Hi, I’m Keir! I’m the People and Culture Advisor! I mainly work within recruitment alongside our Employee Experience Advisor, Casey! In addition, I facilitate payroll for all COR employees alongside Lill! I began my journey with COR working as the Payroll and Benefits Specialist, but quickly moved into what I was really passionate about – people!

I recently celebrated my 2 year anniversary at COR! I’ve been here since late September 2020. Time really flies when you love what you do! I first learned about COR when I was working at PEBA (Public Employees Benefits Agency). I met one of my great friends, JJ Mathieson, who was working full-time at PEBA and supporting overnights at COR. He told me about what he did and that he loved the organization and its culture. From there, I told him to let me know if there were any opportunities to work within COR in a business role! A few months later, he said to me that they were hiring a People and Culture Advisor. I applied for it, didn’t get it, but I was offered a benefits and pension specialist position (very in line with what I was doing at PEBA) and I took it!

My favorite project at COR so far has definitely been Healthy Workplace Month. I spent time over the past year filming different shorts for the COR socials and it was a blast! I’ve realized I’m very camera-shy, but getting out of my comfort zone really stretched me as a person. This year, we’ve decided to garner as many recipes from everyone across the COR family and compile it into a cookbook that everyone can use in their daily life. I’m super stoked to see what recipes come in from who, and try them all out! There are a few major projects at COR that have really strengthened my ability to move through adversity and plan for the future. Before moving to COR, I didn’t have much experience in implementation and planning. I felt very privileged to be able to come into a role that would impact the organization as a whole, as well as to work with incredibly supportive individuals who always had my back through thick and thin!

My advice for prospective COR candidates would be to have an open mind and open heart! Since starting at COR, I’ve really tried to immerse myself in the philosophy of Gentle Teaching and I feel that it’s really impacted how I think, my values, and how I conduct myself on a daily basis. It’s interesting to reflect on prior years and positions I
held in different organizations and see how they compare to COR in terms of culture, philosophy, and structure. I know it sounds cliché, but I really do feel that everyone has my back within COR and that I’m free to take risks and make mistakes without judgment!

Fun Facts about me:
My favorite book is called “Can’t Hurt Me” by David Goggins. It’s an autobiography-style book with some insane stories about persevering through adversity and creating mental toughness within yourself. I think I’ve read it about 3 or 4 times over. I would totally recommend it to anyone who is looking for a brutally honest story about
overcoming obstacles in your life!

I’m a major Dark Knight fan, and I always think back to when he fell down the well in Batman Begins. The quote goes, “Why do we fall, sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves back up”.

I think this quote is insanely relatable to my life and I can honestly say I hear this quote in my head from Alfred at least once a day! I’m constantly falling down, but it’s having the strength to stand back up, dust myself off, and keep pushing forward that’s so important!

I once had to do a triathlon because I lost a bet with my partner! We were casually chatting about a video game that I play, and I told her it would be impossible for her to reach a “max level” skill in the game. Sadly, she took on the challenge with the prize being me doing a triathlon with her. I laughed in her face but ended up doing the triathlon a few months later…

Hello! I am Julian and I am a Key Support at COR and have been supporting at COR for 5 and a half years now! I first learned about COR through the Kinesiology Program at the University of Regina! Seeing the people I support grow and achieve milestones in their lives has to be one of my favorite moments at COR!

My favorite project at COR had to have been during my undergraduate studies! I was leading the Transit Travel Training Program, which helped people around the community learn conventional bus routes around the city! It made me feel proud to empower them and give them more opportunities for transportation. One of my favorite memories was being thanked as a team by one of the moms. She was emotional to see her son for the first time in around 30 years being engaged with himself and the community.

At COR, you really learn how to come out of your comfort zone. You build strong relationships and friendships with both the people you support and your co-supports. Everyone is so friendly and understanding, it really feels like being a part of one giant family. Seeing the smiles and the memories you make with the people around you makes you really take pride in being a support at COR!

Fun Facts about me!

I tore my Achilles two weeks after Kevin Durant.

My favorite book is “You Can’t Hurt Me” by David Goggins

Hey, my name is Darby! I am the Team Leader within COR Youth and have been at COR for just over 2 years! I first learned about COR while I was pursuing my Bachelor of Kinesiology at the University of Regina. Throughout my time at the university, I had the opportunity to see a few different presentations from COR in my disability studies courses, as well as listen to my professors talk very highly about the organization and the work that COR does. I knew from those experiences that working with people with disabilities was an interest of mine, but it took me a couple of years to fully figure that out after I obtained my degree. Upon completion of my degree, I worked as a Health Coach for a couple of years before realizing that my true passion was not helping people with their fitness goals, but connecting with them and building a relationship that was more meaningful than that. After some soul-searching and researching, I rediscovered COR, applied, then began my journey in 2020.

One of the best things about COR is that everything we do is rooted in building strong, healthy relationships. Whether that is with the people we support, with our team members, or with the community, everything we do is based on Gentle Teaching and that really allows for everyone to feel safe and valued in their relationships, which in turn creates an environment in which we can help support the people we serve to the best of our abilities. As a team leader, I love being able to create a safe space for my team to be vulnerable in as this helps us have more open and honest communication which I find then directly correlates to the strength of our team when supporting the youth that we support.

