You’re reading this right now because you’re looking for the right expertise & advice to make your work better.
We understand how unique & important this is to you right now.
Our team of knowledgeable certified experts cares about you & provides the practical tools & advice to make work better for you and/or your organization.
We ensure the right coach & consultant fit, and are equally committed to helping you achieve your goals in our partnership & to get true value for your investment. Guaranteed.
Search for a specific team member by name, or search by keyword (ex. science, or HR) to find team members with related backgrounds.
Alan Kearns
Managing Partner and Head Career Coach
Alan Kearns is a leading thought leader on all things work. Author and contributor to The National, The Globe & Mail, National Post and CBC Radio, he shares the latest trends and changes in the Canadian workplace. Voted one of the Top 40 under 40, he is the Managing Partner and Founder of CareerJoy, an award-winning national boutique HR services firm serving 500+ leading Canadian organizations including World Vision, Shopify, The United Way, Toyota and The Government of Canada.
From St. John’s to Victoria, he oversees a team of smart, wise, certified professionals offering a variety of HR services including leadership coaching, transition support, employee engagement and workshops. His team is committed to making work better for Canadian professionals and organizations. He believes in the inherent value of the individual and is committed to supporting change and igniting growth.
People made better is work made better.
Amanda Lockhart
Practice Lead, Government Solutions
Passionate about people, Amanda is as enthusiastic about the successes of her team members as about her own and, is always there to support others when needed. Her years of experience in operational-based roles have provided Amanda with strong knowledge in process development, project management, and systems development. A Concordia graduate in Therapeutic Recreation, Amanda is very involved in her community through both volunteer work and her seat on the board of directors for a non-profit organization.
Claire Cotton
Director of Operations
Claire is driven by a desire to inspire and develop others. She sees herself always working to better herself and her team. She is a detailed oriented and passionate organizer; improving day to day operations using various systems and processes.
Claire Dillon
Practice Lead, People & Culture Solutions
Claire has over 15 years experience in sales and brand management in the healthcare and luxury fashion industries. She is passionate about understanding her clients’ needs and takes pride in finding the best possible solution for each client. She graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with a degree in Political Science and never lets an unknown word pass her by without making a note to look up the definition later.
Deborah Plant
Director of People & Culture Solutions
Deborah is a Learning and Development Consultant with 15+ years experience designing, delivering, and implementing strategic, engaging learning programs for Canadian corporations. At CareerJoy, Deborah designs and develops customized learning solutions to enhance leadership competencies, increase employee engagement, and drive cultural transformation.
Credentials:
George Muenz
Career Transition Coach
With over 40 years of experience, George is one of our senior coaches and among the most respected career and leadership coaches in Canada. George specializes in working with clients with their very personalized and individualized needs, all while focusing on real-world strategies. Known for his ability to help clients understand and articulate their capabilities, value, and potential, George is a perfect fit for the CareerJoy team.
An expert in outplacement, career transition, job search, and on-site termination support - George has experience working with clients that vary from startups to leading international firms like IBM, Price Waterhouse and Motorola. In addition to this, George is very experienced in working with clients from entry-level to the C-Suite.
Gina McNeil
Senior Career Success Advisor
Gina is heavily committed to professional development and lifelong learning. She has more than 25 years of progressive public and private sector leadership experience, from municipal leadership roles to marketing to customer experience/loyalty programs for a niche global brand.
Gina’s passion has always been serving as an inspiring leader. She enjoys bringing people together to collaborate on ideas, information, and possibilities, and is skilled at achieving positive, unified outcomes where everyone feels valued.
A strong believer in paying it forward, Gina has been a passionate advocate for community initiatives that promote inclusivity, betterment, and growth. Among her achievements is instituting and coordinating the first Positive Recreation Opportunities for Kids (PRO Kids) Program in Atlantic Canada, helping approximately 600 underprivileged children and drawing sponsorships, donations, and volunteers from 150+ organizations.
Gina’s easy-going sense of humor and wit is a defining management strategy to bring out the best in everyone, instill pride, and engage them in cultivating relationships that go beyond customer service.
Jennifer Facchin
Director of Coaching and Culture
An accomplished Facilitator and Certified CareerJoy CQ Career Intelligence Coach™, Ms. Jennifer Facchin is dedicated to guiding individuals on their path to achieving unprecedented results, by aligning their actions and values and propelling the development of their career and leadership skills. Working with professionals of all levels and functions, Jennifer specializes in adopting a consultative approach to sieve through her clients’ stories, looking for the gold that will make their candidacies shine. Having identified their key assets and accomplishments, Jennifer helps job seekers formulate their Professional Value Proposition, determine well-defined goals, and get through every stage of the job search process with confidence, including resume writing and interview preparation.
On top of being an ICCP-1 Integral Associate Coach™, DiSC Certified, and International Coaching Federation Member Certified, Ms. Facchin leverages an unmatched ability to connect with individuals and teams to optimize potentials and transitions. With expertise spanning across recruitment, leadership development, employee engagement, OD projects, training and facilitation, business development management, and corporate store management, she has been successfully supporting teams from the private sector for the last 15 years. As a firm believer that the culture of an organization is meant to be lived, Jennifer uses a global vision to instill positive change aligning with both the corporate mission and the employees’ values and aspirations.
