay: 17° | 26° Wind speed: 28km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 06:49, High tide: 13:00, Low Tide: 18:47, High tide: 01:13 Rehoboth: 18° | 32° Mariental: 21° | 34° Keetmanshoop: 21° | 35° Aranos: 20° | 33° Lüderitz: 15° | 28° Ariamsvlei: 21° | 35° Oranjemund: 15° | 24° Luanda: 26° | 29° Gaborone: 18° | 30° Lubumbashi: 16° | 25° Mbabane: 15° | 26° Maseru: 11° | 24° Antananarivo: 10° | 24° Lilongwe: 17° | 24° Maputo: 19° | 30° Windhoek: 17° | 31° Cape Town: 16° | 24° Durban: 19° | 26° Johannesburg: 15° | 26° Dar es Salaam: 23° | 29° Lusaka: 18° | 28° Harare: 15° | 28° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.76 | EUR to NAD 20.36 | CNY to NAD 2.64 | USD to NAD 19.14 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.38 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.02 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.62 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.2 | USD to AOA 832.83 | USD to BWP 13.77 | USD to EGP 48.28 | USD to KES 132.73 | USD to NGN 1147.53 | USD to ZAR 19.14 | USD to ZMW 25.5 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 73271.44 Up +0.38% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1531.99 Up +0.70% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 13455.65 Up +0.53% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 28332.65 Down -4.5% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 379.05/OZ UP +0.47% | Copper US$ 4.41/lb UP +2.18% | Zinc US$ 2 831.90/T UP 0.11% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.16/BBP DOWN -0.0062 | Platinum US$ 936.69/OZ DOWN -0.0035