Dickson Wood & Associates Inc. is an alliance of independent organizational consultants who, collectively, offer our clients a broad range of expertise and experience in leading and managing all types of organizations. Each of us has held a variety of leadership and management roles. We understand and appreciate the demands that these roles impose on the people who accept them.

From the energy sector to the health sector; from the not-for-profit to the multi-national corporation, we have the experience and the tools to make a difference in any organization.

Dickson Wood, Principal
Dickson has twenty-five years of management and leadership experience that has included roles in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.

Dickson established his practice in 1998 and since then has aligned himself with several other practitioners whose expertise complements and supports a client centered approach to organizational development.

Dickson is an experienced and skillful facilitator who has helped numerous organizations improve their effectiveness by designing and implementing focused and meaningful strategic processes. Dickson has developed proprietary materials and tools that enable him to tailor his approach to the unique needs of his clients. He specializes in two areas of leadership development: (1) Senior professionals whose success has resulted in their appointment to a leadership role. (2) Corporate executives who value an external perspective in their strategic deliberations. Combining his interest in the outdoors with his consulting practice, Dickson often incorporates outdoor, experiential activities to create a truly unique learning opportunity for his clients.

Dickson earned his Masters degree from the University of Alberta where he studied organizational theory. He has taught management and leadership courses at Mount Royal College in Calgary and has instructed a variety of other leadership and development programs over the years. He is a certified practitioner of the Insights Discovery personality profile instrument, which is emerging as a ‘tool of choice’ for enhancing organizational effectiveness.

Dickson is active in the community serving as a director or committee member of several organizations and coaching various minor sports teams. He has also served on a program advisory committee for Mount Royal College’s faculty of continuing education.
Dickson and his wife, Verna, enjoy a very active life with their three teenaged children. Together they enjoy skiing, hiking, sea kayaking, mountain biking and sailing.

Kendra Koss, Associate
Kendra began her career in the retail industry and spent six years in the head office environment of a national retail organization. In 1993 she became a partner in a firm specializing in executive search and leadership coaching. Kendra led the growth of the search side of the business for ten years during which she established herself as a trusted advisor to many clients in a variety of industries.

Currently Kendra is a principal with KossKo Consultants, where the specialty is enhancing human capital solutions for growth oriented businesses. Kendra’s practice for the past 11 years has focused on retainer search at technical, management and senior leadership levels, organizational climate surveys, one on one leadership coaching and corporate retreats for clients. Her preference is to work with organizations that are growing and looking to partner with Kendra and her associates, to ensure they have the right team and that they are working effectively towards their goals. Kendra has demonstrated an ability to develop sound relationships with companies and candidates, ultimately ensuring a good match between people and cultures.

Kendra is a Commerce graduate from the University of Calgary. She is also a qualified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator facilitator, a Fashion Academy Certified Image Consultant, a qualified trainer for Career Hardiness, and has been an instructor with the Calgary Board of Education; Continuing Education division.

Giving back to the community is important to Kendra, and therefore she continues to volunteer her time with a number of organizations. She is a past member of the Board of Directors for the Earl Grey Golf Club, a founding member of the Odyssey Circle for the Calgary Science Centre, and a committee member for five years for the Turning Points Dinner in support of the Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter. Currently much of her volunteer time is spent at her children’s schools.

Kendra was born and raised in Calgary. With two young children, Kendra and her husband maintain a focus on family activities. She is also passionate about the game of golf, and enjoys many other outdoor pursuits and social endeavors.

Morag Ritchie, Associate
A human effectiveness coach and consultant with integrity and drive, Morag Ritchie makes a difference in people’s work and lives! With over 15 years of experience in leadership development and facilitation, Morag has contributed to the private, public and not-for-profit sectors through a variety of roles. Prior to making independent consulting work her primary focus, Morag worked in recreation, sports administration, fitness and leadership. She expanded her career to post-secondary teaching in both credit and continuing education roles, and then moved on to the corporate environment. Once there, Morag discovered her true professional passion: providing effective facilitation, training and coaching to employees and teams from entry level to executive.

A skilled facilitator and trainer, Morag customizes her approach in order to meet the needs of each unique client. Morag brings a warm mix of focused questioning, powerful insight, intuition and effective facilitation of learning to every relationship. Morag’s fundamental aim is to make learning “stick’ through effective meetings, workshops, coaching sessions and ongoing client contact and support. Clients describe her as Intuitive, Compassionate, Fun, Committed, Insightful, Curious, Professional, and an Excellent Facilitator. Her ability to provide customized solutions, from one-on-one and team coaching, to facilitation of strategic planning and training events enables individuals, groups and teams to recognize, utilize and further develop their talents to increase positive results.

