Nater Youngchild

I’m the CEO and co-founder of D8a Driven, a software-based agency that helps brands blow up on Amazon.

As a serial entrepreneur, I also invest, advise, and take very seriously my role as an inspiration to other entrepreneurs. This part of my life has resulted in becoming a part owner of a cannabis brand, various other tech startups, and real estate holdings.

I am a first-generation college graduate, and am deeply inspired to carve a new path for my family beyond the blue-collar slave-state that we have been stuck in for generations. I take great pride in building a better life for my loved ones.

The OWL project draws me in as a platform to pay it forward for all of the support that I have received thus far throughout my journey.

Melissa Fahlman

I support University of Victoria business students with securing meaningful co-op work experiences and offer career coaching services to students and mid-level professionals.

I am also a Ph.D. student who will be focusing my future research on many of the topics relevant to this group.

I am particularly interested in the factors and conditions that create high levels of career satisfaction, and how social responsibility can be fostered in career development support, such as opportunities to shift career development practices from westernized, individualistic approaches to those that focus on community or societal impact (service-focused) and determining if this leads to higher levels of engagement and satisfaction. I highly respect the work of Dr. Elango so I'm sure this project will be a great success!

T.J. Babey

I am currently a faculty member in the School of Business at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where I teach a variety of management and leadership courses. I am a higher education professional with 10 years of experience in marketing and communications, human resource management, academic administration, and teaching.

Over the course of my a career, I have held a variety of positions, including those at the Director, Associate Director, and faculty level.

I am interested in organizational dynamics and how people interact with each other at work, and more broadly, how they interact with the organization itself. I am fascinated by what motivates people, how leaders inspire, and on the impact mindfulness has on employee performance and culture in organizations.

I am drawn to the OWL project for a variety of reasons, namely its alignment with my interests around mindfulness and finding meaning in the work we do over the course of our lives. I am hoping to join a community of like-minded individuals who hold similar interests around meaning and wellbeing at work, and to gather information and knowledge that I can impart upon my students in the classroom, and more broadly, to the people in my life.

James Raymond

I’m the Manager of Research & Analysis at the Vancouver Economic Commission. In this role, I work to create and synthesize the best sources of data to provide insight and inform investors, media, influential business leaders and the wider public about the state of Vancouver’s economy.

A graduate of one of Europe’s Top 10 Business Schools, I immigrated to Canada in 2008 where I’m now a citizen. I have a background in qualitative and quantitative research & marketing gained through 15+ years experience working in public, private and non-profit sectors for leading-edge organisations such as PA Consulting, Talkback Television, New South Wales Government and Dunnhumby where I notably project managed Europe’s largest targeted weekly marketing activity.
I’m passionate about truly sustainable economic development, and strive to establish Vancouver as a role model for other cities and regions to follow.

I’m attracted to the OWL project as I believe finding a better work/life balance would lead to a number of positive societal, economic and environmental outcomes. I would like to learn much more about the topic and ideally derive data and insights from it that I can use to influence change in our society.

Jazz Pabla

My name is Jazz and I am the Director of Information Services for the City of Kelowna. I have been in IT for over 13 years and in leadership for about 8. I enjoy technology but more so, learning different concepts and ideas about society and how our minds work. A friend of mine mentioned this project and told me about it. I want to be involved in learning more and helping where I can with the OWL project.

Lynn Works

Project Manager at Vancouver Island Impact Investing Hub - an innovation hub at the University of Victoria.

BSC in Marketing from the University of Illinois;
MBA from the University of Victoria (with a focus on sustainability)
IMM certification - Impact Measurement and Management

Research activities include impact measurement and management, the impact investing ecosystem, carbon pricing and carbon markets, carbon removal tools (CDR), voluntary carbon removal and offsets, negative emission technologies (NETs), the role of Canadian government policy in funding large-scale demonstration projects, carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS).

Eva Breternitz

I am a mixed-media artist, and I am currently trying to figure out my next career. I would like to be self-employed and started working on getting two different, yet related, businesses off the ground: ceramicist and creativity workshop facilitator.

I have always been curious and like challenging myself to try new things. Born and raised in Germany, I moved to England at 19 where I lived in many different places (Falmouth, Liverpool, Brighton and, of course, London), and where I completed my studies in art & design with a focus on installation work at various universities and art colleges.

I moved to Vancouver in my mid-twenties, and pursued various careers in the arts and the film industry, only to end up getting a job at a non-profit social services organization in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES) that provides housing and other services to people struggling with drug addiction, mental illness, homelessness, poverty and crime.

I worked for that organization for 18 years in various capacities - from front line Mental Health Worker to managing a Transitional Housing Project, to working at Pigeon Park Savings, a bank that provides basic financial services, to working in Administration (Payroll/ Scheduling/ Benefits/ OH&S). It was rewarding in a myriad of ways but with extreme changes in management and the operations in recent years, I realized that I was not fulfilled and that a change needed to be made.

I am interested in the OWL project because I believe in everything it stands for. I am excited about the opportunity to learn, share my experience and to be a part of a move towards more life-work balance.

Cindy Spence Vallance

One of my favourite words is bricolage. Bricolage is a term used to describe a creative process that brings together unexpected elements that combined, create new meaning. Twenty-first century organisations are increasingly looking for ways to create meaning, belonging and impact for clients and staff. This includes the search for an authentic and optimal work life. I am eager to connect through this project with like-minded people. I am also interested in opportunities to coach and work with leaders within Canada and the UK. I am a senior director and executive coach within a member-based consultancy/charity. I work with individuals and teams to create inclusive, high performing & sustainable organisations that also benefit society. I take a values-led, relational, systemic and intentionally boundary-spanning approach to my work. I have held senior roles spanning client relationship management, business development and sales, design and delivery of OD consultancy, transformational change and executive coaching. My sector experience spans internal and external consultancy in knowledge intensive industries including professional services, higher education, charities and government. I hold first class degree education in the arts, business and psychology that contributes to my working style that combines intellectual rigour with creativity and humanity.

Anthony Njoroge

I am a management consultant with over 11 years of experience across multiple industries working with various clients to develop strategies that are aligned to their business goals.

I am interested in building trust with my clients by being the best optimized version of myself in order to deliver exceptional value.

For me OWL is a toolkit and collaboration space to find meaning at work and in life in order to align this with my goals. I would like to use OWL to further my understanding on how to embed authenticity, sustainability and wellness for myself, my team and clients. And contribute to developing frameworks to support organizations in building and embedding these practices in their organizational DNA.

Mami Schouten

I am the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Research Officer at the University of Victoria, coordinating multiple EDI related initiatives for the office of Vice President Research and Innovation as well as the office of Equity and Human Rights. Previously, I took different student-facing roles in the field of International Education and the work integrated learning at UVic. My primary interest is higher education, EDI, social justice, intercultural competencies and organizational behaviour. I believe everyone deserves a chance to build a meaningful career, but the reality is, we take a job offer so we can pay the bills, not paying close attention to our inner desire. I hope to share my journey so far and engage in conversations to support young generations in their career exploration.