Past Projects

Pandemic public health protections significantly disrupted Flamborough Connects’ ability to realize its vision of “bringing people and resources together.” The charity also faced an increase in demand for its services and significant fluctuations in its revenue streams. Valery engaged program participants, volunteers, funders, staff, board members, and community partners in the development of a 2022-2025 strategic plan focused on greater sustainability in the medium term, and readiness for growth to meet community needs in 2025 and beyond. 

Through the design and delivery of a custom workshop for the organization’s virtual all-staff retreat, Valery helped to facilitate the roll out of a new approach to performance measurement at Imagine Canada. Valery engaged participants in team-based experiential learning that introduced concepts such as: the development of performance metrics relevant to organizational strategy and current context; and, the importance of a basket of metrics that balances inputs, outputs / uptake, sustainability, and behaviour change.

Valery worked with not-for-profit digital inclusion social enterprise Free Geek Toronto to reflect on their impact and plan their future at a time when millions in Toronto (and around the world) had to shift abruptly to online work, school, service utilization, and social connection. Valery supported FGT and its community members to develop a theory of change and make strategic choices around how to focus their work as the pandemic disrupted their operations and made digital inclusion more important than ever.

As the architect of CAMH’s 2020-2023 strategic plan, Valery led a year-long journey to coalesce CAMH people, patients, family members, youth, and system partners around the transformative new vision of “health redefined.” The plan is an ambitious call to action to work together to advance a three-year roadmap grounded in the compelling strategic directions of Inspire, Include, and Impact. Launched in 2020, the plan helped build connection, and foster innovation and system change inside and out of Canada’s leading mental health and addictions research hospital.

While advancing mental health systems change with the Government of Ontario, Valery brought ADMs across two ministries together with leading youth mental health experts and philanthropic change makers to support several integrated youth service hubs across Ontario. Multiple hubs are now in development to serve as “one-stop-shops” to address the needs of youth aged 12-25 related to mental health, substance use, primary care, education, employment, training, housing and other community and social services.

Valery co-created a series of anti-oppression circles as the co-designer of all dialogue and communication related experiences at Camp Reset 2018. The circles created space for people to share their lived experiences as racialized people, LGBTQ+ people, people living with mental health challenges, and other intersectional identities. A number of participants reflected that the circles played an essential role in making Reset a safe(r) space for them.