At CareerJoy, Jennifer wears many hats in contributing to the organization’s expanding footprint as a thought leader in the Canadian industry. Notably serving as a Leadership CQ Facilitator and CQ Team Lead, she mentors aspiring teams to help them reach their full potential and expand their impact in their workplace while championing the importance of employee engagement and how to maximize it via good leadership practices. A transcendental leader and relationship builder, Jennifer embodies everything she preaches by overseeing an internal group called the ‘Culture Crew’. Formerly known as the ‘Happiness Crew’, this group ensures that everyone at CareerJoy is living by the organization’s values, by integrating Diversity and Inclusion workshops, Wellness best practices, Lunch & Learns, and regular meetings focused on accountability, growth, and innovation. Jennifer also plays a pivotal role in driving the continuous improvement of client offerings, by coordinating cross-functional teams to offer best-in-class services, while humanizing and modernizing tools to empower clients and help them take the reins of their own development
ICCP-1 Associate Certification
Jessika D’Oliveira
Corporate and HR Solutions Coordinator
Jessika is a detailed-oriented individual who loves new learning opportunities and taking on new challenges.
She has more than 10 years of experience in client-facing roles as well as two years of experience in the HR space. She is dedicated to creating meaningful connections with her clients as well as her colleagues.
As a natural leader, she is proficient in interpersonal relations and has strong communication skills.
Kieran Davies
Career Success Advisor | Marketing Coordinator
Blending technical and people skills with a continuous-improvement mindset to deliver superior results.
As a Business Marketing graduate with years of experience spanning a wide range of roles, key endeavors, and increasingly prominent responsibilities within multiple industries, I have established myself as a passionate and high-performing professional.
Leveraging a broad skillset acquired both professionally and through my education, I have played instrumental roles as part of multiple virtual events and worked alongside fellow marketing associates to create compelling social media content which generated strong engagement.
First and foremost, I like to think of myself as a flexible team player who excels at bringing cross-functional groups together and generating excitement around innovative ideas aligned with the corporate vision, while contributing to cultures of collaboration and excellence.
Kristine Tod
Practice Lead, People & Culture Solutions
Kristine is a solutions-focused consultant who is passionate about advancing workplace culture. An empathetic listener, she is happiest supporting clients based on their own unique needs.
She has 20 years of corporate experience developing exceptional long-term relationships with clients, partners and peers within the healthcare, education, and not-for-profit sectors.
Marlene Carrington
Practice Lead, People & Culture Solutions
For over 25 years, Marlene has been supporting her clients by recommending the adoption of sound HR solutions spanning hiring practices, talent and leadership development, team effectiveness, high-potential programs, and organizational transition. If she graduated in Political Science at Acadia University, what Marlene truly loves is having a positive and lasting impact on people and their professional lives, for organizations ranging from start-ups to large enterprises across multiple industries.
She is also a long-time member of the Strategic Capability Network, Women’s Executive Network, Women of Influence, and more recently Lean In Toronto. First and foremost, Marlene is fascinated by people, what they do, and how they do it, and she has an unfading passion for devising tailored strategies that make it all better.
Meagan Tavenier
Practice Lead, People & Culture Solutions
Meagan is a Hospitality professional with over 18 years of experience in hotels and event planning. She thrives on meaningful interactions and assisting others in achieving their personal and professional goals.
Meagan specializes in building nurturing relationships that are meaningful and supportive, and takes pride in finding the most impactful solutions for her clients.
Alongside her corporate practice, Meagan supports our professional to leadership level individual clients through transformative career transitions.
Adrien-Alexandre
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Adrien-Alexandre has spent his life exploring and understanding of the human mind and body, involving disciplines from physiotherapy to an array of artistic media. As a professional coach, he leverages his varied and unique experiences while working with clients across Europe and now Canada.
His leitmotiv: The success of each individual depends first and foremost on the respect for their values.
Adrien-Alexandre helps clients undergoing change or transition to develop their personal and professional assertiveness, to break conventional boundaries, and to implement successful strategies for an optimistic, responsible global society. He provides the tools and support for conscious growth, bringing a positive and proactive vision through a personalised and focused intervention.
With his human-centered and tailor-made approach, Adrien-Alexandre supports individuals, teams, or organisations to develop their full potential, improve individual and/or collective effectiveness, and deploy new skills and capacities to achieve set objectives.
Adrien-Alexandre's multicultural career has provided him with a wealth of competencies and expertise in intra/interpersonal skills, communication, and conflict management.
Anna Consoli
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Anna has a passion for helping people make a meaningful change in their careers. Anna’s coaching involves partnering with her clients in their journey from uncertainty to clarity. Her goal is to help clients enhance their self-awareness, explore skills, and identify strengths, providing them with a clear understanding of the unique value they can bring into a new job or role.
Through deep questioning Anna guides her clients toward uncovering fears and blocks so they can shift their mindsets to gain confidence, motivation, and inspiration. Clients learn to observe their thoughts, feelings, and actions and intentionally choose the ones that serve them better.
Anna has had extensive experience with complexity and vulnerability during her career in academia and health research. Those experiences have helped her to bring empathy, compassion, and kindness to her coaching practice. As an authentic and non-judgemental career coach, Anna takes an honest and insightful approach to helping her clients feel safe, inspired, and empowered by their own resources, abilities, and talents.
Catherine Decarie
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Catherine is a former Chief Human Resources Officer, an experienced financial services executive, a lawyer, a member of ICF, and a certified professional coach through Integral Coaching Canada. In her coaching practice, she collaborates with leaders, and senior teams, enabling them to overcome obstacles; build new capabilities; and create lasting, sustainable change.
