Island Coaching Collective

Abbie Morris

You feel stuck in your business. You want clarity on your vision, confidence in your leadership, and a sense of momentum, but right now it feels overwhelming and unclear how to get there.

You need someone who understands what it’s like to build and grow something from the ground up. That’s exactly what I do.

I’m Abbie, and my goal is to help entrepreneurs lead with clarity, confidence, and purpose. With 15 years of leadership and strategy experience across two continents, and as the owner of two small businesses myself, I know the challenges and opportunities that come with entrepreneurship.

Through coaching, I’ll help you:

• Get crystal clear on your vision and the steps to make it happen
• Lead with confidence, inspiring your team, clients, and investors
• Break through roadblocks and build momentum when you feel stuck
• Stay true to your values so your business feels authentic to you
• Push past limits and unlock new opportunities for growth and success

Before establishing my coaching practice and running my own businesses, I served as Chief Operating Officer of the Agricultural Commodity Exchange for Africa in Malawi, leading organizational transformation in a challenging and dynamic environment. More recently, I was Director of Programs for a Canadian non-profit, where I managed a team of 10 and contributed as part of the senior leadership team of a 30+ person organization. These roles deepened my expertise in organizational growth, people leadership, and change management—skills I now bring into my coaching practice.

I offer a grounded, practical, and empowering approach to coaching, rooted in transparency and purpose. Together, we’ll clarify what matters most, so your business supports not just your goals, but the life you want to live.

Eva Caron

Feeling stuck, misaligned, or like there’s untapped potential within you?
You are not alone—and you don’t have to figure it out alone, either.

Hi, I’m Eva. I coach people who are ready for change—personally or professionally—and who are looking for a space that’s thoughtful, real, and energizing. I bring a balance of challenge and encouragement, depth and play to help you expand your perspective and move forward. I’m a blend of Europe and Canada; academic and intuitive; explorative and action-focused. Coaching with me is a space to help you reconnect with what matters most, gain clarity, and take meaningful steps toward the life or work you want.

As your coach, I can help:

• Improve communication, reduce conflict, and foster mutual understanding, building stronger relationships at work and home, and navigating tough conversations
• Overcome barriers to success, including disability and chronic challenges, to access your full potential and find sustainable ways to thrive
• Pursue career progression and navigate life transitions with intention, making empowered decisions and creating a path that aligns with your values
• Develop resilience and wellbeing habits to manage stress, avoid burnout, and feel more balanced in daily life
• Navigate parenting challenges, strengthening your connection and responding to your child’s needs with insight and intention

Dr. Eva Caron is a psychologist, coach, consultant, and multi-award-winning university educator, with two decades of experience supporting individuals across Canada and the UK with personal and professional goals. With a PhD in Psychology, Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, and now working toward her International Coaching Federation certification, Eva combines scientific insight, practical strategies, and an energizing, forward-focused coaching approach to help people navigate challenges and excel. Whether providing professional, academic, or personal support, Eva empowers individual clients and teams, often in creative ways, to move forward with authenticity, confidence, and clarity.

Rachel Mason

Rachel Mason is the owner of Arrive Consulting, where she has supported organizations to achieve their goals through a combination of planning, coaching and strategic advising over a 25-year career. Rachel’s personal gift is to lovingly guide people on a journey of discovery that reveals a clear path forward. She is passionate about working with leaders and influencers to create transformative learning and change on personal, organizational, and societal levels.

Rachel has worked extensively with Indigenous organizations, social impact businesses, government and non-profit organizations. She focuses on:

• Supporting leaders and teams that are in transition or growing to operate smoothly and effectively
• Finding clarity on goals and next steps in both personal growth and organizational strategy
• Empowering allyship, decolonization and reconciliation and cultural safety

She holds a master’s degree in education and loves supporting learning in all forms, including coaching. She is a founding member of the Called to Action Collaborative, a network of Elders and Indigenous and non-Indigenous consultants working in partnership to support reconciliation.

