Our Power Up Speakers

Joanna Samuels, Employment Resource Supervisor at REENA:

With extensive experience as a job developer, job coach, job readiness skills workshop curriculum designer/facilitator, and train-the-trainer in the supported employment and vocational rehabilitation sector, Joanna is passionate about empowering neuro-divergent job seekers of all ages and backgrounds to achieve their employment, career, and educational goals.

 

Known for fostering meaningful partnerships, Joanna collaborates with employers across various industries to support inclusive and diverse workplaces. She also works closely with community partners to create more opportunities for neuro-divergent job seekers with developmental and intellectual disabilities to join the workforce.

Joanna is a certified Personality Dimensions Facilitator and Life Skills Coach and serves as REENA’s monthly employment advice columnist at www.reena.org. A sought-after speaker, she has presented at conferences and panels on employment and career-related topics. Joanna is also a published author, contributing to several trade magazines and penning Letters to the Job Coach: Practical, No-Nonsense Advice from a Frontliner Who “Gets It,” available on Amazon.

Together, we are going to talk about Understanding Today’s Job Market, including understanding both the opportunities and the challenges that young job seekers face today, including emotional and practical expectations.

 

Nicole Singer, MSW, RSW: 

Nicole works as a social worker for the Child Development Institute in the SNAP program, which teaches kids and their caregivers self-regulation and problem-solving skills.

 

In her career as a social worker, she has had the opportunity to work with youth with disabilities as part of the VolunteerABLE program. Here, she helped provide youth with skills to promote job readiness, and assisted them as they tried out different tasks in a community centre. She has also been a youth social outings facilitator; here, she helped facilitate social outings, such as nights out, bowling or going to a board game cafe. Fun facts about her are that she loves cats, has a twin sister, and has never broken a bone in her body!

 

Together, we are going to talk about how to build a Strong Foundation for yourself – Knowing Yourself and Knowing Your Goals. Today, we’ll uncover more about self-discovery, emotional awareness, and setting goals without pressure. Nicole is here to help us explore our strengths, energy levels, challenges, values, and personal needs.

 

Tamara Zalev:  

As part of our ongoing Power Up video series I’m happy to introduce Tamara Zalev. Tamara is the lead job coach of REENA’s supported employment services as well as the Direct Support Professional (DSP) with Channels North – Reena’s community participation program serving York region.

 

Tamara’s career at REENA has spanned over 20 years in many different roles and departments from Outreach, residential, respite, day/community participation programs to employment. She has honed a unique expertise in helping individuals with developmental/intellectual disabilities including dual diagnosis and complex needs to achieve their employment, career and personal goals as well as their families and support systems.

 

Further, Tamara has a unique gift for facilitating customized vocational and life skills training and workshops with both groups and individuals in a safe, inclusive and respectful learning environment. Tamara’s known at the organization for her advocacy work with the supported individuals as is recognized for her talent to build long term and sustainable partnerships with employers to help them with building an inclusive and diverse workplace. Tamara was trained in ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) and a Relationship Group Trainer. She’s been a guest speaker at conferences and panels on topics related to the DSO sector and is the subject matter expert for REENA’s monthly employment advice column blog “Dear Joanna”.

 

Together, we are going to talk about how to Preparing to Shine at work, including Resumes, References, Readiness, and Real-Life Prep. Our goal is to demonstrate that practical preparation goes beyond paperwork. We will talk about what it is you will need before applying and also what you should prepare for in day-to-day work life

 

Eunice Kirkpatrick: 
As part of our ongoing Power Up video series I’m happy to introduce Eunice Kirkpatrick. Eunice is the President and CEO of YMCA Northumberland. A native of Scotland, she studied Business at Caledonian University and spent a decade in the travel industry before immigrating to Canada. She joined the YMCA over 35 years ago, advancing through a range of frontline and leadership roles before assuming the role of CEO in 2017. Eunice is committed to strategic growth across Northumberland County, expanding programs and services to more people and communities, and increasing access to mental health and well-being programs to meet rising community needs.

 

Together, we are going to talk about Growing in the Workplace: How to learn, take and give Feedback, and work on our Adaptability. We will learn what it means to grow without feeling overwhelmed, and understand that mistakes are normal, how we can accept feedback, take small steps, and build resilience over time.

 

Armaan Badhan: 
As part of our ongoing Power Up video series I’m happy to introduce Armaan Badhan. Armaan is a current social work student and job coach at Holland Bloorview, supporting adolescents with disabilities with employment skills. Job coaching is the support of skills in employment, such as learning your job, which he supports by reflecting participants learning supports. He incorporates aspects of lived experience, employment, and education as attributes to “why I do what I do.” Some of his hobbies include reading and hanging out with friends and family.

 

Together, we are going to talk about Balancing Work and Life including Wellness and Boundaries, mental health, daily coping strategies, and preventing burnout. Our goal is to teach you realistic boundaries, how to speak up early, and how to recognize when you need support.

 

Cathy Cope:

 

Karen Lai: 
Along with working full time as the Accessibility Planner for the City of Vancouver, Karen works as an independent consultant in accessibility and inclusion. She works with businesses and organizations to increase the accessibility and inclusion of people with disabilities. Karen holds a Master of Arts in Human Kinetics where she examined the social theories behind social inclusion of people with disabilities. Karen has more than 20 years of working alongside with individuals with disabilities in the field of recreation, employment, government, and other community involvements.

During the most recent years, she has worked with many service providers in the analysis of inclusion within their HR policies, facilitated staff training, exploring employment opportunities for people with cognitive disabilities, and supporting event planning.  

 

Karen is a trained facilitator who leads honest and authentic conversations about inclusion by instilling a sense of not knowing and curiosity, thus, shifting the culture of disability. It is Karen’s belief that inclusion has so many layers, but enjoys working with individuals, companies, organizations, and municipalities to work towards building an inclusive environment.

Since birth, Karen has lived with Cerebral Palsy which have caused her to encounter barriers in every aspect of her life. However, because of her lived experience, Karen has a strong passion to ensure that we all work together to build inclusive spaces so that every person is valued and respected. Karen is an outdoor enthusiast, however she requires support when participating in activities such as kayaking or hiking.

Together, we are going to talk about Mastering the Meeting, including Real Conversations, Not Perfection, how to have authentic interviews and what it means to build confidence.

Joel Dembe: 

Joel is a former Canadian wheelchair tennis champion and Paralympian. He represented Canada at the London 2012 Paralympics and won the country’s first international medal in wheelchair tennis at the 2015 Toronto Pan-American Games, shortly before retiring from sport. He serves on the Board of Directors for Praxis Spinal Cord Institute, Chair of the Patrons’ council at the Canadian Abilities Foundation, and is a Senior Manager at Royal Bank of Canada.

 

Together, we are going to talk about Self-Advocacy and Empowerment, Owning Your Story. This includes how to speak up with confidence and clarity, how to express our needs, ask questions, seek accommodations, and build healthy workplace relationships.