As a former Chief Human Resources Officer, Catherine has worked with countless leaders and executives helping to increase their effectiveness, evolve their careers, implement significant organizational change, and develop high performance cultures. She brings more than 25 years of business experience to her coaching and consulting work. This includes the insights and perspectives gained during her tenure in multiple C-suite positions, as well as working with numerous Boards of Directors as a Corporate Secretary.
Catherine has completed the Advanced Management Program at the Columbia School of Business, and also attended the Institute for Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge. She is a member of the International Coaching Federation, a graduate of Queen’s Law School, and licensed to practice law in Ontario.
Chantal Simard
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
After 32 years of service at the Government of Canada – half of which as an executive –, Chantal is now dedicated to helping people and organizations achieve their goals through training, coaching, and mentoring. With a Professional Coach Certification from the renowned Erickson International, Chantal is currently in the process of obtaining her accreditation from the International Coach Federation (ICF).
Fluently bilingual in English and French, Chantal has worked her way up progressively prominent roles, across multiple government departments with a variety of social and economic agendas. Her broad experience has allowed her to gain a keen understanding of best practices related to program development and operations, policy analysis, and team leadership and management. She has dealt with a variety of HR-related matters encompassing mental health issues, grievances, performance management, and workplace wellness for teams of up to 70 employees. As part of her last position at Employment and Social Development Canada, Chantal has ideated and developed a robust, well-defined action plan that significantly enhanced mental and workplace wellness.
Chantal has earned a strong reputation as an empathetic active listener, a creative problem solver, and an action-oriented leader. First and foremost, she is the proud mother of two daughters who, outside of the time she spends with her family, finds her greatest joy and purpose when she has a positive impact on people’s personal and professional lives!
Chris Backus
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
As an influential and ethical leader, Chris Backus has had a dynamic career spanning a variety of unique work cultures.
Chris' professional background includes 18 years of service as a police officer with the RCMP, where he earned specialized distinction as a Conflict Management Specialist, Certified Crisis Negotiator, and Senior Commander/Leader with the ability to navigate complex situations while achieving successful outcomes. He has also worked as a strategic advisor to the United Nations Operations in the Ivory Coast, tailoring and facilitating specific communication and negotiation strategies to improve outcomes in the midst of violent political conflict.
Within his business leadership acumen, Chris has served as CEO of both public and private companies. He has coached many high-level government and private sector clients in leadership development, strategic communications/negotiations, emotional intelligence, and change management. He has extensive experience conducting breakthrough interest-based (win-win) negotiations in situations of organizational conflict.
Debora Dekok
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Debora has been a Resume Coach with CareerJoy since 2005 and is also one of CareerJoy’s Biographical Career Report (BCR) analysts. In this role she gets to know her clients’ most satisfying life accomplishments and analyzes those accomplishments to uncover common threads to propel their career direction forward.
Throughout her career in journalism, Debora enjoyed getting to the core of a story by gathering information and retelling the story in an easily understood way. At CareerJoy, she does the same with resumes. Debora hones in on a client’s unique skills and experiences, and reframes them with clarity and precision, creating a clear, concise and readable resume so employers can easily understand a client’s career highlights at a glance.
Professional designations
Delia Noel
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Special Counsellor by trade, Organizational change and development consultant by profession.
28 years in the helping and social services field working with youth and families in crisis. Over 15 years of presenting various workshops and professional seminars.
My purpose in life is to help change the world, one person at a time. I aspire to do this by supporting people to have a safe space to question their own beliefs and how those beliefs allow them to navigate the world they live in.
Garen Jemian
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Accredited by both the Government of Quebec and Canada. Closing speaker of TEDx Concordia 2017 “Motivation Beyond Money” and Author of “Happy People Work Harder.”
Garen's primary mission is to improve any and all work-related metrics for the individual, the team and the organization. Developing leadership competencies, engaging the workforce and driving performance, Garen leverages his background in business ownership, management and his coaching mastery to bring the absolute best out of his clients.
Professional Snapshot:
• Accredited Senior Leadership Development Consultant - Government of Canada • Accredited Leadership Development Consultant - Government of Quebec (CPMT) • Professional Certified Coach (PCC) - International Coach Federation • Certified [LQ] Leadership Intelligence • Certified EverythingDiSC • Certified Emotional Intelligence EQi 2.0 • Certified DYNAMIX Team Performance • Certified Highlands Ability Battery • Author of "Happy People Work Harder" • TEDTalk - "Motivation Beyond Money" • 1500+ hours is now 2250+ hours of coaching engagements • 400+ hours is now 1000+ hours of speaking engagements Public Service - Departments and Agencies Served Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Canadian Heritage Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor/CNEDA) Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) Copyright Board of Canada (CBCDA) Department of Justice Canada (DOJ) Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFOMPO) Global Affairs Canada (GAC) Health Canada Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) Senate of Canada Statistical Society of Canada (SSC) Transport Canada Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC)Grace Olha
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Grace is a certified Integral Associate Coach who understands well the highs and lows of achieving personal and professional goals in diverse and dynamic environments.