Here is what clients say about Rachel:

“Rachel is an extraordinary leader, facilitator, and coach who brings genuine depth and insight to every project she undertakes. She has a rare talent for enabling others to unfold naturally, allowing them to bring their truest selves into the work. Rachel helped me discover clarity amidst uncertainty. She approaches challenges with a unique blend of intellectual brilliance and emotional intelligence, always attuned to the needs of the people she works with. From my own experience, I can attest that Rachel has the rare ability to make even the most daunting tasks feel manageable. Her presence is steadying, her guidance is transformative, and her belief in the potential of others is truly inspiring.”

– Executive Director, Coaching and Strategic Planning Client

Organizational coaching helps teams to operate more effectively to:

• Increase their impact and performance
• Enhance team well-being, job satisfaction and commitment
• Build their capacity to “coach themselves” – becoming a reflective and learning oriented team, focused on growth and improvement

Your team members already bring their own passions, skills and strengths to their roles. Through coaching, they will work to more deeply apply their strengths, and to improve in areas that are critical to your business success. Unlike training, which is often a one-size-fits-all solution and is mostly about the acquisition of knowledge and skills, coaching is tailored to a unique team and is applied learning through regular practice, reflection and feedback. This is a powerful way to bring out the best in your people.

An organizational coaching experience begins with the coach and the team co-developing areas of focus and agreements about how to work together. The coach then designs an approach, in partnership with the team leader, to address challenges and work towards the team’s goals. Throughout the process, the coach builds the team’s capacity to embrace a reflective and learning oriented approach after the coach’s engagement ends. The result is long-term results that enable the team to work in a smooth and inter-connected way and move towards clear goals that benefit the entire organization.

Individual coaching is about supporting you to identify your strengths, values, vision and goals, and align them in your personal and professional life. As a result, you will feel more competent, fulfilled and whole, and will be more effective at the things that matter to you.

Coaching is for you if you are looking to work on:

• Finding clarity on your future and identifying the steps to move forward
• Strengthening your leadership presence to lead with confidence, inspire others, and create meaningful impact in your work or community
• Igniting motivation and building momentum to move forward on key goals, breaking through inertia or self-doubt
• Reconnecting with your values, purpose, and potential to live and work with more clarity, authenticity, and direction
• Expanding what you believe is possible to stretch beyond old limits and explore new versions of success, fulfilment, and growth.

When you work with a coach, the coach will act as a thought-partner to help you identify what you really want, address barriers (both internal and external) that stand in your way, and self-determine the future you desire.

Ross Gilchrist

Ross loves helping people get clear about their future. He has 30 years of experience facilitating, coaching and shaping cultures with corporate leaders and entrepreneurs. He was the co-founder of the Next Institute, an innovative consulting company that focuses on helping leaders to co-create their preferred futures and align their senior leaders to achieve their goals. He is a seasoned practitioner of creating strategic advantage, value creation, and personal and organizational transformation.

Ross is a direct and dynamic facilitator, rigorous about the right process and eager for the unexpected. Whether he’s connecting with a senior leader, a local entrepreneur or a talented upstart Ross has a unique capacity for recognizing the talent in others, and for moving that talent into action.

Isaiah Mawhinney

Isaiah is Ojibway from the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation in beautiful Neyaashiinigmiing. He holds a background in journalism with a specialized focus on Ontario First Nations. Leveraging both his academic training and personal experiences, Isaiah has dedicated himself to the pursuit of reconciliation. Since his relocation to British Columbia in 2019, he has diligently worked towards advancing reconciliation efforts. His roles have included curriculum development, training advisory services, and serving as a communications officer with a Crown Corporation.

Most recently, he has started as an associate consultant with Arrive Consulting and the Called to Action Collaborative, under inclusive mentorship, contributing to several projects dedicated to advocating for the rights of urban Indigenous people, as well as Indigenous communities local to Lkwungen (Lekwungen) peoples. As an Urban Indigenous person himself, he is deeply committed to fostering equity within his community and providing educational resources for urban populations to thrive.

Acknowledging that the journey of reconciliation is enduring and not transient, Isaiah has continued his efforts and will begin his legal education at the University of Victoria in the Fall of 2024. This pursuit aims to transform him beyond advocacy into that of an accountable ally. Through his studies, Isaiah will continue championing for Indigenous Peoples and collaborating on relevant projects. Just as reconciliation knows no respite, Isaiah remains unwavering in his commitment to this cause.

