Hello, I’m Jessica - holistic executive coach, design strategist, systems change facilitator, artist, musician, community cultivator, and author of Finding Your Authentic Self: An Illustrated Journey to Well-being.
At my core, I am a curious life-explorer and creative spirit, seeking answers to the question: “How can we cultivate resilient and thriving systems - within ourselves and with each other?”
I have come to realize that this requires a deep understanding of well-being at the levels of the individual, organization, and community. As a result, I’ve immersed myself in topics spanning personal growth, philosophy, spirituality, systems thinking, human-centred design, and innovation. I express my experiences and learnings through my writing, art, and music, and I hope that what I share is helpful to fellow travellers on this journey.
I am a proud introvert, multipotentialite, and second generation Chinese-Canadian.
My favourite visual ESSAYS
We Are An Octopus - a story of our interconnection and systems of well-being
How We Lose Our Authentic Self and Find It Again - a story of our inner journeys of suffering and discovering personal truth.
The Cycle of Emotions - on how to climb out of the pits of suffering and cultivate a healthy state of mind based on ancient Buddhist wisdom
How to Grow A Thriving Garden of Relationships - flowers, trees, pricklies, parasites - who’s growing in your garden?
The Cost of Diversity - when the cost of diversity is not visible, who bears it? A story on integration of differences within systems.
a little More about me
Currently I support purpose-inspired leaders in my life and leadership coaching practice. I am also a senior advisor at the Canadian Digital Service, helping to improve public services across the country.
Prior to this, I was a systems change consultant at Reos Partners where I supported diverse groups of stakeholders to address pressing and deep-rooted societal challenges. I facilitated projects related to higher education, climate change, equity, economic development, and global security, including the Emergency Aid Lab.
Before that, I was a founding partner of Journey CX - an innovation consultancy enabling organizations to foster human-centered and agile culture from within. Passionate about bridging cultures, I co-founded Penyo Pal and SnapLingo - technology startups that have delivered language education to over 1 million users. I studied user experience design, business, and engineering, and began my career designing digital and service experiences at Google and Adaptive Path.
I am honoured to have had my work and ideas featured by Financial Post, Forbes, Techvibes, and Betakit, and most recently on the podcasts Creative at the Wheel (hosted by creative coach Julie Claire) and Friend Futurism (hosted by author/community builder Bill Mei).
Organizations I've worked with
Some other things I’ve Been up to
Hosting community gatherings (Awaking Octopus, Coffeehouse, Soulhouse, Land & Community, Toronto Learning Night)
Released my first single Worth all the Years
Illustrated the book Human Work
Consulted the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on their national strategy for student equity
Facilitated the Emergency Aid Lab and designed a program to scale best practices nationally
Learned how to entrepreneur at Canada's Next 36
Co-authored a paper on stem cell bioreactor expansion research (Biotechnology Progress)
Featured F-Stop Travel Photographer
Was given some awards for working on cool things with a bunch of great people (Launch.co EDU "Best New Startup" Award, CIX "Canada's Top 20 Innovative Companies", IDEO.org Human-Centred Design Grant, International D&AD Yellow Pencil Finalist - Digital Design, Beijing Design Week Sustainability Award, HUB Ventures "Tech For Good" Startup Weekend - First Place)