Grace has a BA and began her professional career as a marketing expert for the Hudson’s Bay and Estee Lauder companies. With her extraordinary expertise and communication skillset she moved into the HR field in the Public Service with a focus on evolving enduring organizational programs while working with staff and clients in developing their skills and competencies to their better and in preparing them for future opportunities. She does so from a position of knowledge, wisdom and profound understanding and grasp of transitioning people and organizations to meeting their goals.
Grace has over 30 years’ experience working with very diverse audiences and clients identifying opportunities and best-fit solutions. She has been recognized for her many contributions to people development, most notable from the Deputy Minister and Chief of the Defence Staff of the Department of National Defence.
It is her mission to help you fill the gap from where you are now to where you want to be.
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Grace est certifiée Coach Associée Intégrale qui comprend bien les hauts et les bas de la réalisation des objectifs personnels et professionnels dans des environnements divers et dynamiques.
Grace est titulaire d'un B.A. et a commencé sa carrière professionnelle en tant qu'experte en marketing pour les sociétés La Baie d’Hudson et Estée Lauder. Grâce à son expertise et à ses compétences extraordinaires en matière de communication, elle est entrée dans le domaine des ressources humaines dans la fonction publique et s'est concentrée sur l'évolution des programmes organisationnels durables tout en travaillant avec le personnel et les clients pour développer leurs aptitudes et leurs compétences et les préparer aux opportunités futures. Elle le fait en s'appuyant sur ses connaissances, sa sagesse et sa compréhension profonde de la transition des personnes et des organisations vers la réalisation de leurs objectifs.
Grace a plus de 30 ans d'expérience dans le travail avec des publics et des clients très divers, où elle identifie les opportunités et les solutions les mieux adaptées. Elle a été reconnue pour ses nombreuses contributions au développement des personnes, notamment par le sous-ministre et chef d'état-major du ministère de la Défense nationale.
Sa mission est de vous aider à combler l'écart entre votre situation actuelle et celle que vous souhaitez atteindre.
Jan Williams
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Jan is a prime example of success in the career coaching world - as head of her own successful cross-cultural training company in Europe, Jan achieved considerable success in training managers to communicate effectively in international environments. Jan's professional coaching background ranges from executive and leadership coaching to career and employment coaching.
Jan’s experience includes career management/advice/identity/exploration, outplacements, career transitions, job search, on-site termination, and leadership development. Jan has experience working with clients that vary in professional status. In addition to this, Jan is experienced in dealing with almost every industry in Canada.
Professional Designations
Jane Fenton
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Jane is a Certified Executive and Health Coach specializing in Career Transitions. Her expertise is uniquely tailored to coaching clients who are navigating endings and embarking on new beginnings.
Clients who partner with Jane tap into her soul-centered presence and heartfelt passion for people who are committed to deep personal growth. Through sharpened self-awareness and active learning, clients gain high-performance outcomes and solution-focused results.
A professional coach of 15 years, Jane has lived and raised her family in ten countries around the world. Her experience negotiating employment, as well as logistical, cultural, practical, and linguistic barriers in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Australasia helps her to identify great opportunities in every pivot.
Jane’s global odyssey has equipped her with a dynamic range of competencies and expertise in the non-profit, media / communications, investment / finance, and healthcare sectors.
Jane is an ACC coach with the International Coaching Federation (ICF). She is also the co-founder of a Toronto-based eating disorder centre that has helped more than 30,000 women, men, and youth.
CREDENTIALS/EDUCATION
Janet Mrenica
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Janet has more than 30 years of bilingual leadership management.
As a coach, she is passionate about supporting people through uncertainty, understanding diversity and inclusion, and enabling the career/leadership development and agility of the next generation of leaders, executives and teams. She facilitates courageous conversations that matter with a coaching style that integrates circle and somatic practices. Janet’s career with the federal public service, including 13 years at the executive level, involved both national and international contexts within Canadian federal government agencies, science-based, social and international departments, and in social enterprise/not-for-profit sectors. She has led numerous organizational and system transformation initiatives. She is a Fellow CPA/CMA, recognized for the breadth of her career in community advocacy, strategic financial management, corporate and policy sectors. While at Environment and Climate Change Canada, Janet was awarded the 2015 CPA Canada National Award of Excellence in Public Sector Management in the Team Innovation category for Executive leadership for the Integrated Management Framework for Environmental Contaminated Sites. She has volunteered in capacity building of the public service by leading the financial management community with the Financial Management Institute – Capital Chapter, and in infrastructure, through the Women’s Infrastructure Network – Ottawa Chapter. She brings to the table her training and exploration of circle practice, mental health, and grief and loss programming through the lenses of healing and reconciliation with indigenous peoples and climate low-carbon economies. For her personal care and wellness, Janet is an avid walker, spending much time in nature, with her two grandchildren, and walking her dogs. Education & Memberships: • ICF Associate Certified Coach • Certified Integral Professional Coach • Certified Trauma Informed Coach • Climate Change Engagement Coach • Practitioner of Neil’s Wheel & the Enneagram • The Working Mind Manager, Mental Health Commission of Canada • First Aid Mental Health, Mental Health Commission of Canada • Member of the Global Climate Coaching Alliance Instruments: • Certified EQi-2.0 + EQ-360 • Highlands and DISCJennifer Klatt
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Jennifer Klatt is edgy, funny, (a little sweary), and loves to challenge the status quo. She has been known to communicate what executive teams and clients need to hear, which is not always what they want to hear. With over 25 years of leadership in public and private organizations, she quickly climbed the corporate ladder to discover her passion for innovation, leadership development, and unlocking people’s potential.
