Dr. Beth Milliard is a Sergeant with the York Regional Police in Ontario, Canada. She’s developed a Peer Support Unit that is dedicated to providing York Regional Police members and their families with important mental health services and support. Beth is tasked with creating and implementing a mental health strategy for all York Regional Police Employees, and shares with us how this has evolved in her 17 years on the force. She also touches on the important happenings of black lives matter and how the police are being trained to handle escalated mental health situations on the front line today.

With everything going on with Black Lives Matter, this week’s episode takes a critical look at mental healthcare and how it too plays a part in systemic racism in today’s society. Our special guest, Imadé, is an award-winning writer that’s been featured in major publications including Vice, The Huffington Post, Refinery 29, Forbes, The Mighty, and many others. She’s also the co-founder of Depressed While Black, a movement that has created a voice for the black community who’ve been affected by mental illness.

COVID-19 has brought many issues to light, but arguably its biggest impact collectively has been on our mental health. Global Well-being Leader, Wendy Poirier of Willis Towers Watson, has consulted organizations all over the world on best practices in leading mental health programs through this pandemic. Wendy joins the podcast as a leading expert in organizational well-being and mental health, and shares her worldly experience on this issue as it has been elevated through COVID-19.

Mark C. Crowley is the author of the Amazon top 100 best seller book on workplace culture, ‘Lead from the Heart’. Mark reveals how the movement behind Lead From the Heart initially had slow adoption in business circles, and discusses how the concept is now gaining traction with leaders of top organizations around the world. The episode centers on a key finding that leading through empathy doesn’t mean compromising your business goals, rather that it can be a tremendous help in achieving them.

Evan Rand is the Director of Hockey Operations at the United States Hockey League. His organization has taken a leading stance among amateur and professional sports leagues on a number of social issues including diversity and inclusion, and this past season, mental health. Evan joins the podcast to discuss this shift in preparation as teams, coaches, and players begin to embrace the mental side of the game to improve their overall wellbeing.

Dr. Bill Howatt is one of the most influential thought leaders in workplace mental health today. Dr. Howatt is the Chief of Research and Workforce Productivity for the Conference Board of Canada. He also runs Howatt HR Consulting which has worked with leadership groups on addiction and mental health for over 25 years, is the co-creator of the Your Life at Work initiative through the Globe & Mail, and is a multi-book author, including his most recent entry ‘Stop Hiding and Start Living’. Dr. Howatt discusses his fascinating back story, how we should be prioritizing our Mental Fitness, and the mental health of the workforce as back to work plans have begun.

Mary Ann Baynton has been dubbed the ‘Godmother’ of Psychological Health & Safety. She’s formerly Co-Chair, and now member, of the Technical Committee for the National Standard of Canada: Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. Mary Ann breaks down ‘The Standard’  and helps shed light on how employers today can develop a psychologically safe workplace.

Dr. Rahim Kachra is a General Internal Medicine Specialist at the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary. He is also on a task force of about thirty doctors that are planning for this COVID-19 crisis and what is coming, including: increase in death rates, shortage of ICU beds, limited medical supplies, recommending social distancing measures, and emergency planning around deaths of front-line medical professionals. Dr. Kachra speaks about the crisis at hand, what he terms ‘preTSD’ about what’s coming, and how he and his colleagues are handling everything mentally.

The worldwide COVID pandemic has everyone looking for answers. From an employers perspective, what are your obligations during this time of crisis? Benjamin Kormos and Kent Jesse, partners at the law firm Walsh LLP, specialize in employment law and dive into all the burning questions that employers are asking themselves as we navigate this transition to a remote workforce.

Kelly Hrudey is a Canadian hockey icon. From his NHL playing days to his broadcasting career with CBC, Sportsnet, and Hockey Night in Canada, few have touched the game of hockey like Kelly has. In recent years Kelly has also been a vocal advocate for mental health, inspired by challenges his family faced through his daughter’s personal experiences. Kelly opens up about his daughter Kaitlin’s story, challenges of his own, and how he managed to find the right balance of work, family, and relaxation throughout his illustrious career in hockey. All this…and many legendary hockey stories from his 30+ year career in professional hockey.

Kara Gillespie is the VP of People and Culture in one of the largest transport companies in the world – Trimac Transportation. In such an established company it can be hard to break the mold of tradition. Kara takes us through her experience in HR of navigating change in a traditional organization and industry, and why invoking a culture of psychological safety is so critical in the industrial sector.

Sheldon Kennedy is a former NHL player and has led numerous initiatives that have advocated for children and victims of abuse. Most recently he’s founded the Respect Group, which has certified over 1.3 Million people in workplaces across Canada in bullying, harassment, and discrimination training. On this episode, Sheldon shares his remarkable story as an abuse victim and how these experiences have shaped his life, including the revelation where he discovered he was responsible for his mental health.

Parkland Fuel is one of the fastest growing companies in Canada, expanding from about 300 employees in 2016 to 5,000 in 2019. Stephanie McDonald, Senior VP of People & Culture with Parkland Fuel, talks with Dr. Todd about the challenges this expedited growth brings to an organization’s culture, and how it affects their recruitment strategy and talent retention when trying to maintain that culture.

Curtis Stange is the President and CEO of ATB Financial, and is highly involved with mental health in the Calgary community and throughout Alberta. Curtis highlights the business case for why mental wellness matters at work and outlines the responsibility leaders have to build a culture of care. He also talks about how he’s done this with ATB Financial, and how they’ve laid the foundation for metrics to measure impact of mental health programs.