Verena’s career in education began in Belfast and London, leading her to become a Learning Consultant and then Vice Principal at Wondertree, an innovative non-profit school in Vancouver that is now the SelfDesign Learning Community. It was there, sitting at a round table of multi-age learners, exploring what inspires them that Verena’s passion for creating child-centered learning spaces grew. In 2009, Verena moved to Masset in Haida Gwaii. As an elementary principal, the vocational drive to ensure the students’ well-being shifted to the needs of her staff. Ever grateful for this experience as a learner and leader in a community rich in culture and connectedness, Verena continues to grow her own capacity to support educators. She has completed a series of Elena Aguilar’s coaching programs including: Coaching for Equity and Team Coaching. Verena has also completed the introductory Compassionate Systems Leadership training and is set to attain her Master Practitioner certification in 2023. Through her own continued learning and growth, Verena is committed to providing educators with the ongoing support they need, before they think they need it, because when a teacher or principal asks for help, it is likely already too late. Through individual coaching and new learning experiences, Verena is changing this narrative ensuring that it is never too late again.
As an educator, consultant, and experience designer, Magda has worked with communities and organizations from Sumatra to Cincinnati. Her company,
Aitken Leadership Group, focuses on developing the soft skills necessary for technically trained high achieving professionals to thrive both at work and at home. And thriving they are not. People are suffering. A lack of emotional literacy, self- and relational-awareness has led to difficulty coping with the demands of a modern lifestyle. But what if these successful executives had the opportunity to learn these fundamental personal mastery skills in childhood? What if their teachers when they were young were thriving and able to model a resilient way of being? It is these questions that have led Magda back to her roots to apply what works in other industries to the education sector. With a focus on personal mastery, Magda integrates sophisticated curriculum design with seasoned facilitation and coaching skills. Her focus is designing transformative learning programs that integrate current insights into how adults learn to achieve lasting change, both personally and professionally.
Over a decade ago Jani, a seasoned entrepreneur with an infectious attitude to affect positive change, set his sights on the education sector after selling MacFanatic, his technology consulting business. Jani witnessed how a recent 4th grade immigrant who did not speak the language of his peers built friendships by sharing his skills of movie making. Technology, it appeared, was not just a tool of convenience. It had the capacity to transform and connect us. Since this time, Jani has focused on elevating the educational experience for students, their teachers and the administrators who support them via his educational consulting company,
Classmate. Through implementing successful technology frameworks into numerous schools in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Jani has noticed that it is the systems, culture and the individuals who are on the frontline of education that truly make the difference, not the tech. Through offering more than 1,000 days of professional development and supporting over 400 teachers, Jani has learned a thing or two about what makes a school thrive. When teachers feel supported, confident and equipped with what they need, the whole system flourishes, especially the students.