In her climb to the top, she shattered the proverbial glass ceiling for women in a masculine-dominated industry. In 2011, at the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure, Jennifer was the first woman to hold a position as an Assistant Deputy Minister and went on to lead the Operations Division where she was responsible for leading a team of over 1,000 employees and budgeting over $300M.
She has also served as an Executive-In-Residence at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy where she was a key leader on a major refresh for the suite of workshop programming that met the needs of the public service clients and workshop attendees. She was also instrumental in developing and delivering several key policy developments, accountability, performance measures and leadership workshops.
She is a professional accountant but by no means is she a typical accountant. She has drawn upon this experience to bring in significant culture change as the CFO at SaskBuilds and eHealth in Saskatchewan. As part of this change management work, Jennifer taps into a unique blend of boundless compassion and no-bullshit honesty to help leaders authentically and intentionally connect with themselves and the world around them. Her mantra with individuals and groups has been...
Her Professional Qualifications include:
Julien Lafreniere
Executive Resume Writer / Translator
Holder of a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and avid writer since I can remember, I had already produced a number of papers, including a novel and various articles, when I got the opportunity of making my debut as a Resume Writer at a world-renowned organization. Soon after, my skills and dedication to consistently surpass customers’ expectations allowed me to get noticed and be promoted as a Senior Resume Writer and Language Expert (English and French) for the Canadian region.
Since 2019, I have the pleasure of contributing to CareerJoy’s continued success as a Translator and Certified Resume & Branding Coach. Passionate about meeting new people, I take pride in building close rapport with my clients to understand their unique backgrounds and desires, helping them confidently attack the job market with high-quality, tailored documents.
Kathleen Johnson
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Kathleen is a Senior Leadership Coach at CareerJoy, offering one-on-one career transition coaching. She also facilitates Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) guidance in the private and public sectors.
She earned a Coaching Certificate in 2017, and a DEI Certificate from Cornell University in 2020. She has coached entrepreneurs, executives, and professional artists in life and business and advises organizations on becoming fully inclusive.
In 2021, Kathleen became the Secretary of the Race Equity Caucus for her party and ran in the federal election, with the greatest showing for her party ever in that riding. Kathleen was also a founding member of the Alberta Humanist Association and joined the board of Humanist Canada on which she still sits.
In March of this year, Kathleen relocated to Victoria, BC where she first served as a Ministerial Advisor in the Ministry of Education and Child Care, and has now moved to the Provincial Health Services Authority as a Senior Consultant in Diversity Equity and Inclusion for BC's health system.
For many years, Kathleen advised the non-profit organization Braintech Robotics in providing robotics programming to BIPOC youth, creating the framework for their Social-Emotional Learning programming.
Recently she was selected to sit on the board of the Odihi Foundation where she mentors and coaches women and girls of color to achieve their dreams in life and in business. Kathleen has spoken to major corporations such as Bank of America on topics such as Blackness in Canada and has appeared on major media outlets, national platforms, and international podcasts.
Kathleen has a B.A. in Sociology and Cultural Anthropology from Carleton University.
Lama Younes
Certified Leadership & Executive Coach, Facilitator
Lama is a certified and ICF accredited coach and has 15+ years of experience in corporate HR. She worked for General Electric and Deloitte covering local, regional, and global HR roles in Canada, the Middle East/Africa, and the US, across various businesses and levels from the front line to C-suite. In the workplace, she is known for making authentic and lasting connections by focusing on talent development and well-being. Through these experiences, she has deep insights into leadership that creates a positive work environment and excellence in performance and results.
Coaching Philosophy
Lama’s solution-focused coaching puts the client and their goals front and center, which means the coaching conversation doesn’t end until there are actionable and measurable takeaways, and likely a few insights as well! Her coaching philosophy is to provide a purpose-driven, judgment-free space for the client while asking powerful questions that lead to the best solution. Lama works to empower her client to feel safe bringing their whole self to the session, helping them to deliver sustainable decisions and best performances back to their workplace. She is especially passionate about the development and mental well-being of women in the workplace.
Lama holds a solution-focused coaching diploma from Erickson International and an Honours B.A. from the University of Toronto.
Laurie Fenske
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Laurie’s coaching successes are rooted in her ability to lead clients to find their best solutions within themselves. Clients are drawn to Laurie’s passion and commitment for helping clients to achieve substantial improvements in their work through high-energy coaching sessions and workshop facilitation.
Drawing from her extensive professional experiences, Laurie offers Individual Executive and Leadership Coaching for clients who are striving for more but need leadership guidance to reach their top goals. She has also had great success as an Organizational Strategic coach, partnering with organizations or entrepreneurs seeking to elevate their business to the next level of success. Laurie offers customized training programs and workshops to enhance the learning and development successes of individuals or teams.
Credentials
Lillian Thomsen
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Lillian specializes in executive level competition preparation including identifying leadership competency gaps and opportunities for growth, interview preparation and conducting mock interviews followed by individual assessments. She has also done extensive coaching of public servants and of colleagues in the not-for-profit sector, where she is very active.
She has extensive experience facilitating retreats, change management and leadership development workshops in both the public and not-for-profit sectors and is bilingual in both official languages.
Credentials
M.A. (ABD) in Soviet History, Joint BA with full majors in both history and economics.
