MEET OUR PROGRAM CONSULTANTS
Some of the Best Canadian Youth Leadership Facilitators, Speakers and Educators
Some of the Best Canadian Youth Leadership Facilitators, Speakers and Educators
Professional Speaker and Leadership Facilitator, Polish Academy of Canada Program Consultant
“Feed My Life” Speaker Slam
For 30+ years, Ian Tyson has been entertaining and inspiring audiences across North America to realize their potential, and seek happiness in life. Ian’s high-octane presentations are sure to keep any audience in stitches and leave them with words and thoughts to live by. Combining hilarious and heart warming story telling, observational humour and meaningful life lessons; his assembly programs are always on point. He is one of North America’s top inspirational speakers, and has spoken at hundreds of schools, TEDx, and dozens of conferences about teaching optimism, resilience and kindness. Ian’s book, “Hooray For Everything! The Optimist Manifesto” is an insightful collection of stories, and ideas about finding and keeping positivity. Also an avid home cook, who brings his positivity to the kitchen and was featured on the Food Network Canada show “Wall of Chefs” in 2020, and has an online cooking show of his own called “The Confined Kitchen”.
Ian Tyson about PAC:
‘My experience in working with Alina and PAC over the last few years has been educational and eye opening. Learning the similarities and differences with student engagement, leadership and attitudes between Canada and the EU has changed the way I present. The global view and perspective has sparked my interest in doing more work overseas. It has been professionally and personally enriching to meet and work with these incredible students and learn their stories!’
Professional Speaker, Award Winning Educator, Humanitarian, Executive Director of YoungLeaders.World
Carla Cuglietta is a nationally award winning educator, a Canadian born global humanitarian and keynote speaker. Over the last 20 years she has been involved in several global projects in countries like Uganda, India, China, Mexico and Sierra Leone. Through these projects, she was able to learn from extraordinary leaders. She now shares those lessons with students through her talks and leadership courses. Carla is the Executive Director and Co-founder of YoungLeaders.World. A global non-profit that helps students think like leaders. To date, YL.W has trained thousands of youth worldwide on developing a leadership mindset. Carla has been awarded the Canadian Prime Minister’s Certificate of Achievement for her curriculum development, the University of Alberta Alumni of Distinction for her work in engaging youth in Canada. In addition, she has been awarded the YWCA Woman of Distinction and the Lions Club International Humanitarian Award for her youth leadership and humanitarian work around the world.
She is the Dean of Social Sciences at the University of Victoria. She is committed to creating opportunities for engaging conversations about leadership. Before starting this new role, Lois was the Principal at the Peter Lougheed Leadership College at the University of Alberta for 3 years.
Lois holds a PhD in Political Science and Government. As an academic, Lois’ research and teaching focuses on citizenship law, social policy and the complexities of birthright citizenship. In 2014, Lois was the Eccles Centre Visiting Canadian Fellow in North American Studies at the British Library and a Visiting Scholar at the University of Kent Centre for Law, Gender and Sexuality in March 2015. She also held a Fulbright Professorship at the University of Hawaii (2008). Together with her former student Michelle Thomarat, Lois was awarded the Jill Vicker’s Prize from the Canadian Political Science Association for her work.
In addition to her academic work, Lois is an avid amateur musician, playing violin in a piano trio and violin and viola in an early music ensemble.
He served as the Deputy Minister for Education and Post-Secondary Institutions in Alberta, Canada for 6 years. He has held a variety of public service leadership positions including associate deputy solicitor general, assistant deputy minister and executive director.
He helped design and implement national and international models of competency-based curriculum design and delivery as a founding member of the INTERPOL Group of Experts in Training, as president of the Canadian Association of Police Educators, and as a board member of the National Police Sector Council.
He holds a PhD in sociology from York University, has a leadership certificate from Cornell University, and has completed an executive program in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. Curtis currently works in leadership development and consulting.
Anna is Human Resources executive leader with over 20 years of experience, she knows what young people need to be successful in their careers. She has experience building engaging, high-performance cultures and supporting leaders in their path to growth and success. She is trained as a Performance Coach, a Certified Executive Coach as well as a Group and Team Coach from Royal Roads University. Anna is one of the first facilitators trained in Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead™ program in Canada. She is a trained practitioner and coach in the Integrative Enneagram™. In 2020, after years listening and navigating the common challenges of women in leadership, Anna cofounded Women Leading, a development program for female leaders.
Anna is also the President and Founder of Catalyst Leadership Coaching. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Alberta and has completed the Queen’s Executive Development program (HR).
teaches the Kindness Course in Polish Academy of Canada and is a helping hand to understand leadership in Canada. Melissa Hoffort is a native to the Canadian Prairies before she found her home on Vancouver Island, more than 20 years ago. Melissa identifies as Spouse, Mother, Sister, Daughter, Recovering perfectionist, reader, walker, be-outsider, spiritual being, anti-hustler, Human-doing-their-best. Beyond that, Melissa is a Certified Professional Coach with a primary focus on working with Mothers to be their best at all stages of parenthood. Her background as a Mother and small business owner, combined with over 15 years of retail sales and management has offered many opportunities to work with a variety of people and grow as an individual. Melissa is grateful to be growing through and with her community and clients.
An educator and active life-long learner. She is committed to best practices in curriculum design and instruction, both in the classroom and through E-learning. Whether working in a leadership capacity, as part of a team, or independently, I welcome challenges, applying strong organization, problem-solving and effective communication skills to all tasks and projects, along with a commitment to purpose and respect for others, timelines, targets, performance, and results. Extensive travel has played a role in informing my perspectives on teaching, learning, the arts, global awareness, and the roles of individuals in society.
Jean-Michel Komarnicki is a photographer and instructor of photography, as well as owner of JMK Image-ination where he specializes in the concept, design and production of books, and photography. Since his graduation from the Photographic Arts Department of Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (1971), he has exhibited his works in a variety of venues. He has lectured on Canadian photography at universities in Poland and Ukraine (2009). He curates the Artspace on the Mezzanine at the Bowmanville branch of the Clarington Public Library.
About his work, Jean-Michel states: “When I photograph, I simply observe. I try not to intrude, without hiding. I look for the artifice and layers of images in a scene, I then let the shutter click as quietly as possible. I seek the unusual and fleeting in the ordinary – be it in people or objects. In a way, I look for the unintentional and attempt to transform it into an intentional image. In the end, I hope to elicit from the viewer, after perhaps a bit of puzzlement, a smile of understanding. And, as Robert Frank wrote: ‘When people look at my pictures, I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice’.
PAC Team Spirit Leader
Olivia is 16 years old and a student at IB school in Lublin. As a spirit leader she values good communication within the group and loves to bring the young people up instead of down. She wants to help the Polish youth to understand that they all have values worth bringing to the group, and all of them are important. She has been to Canada two times and the second time as a spirit leader of the group. What she loves about Canada is the people who taught her a lot about being herself and learning how to grow within herself. In Canada she has learnt to give back so much care and kindness into her environment and, in her opinion, this is what Canada is all about. She also loves traveling, reading books, watching films and her dog Yoda. She is in medical program at her high school.
