Mar
10
Registration now closed but you are welcome to come to the Executive Dining Room at 6:30pm tomorrow to register in person. See below for alumni mentor options.
Alumni Mentor Options
Laura Benjamins
Years at Redeemer: 2011-2016
Major: Music & Psychology, Education
Current Position: Graduate student (PhD candidate) music education at Western University
Other experience or interesting information: Interested in speaking to students who are looking at pursuing graduate work in the arts. She works as a teaching and research assistant at Western University and has also taught a couple undergraduate music education courses at Western.
Chad Bouma
Years at Redeemer: 2009-2010
Major: Social Work
Current Position: Social Worker/Psychotherapist, self-employed
Other experience or interesting information: Currently working as a Clinical Social Worker providing psychotherapy to individuals and couples. Chad has previous experience working in Child Welfare.
Stacey Cook
Years at Redeemer: 2008-2012
Major: Psychology
Minor: Sociology/social work
Current Position: Provides individual and group trauma therapy in an inpatient mental health hospital, Homewood Health Centre. Provides both cognitive processing therapy and dialectical behavioural therapy.
Other experience or interesting information: Experience with both inpatient and outpatient therapy.
Yolisa de Jager
Years at Redeemer: 2001-2005
Major: Political Science, French
Current Position: Senior Project Manager, City of Hamilton
Other experience or interesting information: Currently working in public administration, policy and contract management. Her previous experience includes: Director, Women’s Services, Good Shepherd Centres: shelter operations; counselling programs, housing programs, gender-specific program design, labour relations
Andy Groen
Years at Redeemer: 2001-2005
Major: Business, Theology
Current Position: Executive Director, Greater Ontario House of Prayer
Other experience or interesting information: Andy leads staff team of eight, facilitates workshops and retreats and is a guest speaker on a range of topics related to spiritual formation and discipleship. He works with a number of leaders from churches and non-profit organizations. As the Executive Director of a non-profit, he is responsible for managing its general operations. In this capacity his work includes fundraising, management of finances, reporting to a board and general administration. Andy is also trained as a Spiritual Director with 500 hours of one-on-one experience.
Brianna Hammer-Keidel
Years at Redeemer: 2002-2006
Major: History
Minor: Political Science; English Writing
Current Position: Deputy Clerk/Communications Co-ordinator, Municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc
Other experience or interesting information: Current responsibilities in the areas of municipal council/committee meeting management; research & report writing on local policies and issues; legislation & by-law interpretation; records management; communications (social media, print/news releases, photography, graphic design); emergency management; cemetery administration; vital statistics; municipal election management.
Previously employed by the municipality as a Museum Assistant. Also volunteered for federal and provincial election campaigns and sat on local riding association boards.
Jenna Hiebert
Years at Redeemer: 2009-2013
Major: Art
Minor: Business
Current Position: Photographer, owner of Bear & Sparrow Photography
Other experience or interesting information: Currently Markets, books, and manages 30 wedding clients per year and 20 family portraits per year. Photographing 6-12 hour wedding days: which includes instant problem solving, engaging clients for intimate moments, managing family sessions with 50+people and working with all. Previously worked as Junior graphic designer in Redeemer Marketing lab, Layout Editor at The Crown and Art Department Assistant.
Tyler Kloet
Years at Redeemer: 2011-2015
Major: Business Management
Minor: Religion
Current Position: Financial Controller, GK York Management Services
Other experience or interesting information: Currently working as Financial Controller, responsibilities include internal auditing/review, cash flow management, financial forecasting, bank reconciliations. Involvement in sales/purchasing property, legal work involving mortgages and financing activities. Regular day-to-day management of the accounting department and second-in-charge management of the company as a whole.
CPA candidate, writing CFE May 2020 – advice regarding preparation and participation in program. Initial work in Human Resource Management for one year and 2 years of accounts receivables and payable before promotion to controller with current company.
Luke McKee
Years at Redeemer: 2010-2014
Major: Political Science, Humanities
Minor: English
Current Position: Media Production – Videography, Photography, World Vision Canada
Other experience or interesting information: Responsible for developing video content for World Vision Canada that generates awareness and engagement for the organization, including connecting with external freelancers. Luke is also responsible for the end to end creation of a variety of videos from television ads, to social media pieces, to long-form storytelling and everything in between. This has involved filming around the world in places like Myanmar, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Lebanon and Kenya and work to partner with local freelance video talent in each country.