Lean certificate (green) in healthcare
Lisa Pierosara
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Lisa is a senior certified professional coach, facilitator and collaborative program leader with a history of fostering transformative change, communications excellence and leadership effectiveness.
After many years coaching young professionals at the Schulich School of Business and working with Canadian employers for the MBA program, she consults as a professional certified affiliate coach with CareerJoy, among other projects with executive clients across all business sectors (public, not for profit and corporate). Lisa walks the talk of pursuing next-level work that “fits” with who you are and what you want, a common goal for her seasoned roster of career coaching clients. For her executive and leadership development clients, she brings her background in branding, communications, DEI, and management effectiveness to co-create relevant leadership strategies and help clients create and sustain the conditions for high performance.
Credentials
BA French; College degree in Marketing
ICF PCC (with training by both Adler & CTI)
Management Effectiveness (Reddin Global)
CoachingOurselves
CareerLeader
Lisa Shepert
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Lisa began her coaching journey in 2002 when she transitioned out of a corporate job to coaching and committed to a life-long love for people development.
Driven to support others through change, learning, and growth, Lisa has modeled this change in her own career by gaining certification in three coaching models: Career Development Practitioner, Mentor Coach, facilitator, and trainer.
A Career and Leadership Coach for more than 20 years, Lisa has coached professionals and leaders in government as well as the private sector. She once led a change management program that saw an unsustainable leadership style turn around to leaders adopting a coach approach, inspiring other leaders to elevate their leadership game. She has implemented and managed internal coaching programs at two organizations, and developed mentor coaching programs to support the learning and application of behavior change.
Clients appreciate Lisa’s curious and collaborative approach. Using well-honed listening skills and intuition, she is candid and respectful in helping clients learn and navigate desired change. If she’s not making you think then she’s not doing her job.
Lisa is an International Coaching Federation (ICF) Professional Certified Coach and is active in her local ICF Chapter. She served for four years on the Board and has hosted several Community of Practice discussions. She is active in peer coaching circles because she believes it’s important to support the coaching community and to learn from other coaches.
Lisa lives in Edmonton and enjoys reading, movies, travel, cabin life, and time spent with loved ones.
Credentials
Lynda Peto
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
A member of the CareerJoy team since 2014 - Lynda’s personal success leads her to be an essential tool for mid-career transitions. Lynda’s coaching philosophy involves unlocking each client's potential and supporting them in developing and achieving a sense of agency in their careers.
Lynda’s an expert in career management/advice/identity/exploration, outplacements, career transitions, job search, and on-site termination. In addition to being well versed in group coaching methods, and expert at working with clients of all ages and career points working in any industry in Canada.
Credentials
Favourite Clients
Student, early career, mid-career - interested in people in general and always find something interesting to share. Most favourite clients are the motivated and are doing this work for themselves and not to please others (eg: Mom and Dad :))
Marie Josee-Dionne
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
MJ has a vision of building a world of excellence, inspired by passion, determination, and compassion in which each human being is valued.
Throughout her 28-year carer in the federal public service, MJ worked for 15 years as an executive in strategic planning, governance, strategic policy, program development, change and risk management, audit, and evaluation.
She holds an executive certificate in public leadership from Harvard Kennedy School, an Executive Coaching Certificate from Royal Roads University, and a Bachelor of Arts cum laude in interpersonal and organizational communication from the University of Ottawa. She is also certified in Emotional Intelligence 360 EQ-I 2.0, and SCHOR360, and is on her way to obtaining her certification in Leadership Circle Profile.
MJ is a member of the International Coaching Federation, ICF Québec, International Coaching Coalition and Institute of Coaching McLean, an Affiliate of Harvard Medical School.
Marieke Bosch Larose
Senior Leadership & Career Coach
Marieke Bosch Larose is a Certified Coach and Facilitator with over a decade of experience in the fields of coaching, advising, mentoring, and personal empowerment. She combines her love of philosophical inquiry with powerful coaching tools and intuitive listening, empathy, and non-judgmental support to create the safe and inquisitive space her clients need to truly explore who they are and what they want.
She is passionate about helping people move past perfectionism, step into their innate worthiness, and meet themselves with deep compassion to lead vibrant, purposeful, and fulfilling lives. While she leads from a grounded and calm place, Marieke loves to inject lightness and fun into her coaching as an intentional way of supporting her clients on their personal and professional development journeys.
Neal Black
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Neal is a certified coach, a speaker and a facilitator with more than 40 years of experience helping individuals, teams and organizations take critical next steps. His experiences include training leaders and groups on how to integrate coaching in their roles.
Neal enjoys “aha” moments when people get excited about possibilities and are energized by the path forward. He understands that people learn best when they are curious, engaged, and actively involved.
Neal has held the position of Associate Director of Leadership Development with responsibilities for more than 400 staff. Neal has also taught virtually for more than 10 years and has trained over 100 speakers how to engage and train people online. He coaches beginner speakers to become seasoned presenters. Neal has created several leadership courses, as well as a series of short videos on topics such as Building Trust, How to Accomplish the Most Important and Difficult Conversations.
Neal has presented across Canada and internationally on topics of leadership, relationships and team cohesion.
Paula Connolly
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
For 20+ years, Paula has helped clients improve their individual and business outcomes. Her deep understanding of workplace challenges and how to achieve results comes from years of designing and presenting customized training programs for businesses and the government.
