Testimonials

Jose Vergara
Chief Customer Officer
McKesson Medical Imaging

 Allison McConville
(former) Vice President, Human Resources
VISIER

Tinu Mathur
(former) Chair, Board of Trustees
Burnaby Hospital Foundation

Tyler Cheyne
(former) Program Manager, Talent Development
Stemcell Technologies

Kwela is without a doubt the best company that I deal with always delivering great product and services.

Richard Wale, (former) Lead of Yukon Government’s Leadership Development
Forum Program (YGLF), Staff Development Branch
Government of Yukon

I participated in our first Managing @ BCIT Program virtual skills training session today. The participants were engaged and found significant value. The technology worked well and I was really happy with how Kwela facilitated the skills practices.

Lisa Ryan
Director, Organizational Development — Human Resources
BC Institute of Technology

Kwela has worked with our organization, at all levels, for over 10 years. Their approach is practical because they’ve used the strategies they espouse as consultants. Their understanding of leadership development theory and practice is very deep. They have made a significant contribution to many of our initiatives. They’re great facilitators – energetic, passionate and credible.

Donna Brown, Divisional Manager – Organizational Development
Metro Vancouver

Lockdown started in March 2020 but we continued our Learning & Development initiatives.  Our leaders participated in a 6-month virtual leadership development program with Kwela.  I was a little apprehensive about the level of engagement (with virtual delivery) but the leaders proactively engaged in conversations and found the skill workshops valuable.  In between workshops, peer coaching sessions effectively kept the learning fresh and relevant. The program was successful and we’re happy that we did it.

Emi Hashimoto, Director – People & Culture
SkyBox Labs

The Managing at BCIT program, collaboratively led by Kwela’s leadership experts and BCIT’s in-house learning and development team, was a great opportunity to share ideas and discuss issues and challenges within our leadership roles. We gained practical knowledge, new ideas and tools, and learned about current leadership research and trends. It was 100% worth our time and energy, as it became a truly inspiring journey to learn about ourselves and our leadership styles.

The program offered the right mix of practical insights, the latest thinking in leadership theory and exposure to leaders in action.  Not only is this a valuable program for new BCIT leaders, I think it would be valuable to all leadership positions at BCIT.  Great job!

Sanja Boskovic, PhD Mechanical Engineering, PhD Educational Technology
Associate Dean, Aerospace
Aerospace Technology Campus – BCIT

Kwela’s Leadership Development Program was a great opportunity for our team to share ideas, discuss challenges and set goals in their leadership roles. Kwela’s consultants provided meaningful content, both in theory and in a practical sense. The new ideas and tools will be so valuable as the team continues in their leadership journey. Each step in the program – planning, scheduling and execution – is very well thought-out, allowing us to spend time productively. It is a great program!

Mimi Buckley, Senior HR Business Partner
SVS/Buyatab

I wish to extend my gratitude to you for the delivery of the Customer Service workshop last week. As an observer, I found that you did a fantastic job of engaging learners, bringing passionate energy, and centering each individual’s unique experience! We are grateful for your thoughtful delivery and for supporting the development of UBC faculty and staff.

Erin Carter, Employee Foundations Learning Associate
HR | Talent Development & Engagement
The University of British Columbia

We recently worked with Kwela to have Write to be Read delivered in our organization. The quality of content and instruction was excellent! They worked closely with me in the lead up to the session to identify relevant examples of City writing that would provide the right context to make the session activities meaningful.

They were proactive in generating options, and honed in on the ones that would give participants the greatest depth of learning. Following the sessions, we also received numerous comments from participants about how much they appreciated the facilitator – (citing) that they were attentive, open, clearly knowledgeable, and supportive. Participants have also shared that this hands-on workshop has noticeably improved their writing skills, and that they put methods and practices into place immediately. We will definitely run this workshop again!

Falina Stack
Organizational Development Manager
City of Surrey

I really enjoyed the session (Diversity & Inclusion) — sometimes D&I sessions can be preachy, and I wasn’t sure how 3 hours virtually was going to be. However, I thought it was masterfully facilitated. The breakout groups are fantastic, and work even better than in person because there’s no lost time. The video-sharing also worked really well. And of course, the content was very good.

I really appreciated the way the concept of “privilege” was handled, since the word can be such a turn-off. The facilitator using her own story was helpful and she did it in a way to say, “I’m on this journey myself”, which I think made people feel more comfortable.

Hilary Stoddart
Director, Human Resources
Law Society B.C.

As incoming CEO at Knowledge Network, I was highly impressed by the Leadership Development Program delivered by Kwela. It was comprehensive and well structured to our organizational needs. Their facilitator who designed and delivered our program is extremely skilled at engaging participants, “reading the room” and then adapting set curriculum to group need and context. I highly appreciated their uncommon combination of subject matter expertise and emotional intelligence. They are one of the best facilitators I have worked with in my over 30 year career.

Michelle van Beusekom, President & CEO
Knowledge Network

Kwela did a great job of facilitating a team optimization process for our senior management. The work (which stretched over a period of 4 months) made a difference in better aligning us to our strategy and business plan. Kwela’s work with us contributed to our business results: in the last year the MOV has seen its admissions rise by 35%, along with increases in membership, sponsorship and general media coverage. Our achievements have recently been recognized by the Canadian Museums Association (CMA) with the National Award for Leadership Innovation.

