At the time of my arrival at the company, there was only one Business Leader - Senior Manager, Talent & Operations. Her portfolio consisted of three rapidly growing components - Operations, Business Professionals and Legal Professionals. It was soon evident that effectively managing and leading three different segments and populations of the office was not sustainable even for a superstar like her!

Eventually, a decision was made to promote select high-performing and promising team members into junior leadership positions and let them take on certain components of the previously single portfolio.

Empowerment

Accountability

Open-mindedness

Support

·      They started with good data that was consistent amongst their faculties. Then, they let the data lead.

·      They put budget behind efforts that were compliant with the new initiative

·      Turned to big data and predictive analytics to deliver personalized and proactive assistance to students

·      Forced all data to be house in one central warehouse

·      Focused their efforts where it was having the most impact – not students who were on academic probation, but on students who had low B’s to C’s  - “the middle”.

·      Innovative– they pioneered the use of big data in education and have become leaders in this field. This required them “to go first” and that takes courage.

·      Transparent – they didn’t keep the stats they generated in a black box. Students were given access to them, so that they could build their own self-awareness about their trajectory.

·      Growth Mindset – GSU build this a culture where it was okay to talk about failings and learn from them

I joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 2000. In my role as a junior sailor maintaining electronics, I became fascinated by how the unique world of the military affected the health and wellness of personnel and their families. This curiosity led me to eventually become trained as a Mental Health Nursing Officer and a clinical educator in the Road to Military Readiness (R2MR) program.

In the R2MR program, I found a program that was revolutionary in providing a framework for developing psychological resiliency skills and a pathway for early Psychosocial and Mental Health intervention for members of the Canadian Armed Forces. The program has since been adapted by the Mental Health Commission of Canada is is available to a wide range of society as The Working Mind.

Evidence based

Strength based

Universal

Integration

Transformative

QA/QI principles adopted.

Shared with MH Commission of Canada for use in other settings.

Subject to outcome research by outside researchers.

Wide range of print and electronic resources created.

Timing and need – YFNED started at a time where our community was in crisis. First Nation children were not receiving the education and health supports that they needed.  There was such a gap in these services that YFNED was immediately able to make positive change. Additionally, being in the middle of a pandemic, everything was changing.  It was a time of uncertainty and shifts in education.  YFNED was able to come in and seamlessly make space for ourselves within this new education system.  

Community and wellness – When creating YFNED, the Chiefs Committee on Education was very mindful in their design.  They have been generous is our leave and benefit policies, they prioritize activity and have dedicated a space for a gym in our office, we have space for employees to relax and eat together.  Employee satisfaction was a key pillar in the design of YFNED.

Structure – YFNED was not created to be top down.  One of our founding beliefs is that parents and communities know what is best for their children and we utilize that belief within our own teams.  Everyone has the ability to be apart of the decision making for their team.

Collaboration

Growth Mindset

Servant Leadership

Empowerment

1) Monday Morning Stand Up - Zoom meeting where everyone who is available is expected to log on and get updates on the week ahead

2) Team meetings - biweekly meetings for each team to gather

3) Senior Team meetings - biweekly meetings for managers and directors

4) GWANU - Weekly written newsletter sent out to all staff on Friday with important information. Gwanu, essentially translates to gossip in native language.

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Themes I have identified:

• Trailblazer - not waiting for other universities to pilot the program and then jumping on the bandwagon, but starting their own program;

• Proactive (vs Reactive) - taking active measures to create a conducive environment and not waiting till things got bad;

• Strategic alignment - vocal support from the leadership;

• Data & Research - instead of rushing into rolling out the initiative, it was vetted through research;

• Resources - tied in with Strategic Alignment, the leadership backed up the initiative both materially and socially;

• Visibility - keeping the initiative in the forefront of people's minds physically (location of the advising centre) and mentally (consistent application of the program throughout the year).

  
  

Here's what I gleaned from it:

• Empathy - the initiative was developed and driven from listening to people and their experiences and to support them moving forward;

• Big Picture Mindset - it was not meant to be a local program, but a global initiative;

• Transformation - similar to the previous point, the goal was to change things fundamentally;

• People-driven - though not in the context of business and profit, it was centred fully around the well-being of the people and their experience, not around their performance and goals;

• Top-down alignment - the program was supported and championed from the highest levels of the organization. It was streamlined and encouraged, thus integrated and socialized well.

• Vision & Commitment - due to the way YFNED is positioned, it is important to attract and retain similarly minded individuals that will further promote the core values;

• People oriented - benefits and perks for staff that provide support and conducive environment to help people stay well and focused on the bigger tasks;

• Community oriented - parents are invited (formally and informally) to the decision-making process. It's an even exchange instead of a one-way relationship;

• Culture - all decision are informed by the community's culture and the commitment to uphold it;

• Authenticity & Accountability - it is imperative to live by the core values of the organization and let them shine in all the aspects of the work.

Although, I didn't include it as part of my story but our organization was created right after the auditor generals report on education in Yukon was released. And the need was quite evident.

Theresa - to students

John - to military personnel

Courtney - to community

Igor - clear communication to larger team, open communication with new leaders and director

Theresa - data was shared with the students

John - research and resources were shared

Courtney - transparent within organization and to broader community