Paula’s expertise in human resources training and coaching for government clients has seen her lead hundreds of training sessions. She applies adult learning principles and knows the best results occur when participation and questions are encouraged. Paula is adept at adjusting her approach to suit each group’s specific needs, giving participants opportunities to reflect, challenge, discuss, and experience new ideas and skills to enhance their growth and learning.
As a Career Coach, Paula has had great success helping clients plan their careers, improve their resumes and prepare for government interviews.
Originally from Prince Edward Island, Paula dabbles in oil painting and is an avid sports fan.
Paula’s training and coaching successes include:
- Designed and delivered 50+ Career Planning seminars for provincial government’s Administrative Professionals Learning and Development Program including career coaching for over 500 participants
- Provided career training and coaching to clients experiencing downsizing or restructuring: Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Pan/Para Pan American Games Secretariat, CIRNAC, Ministry of Community and Social Services
- Provided individual coaching to 30+ government managers to prepare for executive positions
- Designed and developed courseware for over 40 classroom and on-line training workshops on diverse topics
Professional Designations:
Rose Kattackal
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Senior Executive Leader with >20 years of C-Suite experience in transforming strategy to programs to business operations and driving practical, innovative solutions aligned to the organizational context.
A trusted collaborator who builds alliances with partners, senior officials, various levels of government, industry- community- non-governmental stakeholders.
An action-oriented pathfinder who works with clients across diverse industries to leverage economic- social-sustainable leadership opportunities for citizens/customers.
Sandra Bobkin
Senior Executive, Leadership and Career Coach
Sandra has more than 15 years of private and public sector experience in a variety of learning, leadership and management roles. She has fostered a powerful reputation of assisting individuals who seek to expand their influence repertoire and pursue their leadership and professional goals.
Her coaching has focused on leadership and team development, effective communication, emotional intelligence, career transition/management and 360 feedback results. Sandra has had the privilege of coaching everything from Bay Street executives, to newly appointed leaders to official’s at the most senior levels of the Federal Government.
Credentials
- Masters in Adult Education
- Bachelors Degree in Nursing Science
- Professional Certified Coach
- Registered Nurse
- ADLER Certified Professional Coach
- Certified in EQ-i 2.0 (a psychometric tool)
- Accredited the Professional Certified Coach Designation (PCC) through the International Coach Federation
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Personality Dimensions Certification
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Advance MBTI Certification
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FIRO - B Certification
Sarah Willsey
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Sarah is an enthusiastic, energetic career coach who truly enjoys helping others. She has always known helping people is something that needed to be a part of her career, but she wasn’t quite sure how. After consulting a career coach, Sarah discovered her true passion was helping others discovering who they were meant to be.
Relying on her experience in sales and marketing to help companies reach their goals, Sarah helps individuals define the unique qualities they bring to a role and to an organization, and how to effectively communicate those strengths and abilities.
Sarah has helped clients by finding new roles that better align with themselves, determining their goals in their own career growth, and working with clients entering retirement on how to embrace the new chapter in their lives.
Defining one’s values, interests and skills can create an alignment with goals and career growth. Always striving for personal and professional growth, Sarah is a candidate for Coaching Certification through the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC), a recognized institution by the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
Sarah is an avid traveler who enjoys being pushed out of her comfort zone, learning about international cultures, and exploring uncharted territories. Some of her traveling highlights include hiking to Everest Base Camp in Nepal, kissing the Blarney Stone in Ireland and partaking in religious ceremonies in India along the Ganges River. She also enjoys refinishing old furniture and raising a small herd of grass-fed beef on her family’s farm.
Shelly Elsliger
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
For more than 20 years Shelly has helped people advance professionally by creating impactful career learning experiences. Shelly finds tremendous joy in guiding people to discover career happiness, understand their strengths, find their unique value proposition, and tell their amazing stories.
Shelly is a Professional and Personal Certified Coach (PPCC) with additional training in equity, diversity, and inclusion, as well as LinkedIn, psychological safety, and Clifton Strengths. She is also a Career Fundamentals Author and a globally-recognized LinkedIn trainer. She helps people go from simply being on LinkedIn to being on LinkedIn. Shelly is also a firewalker who likes to gently push people out of their comfort zones so they can discover what they never thought was possible.
Stephanie Gillies
Resume Branding Expert | Interview Coach
I am passionate about helping driven professionals position themselves as experts in their field so they feel confident pursuing a better job or a career change.
For many years, I tried to figure out my purpose, what job would be right for me and what direction I should take my career. I bounced around jobs because I got bored easily. This resulted in becoming really good at applying for jobs, I enjoyed writing resumes so much that I started helping my friends and family with resumes. I decided to get certified and become a resume writer.
My background is in social work and the non-profit industry, with a passion for working with people. This made the transition into resume writing and interview coaching a smooth one.
I have a Bachelor of Social Work degree and I'm passionate about helping individuals achieve their dream job. I am a Certified Resume Strategies and Certified Interview Coach through Career Professionals of Canada.
On the weekends, I can often be found fishing, camping, and hiking with my son and husband.
Sylvie Seguin Brant
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Sylvie is a dynamic PCC Certified Coach who has helped numerous individuals and groups navigate their professional and personal growth.
Sylvie has coached clients and groups in a variety of areas including operations and programs, information technology, human resources, corporate, policy and military. She enjoys coaching emerging leaders and executives as well as individuals going through transitions.
As a former executive, she has first-hand experience leading teams in complex environments that require strong emotional intelligence to achieve success.