My proudest moment so far at COR has been around starting up a brand-new youth home with a brand-new team and seeing that team become such strong, incredible supports. I am so proud of my team for continuing to show up even when things were not always easy and constantly working at becoming stronger, more compassionate people both in the boys’ home and out of the home as well.

My advice to prospective candidates is always to be open-minded and ready to be vulnerable when it comes to building relationships with the people that we support. The key to success is being genuine and bringing the best version of yourself to the table. There will be times when things get tough and Gentle Teaching may not make sense, but don’t be afraid to ask questions and maybe sit in some discomfort to really begin to understand the beauty of Gentle Teaching.

Fun Facts about me:

If I were to choose a favourite book, I would probably have to pick “Radically Happy” because it was such a relaxing book to read and it gave me many tools to use when I am feeling stressed or overwhelmed.

My favourite quote is, “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

Some things that I enjoy doing in my free time include working out, playing with my dogs, reading, playing video games, and having coffee/connecting with my friends.

Hi! I am Joana! I am the Employment Partnership Consultant for the 4to40 initiative which is to connect people experiencing disability with forward-thinking employers who embrace a flexible 4 to 40-hour work week. In this role, I am responsible for supporting both the employee (person experiencing a disability) and employer as people enter the workforce, many for the first time! I also support the hiring and training of job coaches who provide hands-on support and mentorship; my primary focus is to build strong, trusting relationships with current employer partners!

I also recently started a new role as Cultural Advisor. In this role, I deliver Cultural Awareness training to COR’s support teams, while engaging with our entire COR family to help bring awareness to and celebrate the many events, activities, and cultural traditions of the diverse people who make up the COR family! I engage our Leadership Team in cultural topics and discussions to strengthen our diversity and nurture a culture of belonging among our whole COR family.

Prior to COR, I was working as the Respite Coordinator and Admin at Inclusion Regina; when Inclusion Regina and COR merged together in 2019, I joined COR as the Employment Partnership Consultant. In 2020, I proudly led the development of a new program to support families in need: Short Breaks. It’s been 4 years since I have been at COR. Time flies when you are doing what you love. When I was working at Inclusion Regina, I remember meeting with Michael Lavis, COR CEO, and Ben Morris, Director of the COR Studio. They both made an impact on me and I went home and started researching COR. I wanted to learn more about Gentle Teaching and fell in love with the COR philosophy of gentleness. Even before joining COR, I started to use Gentle Teaching with my kids. It looks like I was destined to join COR!

I have had many favourite projects during my time at COR so far! I always learn something new with every project and try to make it my own! I always put pieces of what I know, my values, and my education into each project. I have a Bachelor of Science with honours in Sociology; I am also working to complete another degree in Justice Studies at the University of Regina. I have always tried to incorporate both my learning and experience into my work. I love the 4to40 Initiative because I have seen how employment can transform the lives of the individuals we serve. Particularly, one project I love is the Job Club training that I co-facilitated with Peco Nagai, Educational Facilitator at Campus for All at the University of Regina.

I also love the Short Breaks Program, which is a new program in partnership with the City of Regina and Hope’s Home. It has a special place in my heart because we started this program in October 2020 when we were going through the Covid Pandemic. It was a scary time for so many people, but mostly for the individuals we serve and individuals with Intellectual disabilities living in the community with families, as at that time, all programs/activities were on hold or moved online. Short Breaks was one of the only programs where people were still able to come and socialize. It helped people navigate the uncertainties related to Covid and having a place to come to do art, participate in activities, and mostly socialize – it had a positive effect on everyone. I value connection, socializing, and being part of the community; the individuals we serve are equally the same, they strive for social interaction.

Lastly, I love the Cultural Awareness training which I had the opportunity to develop and have started to deliver to COR employees. I am able to hear first-hand lived experiences and understand how we can better support employees that work at COR. It has also been a lot of learning for me. I am grateful to be able to facilitate this training and get to know our COR family on a deeper level.

Some advice I have for people who want to join COR is to have an open mind and an open heart to receive, share and grow as an individual, but also as a team player in the community. What I have learned working at COR and through the many learning opportunities such as Gentle Teaching 1 and 2, SafeTALK, Person-Centered Thinking, and Coaching; I am able to apply it in my personal life and the lens through which I look at people and situations have changed. We all have a cultural and diversity lens and through the years of being at COR, I have been able to develop both cultural competency and cultural humility. They are both important, even essential in the field we work.

Fun Facts about me!

I love reading biographies of individuals that have influenced the world; Becoming by Michelle Obama is one of my favorites! Being a person of color, it’s inspiring.

One of my favorite quotes is:

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world” – Mahatma Gandhi.

This has stuck with me because as one individual we can all influence change and we can do so in gentle ways and it starts with us. As a mother, I want to be a role model to my kids and as a woman of color and a first-time immigrant in Canada, I want to influence and inspire people around me in small ways. After all, this is all we need, right? Making and influencing small changes that can have a big impact on society, at least on our own family and kids.

I love spending time in nature with my kids and my husband, going on long walks and going hiking are my favorite activities. I also love watching a good movie based on real life. I just discovered Hot Yoga and I love it too.