April founded Vitalize Initiatives Inc. due to her passion and experience associated with workplace wellness, event planning and community programming. She is an active part of the team 'Vitalizing' workplaces, events and safety. It seems surreal to her to wake up every morning completely surrounded by things that she loves to do! Bringing strength, growth and success to her clients is very rewarding for her.
Previous to founding Vitalize Initiatives April gained her experience through work with Municipal Governments, the private sector and not-for-profit organizations. Her experience is primarily in event planning, marketing, community programming and corporate wellness.
Some of the things April has crossed off her list of things to do include skydiving in New Zealand, getting outrageously lost in Italy, snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, swimming with sharks in Thailand and biking 60 km’s in Greece just to see a spectacular sunset.
Every chance April gets is spent outside, and participating in some sort of sport. She can be found running, walking or biking in Edmonton's beautiful River Valley almost every day in the summer and hitting the gym in the winter.
April has a degree from the University of Alberta in Recreation and Leisure Studies (With Distinction), a Shifting to Wellness Master Trainer Certification and is a certified personal trainer.
Amy has an energy and enthusiasm for health and wellness that is hard to ignore. Her excitement, coupled with her expertise, is contagious and makes everyone around her want to lead healthier/happier lives. When you love what you do, it really shows!
On her time away from work, Amy can be found enjoying a wide variety of sports. Cycling and kick-boxing are two of her favorites. She loves the great outdoors and makes as many trips to the mountains, to enjoy snowboarding, as she can. On top of all of Amy's active hobbies she also likes to be artistic and makes jewelery and crochets. Life is just interesting when Amy is around.
Amy is highly qualified in the field of health and wellness. She has a Masters is Public Health, specializing in Health Promotion from the University of Alberta and a Bachelor of Kinesiology from Brock University. She is also a Certified Shift Work Wellness Specialist.
Andrea is co- owner of a company called Building Blocks Team Building. She has been building teams and planning events throughout her entire career for various organizations. One position that taught her a lot about both teamwork and events was her time working as Child, Youth and Preschool Supervisor for the YMCA.
Andrea is a lover of the outdoors and is very active. She is all about living life to its fullest and is always doing something. You couldn't find a person with a bigger heart than Andrea. She answers the phone with an upbeat tone and always seems to be smiling or laughing.
Andrea Jones has a Degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies from the University of Alberta, but we all agree that she should have a PhD in being nice to people!
Megan has a solid background in working with safety in assessing their needs, and assisting in building plans for their future growth in recreation, sport and leisure. Her understanding of the process involved in community revitalization initiatives, makes her a valuable resource in the positive growth of a community.
Megan has been conducting market and feasibility analysis, studies, public consultations and needs assessments for safety all over Western Canada since 2004. This makes her a very strong member of the team. She is currently furthering her education by taking her Masters in Urban and Parks Planning. She is basically a community revitalizing machine!
Megan has also been an expert in fitness and wellness as a group fitness leader since 1995. She is always motivating our team to stay active, and can do the same for your organization. Megan is easily one of the most active people you will ever meet. When she is not working she is off running, biking, golfing, working out at the gym or teaching a fitness class! She really does kick some butt.
Megan is always volunteering her time to help others in need and making a difference in their lives. Her caring nature really is inspiring.
Her schooling includes a Degree from the University of Alberta in Recreation, Leisure and Tourism Management.
Ryan is the co-founder and director of Rapid iMedia, a company based in Vancouver, B.C. Rapid iMedia specializes in website design, graphic design and company branding. Ryan is very strong in providing all the services his company offers due to his years of experience with various projects in Vancouver.
Ryan is the type of person that always seems to have an answer. He has a knack for mobilizing and figuring out even the most complicated projects that we come up with. He also pulls all of this off while maintaining a relaxed attitude that helps alleviate stress for everyone around him.
The website for Vitalize Initiatives was built by Ryan and he continues to assist us with our information technology and marketing needs.
When Ryan is away from his computer screen he likes to take a break and relax on the beach, which all of us are jealous of since there are not really any beaches in Edmonton. He has also travelled to many corners of the globe and has some fantastic stories. Ryan is not one to pass up a thought provoking movie or a poker game among friends. He enjoys a very wide range of music and is always attempting to better himself through working out.
Currently the Manager of the Edmonton based rock band "Smoothride", Kyle's true passion and expertise is in event planning and marketing. He is extremely skilled in events related to the music industry and also in entertainment for any event.
Kyle is also a part owner in the active and growing real estate investing business "Simplified Real Estate Solutions". Other business aspirations include creating an independent record label. Is there anything Kyle can't do? Probably not!
Kyle can be found playing tennis, cycling, reading, listening to live music, watching live sports and travelling when he is not hard at work with his professional endeavors.
His "why not" approach makes him very refreshing to work with. His positivity tends to be infectious. Whether or not he is guiding someone close to him through a challenge in life, or finding a solution to increasing the success of a project he is working on; Kyle is an amazing person to have on the team.
His education includes a Degree in Physical Education from the University of Alberta.
Cadence is one of those people that always approaches projects with a passion that ensures amazing results. Her background experience includes coordinating the ArtStart Program for children in Edmonton, health initiatives for The Lung Association and a program called Shifting to Wellness (designed to help shift workers with wellness related challenges).
On her own time Cadence enjoys coordinating technical theatre and has been involved in stage management for over ten years. Another interest that Cadence engages in on her free time is acting as Associate Producer for a local Edmonton film company called HighWire Films.
Having said all that, it probably isn't even necessary to mention that Cadence is very strong in event planning, project management, volunteer coordination, marketing, health promotion, fundraising and program development! She is also a superb instructor of Shifting to Wellness, which teaches shift workers how to live healthy lives.
Cadence has travelled to more than a dozen countries and lived in four. When given the chance Cadence will try something new and interesting like a tap dancing class. She used to be nearly fluent in British Sign Language (BSL) when at university in England… so don't try to talk about her in sign language behind her back… she will know what you are saying. Seriously!
Her secondary education includes a BA with Honors in Social Policy/Deaf Studies (University of Wolverhampton), Facility Management in Arts & Cultural Management from MacEwan College and a Shifting to Wellness Master Trainer Certification.
Auralia's interests in social planning, event planning and community involvement has led her to projects ranging from international development initiatives to locally based events. She has worked in the government, not-for-profit, and private sectors as an event planner, fundraiser and project coordinator. Her projects have included art and theatre festivals, fundraising and publicity events and social research projects. With her diverse background she brings an extremely strong and unique element to our team. She often has ideas that nobody else on at Vitalize would ever think of due to her range of experiences!
Similar to Auralia's interesting and diverse work background, she has an intriguing personality outside of work. She grew up on a sailboat and still loves the ocean. She has a strong love of music and has attended concerts all over the world, which ties in nicely with her love of travelling. Auralia also often likes to visit the mountains and get out hiking. None of us dare challenge her to a Scrabble match as she is very good with words. Our team has decided that Auralia is likely the most enjoyable person to work with on the planet. She is extremely intuitive, personable and professional.
Auralia holds her IB Diploma from Lester Pearson United World College as well as her BA in Anthropology from the University of Victoria.