Her coaching expertise has been deeply informed by her extensive experience in the public service, and the academic sector, being an entrepreneur and volunteering with minor hockey teams (as a manager, a billet, and a social convenor). Throughout her career, she has benefited professionally and personally from receiving coaching services as the breadth and depth of her responsibilities increased.
Sylvie coaches clients to resolve difficult issues. Her methods involve meeting clients where they are and respecting their need for development while offering a safe and trusting space so individuals can dare to hope and share what they most desire, setting the stage for value creation and growth.
Tanya Smith
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
As an accredited integral leadership development coach, Ms. Smith works with individuals to develop/build their competencies in order to improve their capacity to achieve long-term excellence, self-correct and self-generate.
Her 25-year career experience spans the public and private sectors. She has worked in leadership roles in both the public sector of the Canadian Government and in private sector industry. She has worked with and supported individuals and teams in both developing and strengthening their competencies to achieve personal and corporate objectives. Tanya is bilingual and can coach in both official languages.
In addition, Ms. Smith also specializes in Personal Coaching, Leadership Coaching, Business Coaching, Career/Transitional Coaching, Mindfulness, Action Learning Facilitation, Human Resource Management, Project Management, Strategic & Business Planning and Community Engagement Planning /Corporate Social Responsibility Planning.
Credentials:
University of Ottawa Certified Debriefer SCHOR 360 Feedback Integral Development Coaching Certificate Professional Certified Coach (PCC) Certified in Resiliency Coaching Action Learning/Coaching Circles Facilitator Certification Certified DiSC Communication Consultant-Assessments 24x7 LLC Certified Emotional Intelligence Consultant – Assessments 24x7 LLCTara Sutorius
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
As a certified professional coach trained with Erickson International Coaching, Barrett Values Centre and Career Joy, as well as an accredited PCC-level coach with the International Coach Federation (ICF), Tara Sutorius specializes in helping individuals better understand their personal core values so they may live a more purpose-driven life in alignment with what is most important to them in their personal and professional lives.
Tara is also the Director of Communications at Export Development Canada (EDC) and the founder of “Tara Sutorius Coaching and Wellness” – a coaching company offering compassionate, transformational, and values-based leadership coaching. Tara has been coaching part-time, offering evening and weekend sessions, for over 7 years. She specializes in using solution-focused coaching methods to guide individuals to find the answers within themselves to transform their mind, body, and soul wellness through consistent action. Working alongside senior leaders in both the private and public sector for over 20 years, Tara also has a keen sense of what is required to be able to connect with one’s personal and professional leadership mission in order to effect meaningful change over the long term and build greater resiliency both at home and at work.
What Tara loves most about coaching part-time with Career Joy is helping guide individuals through powerful questioning and transformational conversations. Her coaching style is compassionate, action-oriented, motivational, connected, and intuitive. She can help guide you to better align your values with your dream job, clarify your passions, set clear goals, and take greater ownership of your career and overall wellness.
Sally Thornton
Senior Leadership and Career Coach
Sally Thornton is a former Assistant Deputy Minister in the federal public service with strong leadership, interpersonal, and communication skills. She has 30 years of experience, including work in both central agency and line departments. She is results-oriented and believes that the best way to achieve results is to invest in people – individuals, teams and at the organizational level.
Sally retired from the Public Service in 2020, with extensive experience in expenditure management, strategic policy and planning, operations and human resources. She is a seasoned executive, with a focus on collaborative approaches to complex problems, including organizational change, program and project delivery, operations, risk and change management. Her most recent focus is on resilience in the workplace, particularly in a pandemic and post-pandemic world, including enhancing well-being; establishing an effective virtual presence, and leveraging appreciative inquiry and the power of positive change.
Charlie Guy
Senior Career and Leadership Coach
Charlie is a Human Resources professional (CHRE) with over 40 years experience in senior and executive leadership roles extending across a variety of sectors from telecommunication to not for profit.He has a strong sense of commitment to personal values of integrity, excellence, and continuous improvement. He has cultivated a solid reputation for mentoring and coaching young leaders up to C-suite executives. His coaching has focussed on team building, leadership development and career transition.
Credentials
Certified Human Resources Executive (CHRE)-HRPA Graduate of Rotman’s Advanced Program in Human Resources ManagementArrow Executive Leadership Program
Bachelor of Arts-History & Geography
Bachelor of Adult Education
Personal Interests
ReadingSports, especially playing golf and pickleball
Coaching Women’s Slo-Pitch baseball
SPN Umpire
Erin Patchell
Senior Advisor, People & Culture Solutions Consultant
Erin builds trusted partnerships, taking a great deal of care to understand organizational cultures, business objectives and people management scenarios in order to tailor consulting, learning, training and coaching solutions. Her highest priority is to support her client partners in the Federal and Provincial governments to build their culture from the inside out - top to bottom and bottom to top - living to their highest values, to make real business transformations happen and generate measurable bottom-line results.
Erin has more than 10 years of experience working with senior professionals including coaches, facilitators, learning designers, marketing experts and HR consultants. Her mission is to explore the best ideas, systems, methods, frameworks, tools and assessments and serve as an integrator to connect people and resources.
As a trained professional development coach, Erin is an evangelist of growth mindset and courage, and takes a special interest in service delivery excellence, curiosity, creativity, innovation & agility, organizational learning, culture change and leadership development.