Nancy Noble, (former) CEO
Museum of Vancouver

Kwela designed and facilitated our ‘Transactional Leadership: Achieving Results Through Others’ program. This program is aimed at emerging leaders in our organization and it comprises a number of components that stretch over a period of approximately 4 months. The feedback we’ve received from participants has been great. Kwela takes an experiential approach to development, emphasize practical approaches and tools and hold participants accountable through measurement and follow-ups.

Susan Karda, (former) Manager Organization Development & Learning
Vancity

Kwela has worked with our executive team by facilitating our succession planning / talent review session and by doing coaching skills training. They are excellent facilitators and wonderful presenters. Keeping us on track, they make the learning relevant and fun to boot. Our CEO always talks about having the “A” team show up when you contract for consulting services. He feels Kwela is an “A”-type contributor and player.

Agnes Ross, Vice President – Human Resources
BC Housing

Thank you very much for leading us through two important and full days of discussion (Strategic Planning facilitation). Kwela is definitely the master of bringing us to a conclusion.

Christine Sorenson BSN ICD.D
President
BC Nurses’ Union

Kwela has delivered a time management and personal effectiveness program to many Hydro staff over the past few years. They are effective instructors with excellent background and pragmatic suggestions. The deskside coaching was particularly helpful for operationalizing the classroom concepts. I have continued to use their expertise post-course – now 3 years later.

Nicole Liddell
(former) Manager, Leadership & Talent Programs
BC Hydro

Our employees had many great things to say about their experience in Kwela’s Leading Self workshop and with the instructor.  [They cited it was] well planned, with a great use of tools and activities, and the instructor was knowledgeable, engaging and enjoyable to learn from.  Participants recommended that all our employees should take this course – we look forward to bringing Kwela back to offer it again.

Mary Winchell, Human Resources Manager
City of Nanaimo

On behalf of the entire Burnaby Hospital Foundation family, thank you very much for a wonderfully effective day {Strategic Planning}. The feedback on your facilitation was excellent as we found the session, educational, engaging and successful as it mapped out against our desired outcomes. Thank you for your warmth, approachable disposition and clear understanding of our objectives.

Tinu Mathur, (former) Chair Board
Burnaby Hospital Foundation

Kwela worked with us to customize their Customer Relations course content for a team-building session for our group, who are based throughout BC. The material was delivered well, with examples and stories, and the approach was well-received. Our team would like to engage Kwela again for our next event.

Barbara Bolenback, Manager
Fleet Services Operations Support Centre
BC Hydro

The session {Strategic Planning facilitation} was everything I expected and more. Kwela’s ability to understand the group and the different personalities is truly amazing. They make it all look so seamless — our experience with them was beyond excellent!

Felicia Ciolfitto, Manager, Trust Regulation Group
Law Society of BC

On behalf of the Office Managers Group, thank you for yesterday – we all had a really fun, educational and interesting day [customized program based on Coaching for Performance]. The day was really a huge success – we all left feeling inspired and even closer as a Team.

Thank you for providing us with some really great ‘tips and tricks’ that we can use in the future, in not only our work environments, but also in our personal lives.

Sue Israel, Office Manager, Labour Relations Department
Metro Vancouver

Kwela led a two-day strategic planning and team optimization process for our Department. Our relatively new team came together, grappled with difficult issues and came out with very satisfactory outcomes that helped make us a better, stronger team. They related well to the group and kept us focussed on our goals, yet they were flexible in allowing us to deviate from the planned path, to explore what was important to us. The evaluations from the session were very positive and complimentary of the facilitator’s style and presentation. I would not hesitate to recommend them for similar exercises.

Stuart Whitley, (former) Deputy Minister – Department of Health and Social Services
Government of Yukon

Kwela’s Systems Thinking workshop was unlike any other I’ve ever seen. Participants were absolutely captivated by the way the facts were presented and in a few short hours, came away with a deep understanding of how global problems are not only interrelated to each other, but also to some of the things we treasure most in our own lives. Despite presenting an urgent and pressing picture of the current situation with no sugar-coating of the facts, their engaging style and consistent focus on solutions left participants energised and motivated in the belief that we can change the world. Participants could not stop talking about this workshop and many are now taking action in their communities.

Jeff Gibbs, (former) Director, Young Leaders for a Living Planet Program
WWF Canada

Kwela worked with our organization to deliver a leadership development program for our senior team. Within days of launching the program, it was apparent that the entire group were making significant and positive changes to their leadership style, including myself. Kwela’s approach, combined with excellent coaching and facilitation, really helped us take the organization to the next level.

Rodney Benson, CEO
Danica Imports

I am extremely happy to write this testimonial for Kwela Leadership and Talent Management. We have had two cohorts participate in our Leadership Development Program which stretches over a 10 month period. Both groups have shown measurable leadership behaviour improvement. Kwela excels in achieving measurable results. They are strong consultants, great trainers and they connect at all levels in the organization. They have provided Canaccord with an invaluable service and I highly recommend their programs and services.

Giti Sepahi, Senior Vice President – Human Resources & Administration
Canaccord Capital

Kwela facilitates part of our training and entrepreneurship curriculum. The graduate and postdoctoral communities of BC Universities have benefited from a unique, hands-on, and highly interactive experience that has left them all wanting more!

Kamilla Karoli, Skills Training & Entrepreneurship Program
MITACS Inc.