Morag’s areas of expertise include leadership development, personal effectiveness, communication, stress management, customer service and change management.

Morag holds a bachelors degree in Physical Education and is an accredited practitioner of Insights Discovery ™, and of Situational Leadership II. She is a member of the Calgary Association of Professional Coaches, the International Coaching Federation, and the Human Resources Association of Calgary.

Morag lives in Calgary with her husband Bob and their two amazing children. She’s interested in family and personal wellbeing, and lives an active and healthy, balanced lifestyle, encouraging others to do the same. Morag is also an active volunteer in her community and the public school system. 

For more information, check out www.moragritchie.ca

Kathy Stankievech
A seasoned human resources professional, Kathy’s background includes corporate human resources and consulting. She has worked across all organizational levels in professional, technical and union environments. Industries include energy, oil and gas, manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, property management, municipal government and law.

Corporate initiatives include:
> member of a leadership team responsible for the strategic planning and management of a business unit of 400 people. This team initiated and developed a $300M – 10 year outsourcing agreement for its customer service division
> human resources lead for the reorganization of a 300+ unionized employee business unit. Scope included recruiting senior leaders and management, creating a new structure and effectively merging two very diverse cultures.
> developing and leading performance management programs
> managing recruitment and training teams
> effectively coaching leadership and management team members in the development of their own individual strengths and challenges as well as in the effective leadership of their respective teams

Representative consulting assignments include:
> coaching executives and managers in support of their leadership development, building effective peer relationships, performance management issues, team building and overall organizational effectiveness
> developing and conducting leadership assessments
> conducting search initiatives for executive, management and technical personnel
> facilitating workshops in leadership and management development
> coaching groups and individuals in career transition

Kathy provides a practical understanding of the challenge in working in today’s complex organizational cultures. She is effective in coaching and developing leaders. Her direct yet collaborative approach provides clients with the shift in perspective they often need to make sound leadership choices. Kathy believes individuals, particularly those in leadership roles, crave and benefit from constructive performance feedback. She is passionate about developing organizational cultures and practices which effectively identify and optimize leaders’ strengths and developmental opportunities.

A Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP), Kathy has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Calgary and certification and expertise working with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Kathy and her husband have a toddler and infant daughter and life outside work is pretty full enjoying them!

Bruce Masterman
Bruce has been a professional newspaper and magazine writer, editor and photographer since 1973, including 21 years as a columnist-reporter-photographer with the Calgary Herald. He is the author of two books – Paradise Preserved: The Ann and Sandy Cross Conservation Area, and Heading Out: A Celebration of the Great Outdoors in Calgary and Southern Alberta. He has contributed chapters to four other books.

An independent free-lancer since 2000, Bruce writes for and contributes photographs to many magazines, including Reader’s Digest, The Conservator, BP Magazine, Fly Rod and Reel, Fly Fisherman, Outdoor Canada (where he is a field editor), Explore and many others. He is manager/assignment editor of West, a quarterly magazine published by the Western Financial Group. He has received almost 40 regional, national and international awards for his writing and photography. In 1998, he was inducted into Alberta’s prestigious Order of the Bighorn for “Outstanding Contributions to the Conservation of Alberta’s Fish and Wildlife Heritage.”

Bruce is an outdoors enthusiast, whose passion for nature and outdoor activities is reflected in his professional pursuits. He has guided many executive fly-fishing getaways, and has worked with Dickson Wood using fly-fishing as a focus for corporate team-building and leadership workshops. We are planning similar workshops built around team writing and photography. A former outdoors columnist for CBC Radio in Calgary, Bruce is a popular emcee and public speaker on nature, the environment, spirituality, photography and writing. He has lectured at the University of Calgary, Mount Royal College and SAIT.

Bruce lives in High River, Alberta with his wife, Karen. Their two daughters live away from home while pursuing secondary education. Bruce is active in the community, as board chair of High River United Church and a member of the local Green Space committee. In addition to fly-fishing, he enjoys hiking, cycling, Nordic skiing, hunting, camping and wildlife watching.

For more information, check out www.brucemasterman.com