Previous: also worked for a non-profit called Partners International as their communications coordinator, where he was responsible for the public relations and social media aspects of the organization. Pairing a good comms base with video specialization has given him the skill set to provide high-quality content with a statistics-based evaluation that results in a constantly improving product.
Moriah Pellowe
Years at Redeemer: 2010-2014
Major: Honours Mathematics
Minor: Music
Current Position: Post-doctoral fellow at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy: research related to drug development (build computational/mathematical models of the body and other tools to aid in the development of drugs); teach graduate courses.
Other experience or interesting information: Grad school: did MMATH/PhD program in Applied Mathematics at the University of Waterloo. Sessional lecturer (University of Waterloo) and also a guest lecturer at Redeemer. NSERC USRA recipient while at Redeemer (research experience).
Cheryl Ritskes
Years at Redeemer: 2010-2015
Major: Religion & Theology; French
Current Position: Children’s Pastor, Living Word Assembly of God Church
Other experience or interesting information: Currently a children’s pastor for approximately 120 kids, leading approximately 30 leaders in Children’s Ministry. Preparing for and leading classes and services to encourage and challenge kids in their relationship with God and disciple them in the faith. Managing parent communication and volunteer development as well. Previously an associate pastor overseeing the children’s and youth ministries in addition to administration and pastoral care and teaching for adults in a small, rural church in Alberta.
Alyssa Schuurman
Years at Redeemer: 2013-2016
Major: Health Sciences
Minor: Chemistry
Current Position: Resident Physician, McMaster University/Hamilton Health Sciences
Other experience or interesting information: Currently works on medical and interdisciplinary healthcare teams on a variety of rotations as a learner. Training to be a family physician.
Erin Steckley
Years at Redeemer: 2014-2018
Major: Honour Biology
Minor: Chemistry
Current Position: Environmental Analysis, Paracel Laboratories Ltd. (Hamilton)
Other experience or interesting information: Current responsibilities centered around preparing and analyzing soil samples from clients interested in knowing the quality of their soil. Prepares soil for inorganic and organic analyses, tests for a variety of metals and ions, pH and electrical conductivity, free cyanide (the one analysis she is in charge of in the lab), and hydrocarbons. Also ensures that work orders are completed in a timely manner based on their priority; time management is just as crucial as the quality of work being done in the lab, as the data provided to our clients must be both reliable and defensible.
Previous experience: Three summers as an NSERC student at Redeemer provided invaluable research experiences and preparation in areas of practical lab experience, time management, and critical thinking.
Rachel VandenDool
Years at Redeemer: 2003-2007
Major: Kinesiology
Minor: Biology
Current Position: Physiotherapist & Owner, Origin Physiotherapy
Other experience or interesting information: Rachel works as a physiotherapist treating a variety of injuries and helps to promote healthy lifestyles through movement and education. Her practice, Origin Physiotherapy, is currently located inside the Athletic Centre at Redeemer.
Sara Weber
Years at Redeemer: 1993-1997
Major: Theatre/English
Current Position: Story Writer and Speaker, Clip Clop Productions
Other experience or interesting information: Currently writes stories and presents them at conferences, coffee breaks, and other church events.
Anna Marie Wolfe
Years at Redeemer: 2012-2016
Major: Environmental Science
Minor: Biology
Current Position: Data Analyst, Municipal Property Assessment Corporation
Other experience or interesting information: Current responsibilities include computer programming, statistical analysis, spatial analysis. She has also worked for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as a lab technician.
Johanna Wolfert
Years at Redeemer: 2015-2019
Major: International Relations
Minor: Religion & Theology
Current Position: Researcher, Cardus
Other experience or interesting information: Currently a researcher at public policy think tank. Conducts interdisciplinary, policy-oriented research related to Cardus’s program areas (including work & economics, education, family, social cities, and religious freedom). Previously interned with CLAC and in an MP’s office (at the Laurentian Leadership Centre).