Isaiah’s professional background encompasses:

• Curriculum development and review
• Relationship building with community
• Business-to-business advising
• Storytelling and copywriting

Isaiah’s commitment stems from a deep-seated desire to foster equity for Indigenous Peoples and to illuminate the diversity within
Indigeneity. He takes pride in collaborating with the emerging generation of Indigenous leaders to usher in a new era of reconciliation.

Outside of work, Isaiah enjoys exploring the natural world alongside his small companion, Chilli.

Gaileen Flaman

Gaileen Flaman (she/her/hers) is Métis, of Plains Cree and Scottish ancestry on her mother’s side and German/Russian ancestry on her father’s side and lives as a guest on the unceded territories of the Quw’utsun Tribes and Malahat Nation on so-called Vancouver Island. She is an authentic leader and “life doula” with highly developed organizational and interpersonal skills, called to align with others in stewarding their potential and realizing their dreams.

Gaileen’s background is in community development, planning and co-creating a better world with equity-seeking groups. She especially enjoys infusing artistic, playful, experiential activities and rituals into her practice which is grounded in feminine leadership, divine guidance, natural law, and earth-based wisdom. She is an ecstatic dancer, a fierce mother of two unique individuals, a rewilding warrior woman, and has a cat familiar named Cleo.

Gaileen is the owner of Dream Doula Consulting and works on projects ranging from management consulting for First Nation’s childcare services development to coordinating national organization workshop delivery in-community to online and in-person curriculum development and facilitation. With support from the Metis Nation of BC, Gaileen’s career recently pivoted towards Indigenous relations, consultation, and engagement after twenty years in community development for municipal recreation services. Reclaiming her Métis heritage through education and community, Gaileen is well-positioned and passionate about co-creating safer spaces that support all our relations to show up in their fullest and most authentic expression.

Pawa Haiyupis

Pawa is a member of the Ahousaht Nation in Clayoquot Sound, and she also has French and Scottish ancestry. Pawa facilitates large and small group conversations with a focus on Indigenous nation rebuilding and hosting meaningful engagement with Indigenous communities across Canada.

Pawa has over 24 years of experience building capacity for sovereignty and self-determination while working with Indigenous nations including Nuu-Chah-Nulth Elders, Hawiih, (hereditary Chiefs), elected leaders and local stakeholders. Pawa uses a variety of processes to host innovation and transformation that improve people, communities, and organizational systems. She develops experiential curriculum to connect participants more to each other and Nature by practicing local Indigenous protocols and ceremonies; engaging local knowledge holders and language speakers.

She values opportunities that build respectful relationships and practice co-existing with the natural world around us.

Cassandra Dorgelo

Cassandra has Musqueam, Cowichan, Sechelt, English, and Irish roots on her maternal side, and Dutch roots on her paternal side. To date, her journey has been to embrace the fullness of her cultural identity – marked by seasons of reconciling, reclaiming, releasing, and rejoicing. She currently lives on the unceded, traditional territory of the Hupacasath and Tseshat Nations, and home to the Alberni-Clayoquot Métis Community. She is grateful for their stewardship and protection of the land and waters.

Cassandra holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree, with honours in Psychology and a major in International Relations. In addition to being a Consultant with Arrive, Cassandra is a Girl in the Wild board member, a BC SPCA volunteer, and Green Party Campaign Manager. She has also held positions at Métis Nation British Columbia and MakeWay Foundation, with a focus on Indigenous community initiatives. Her most recent work has centred on Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) development, food sovereignty and security, and language and culture resurgence with Nuučaan̓uɫ-, Kwak̓wala-, Tsilhqot’in-, and St̓át̓imcets-speaking peoples.

Emma Graves

Emma Graves is from Aotearoa (New Zealand) and is Pākeha (New Zealand European) on her father’s side and Māori on her mother’s side. Her Iwi (tribes) are Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa and Ngāti Porou, both situated on the ‘eastern side’ of Te Ika a Maui (aka the North Island). She grew up in Te Whitianga-a-Kupe on the lands of the Ngāt Hei peoples on what is known as the Coromandel Peninsula. Emma lived in Vancouver, BC for 4 years and is now a grateful visitor to the territories of the Lekwungen-speaking peoples in Victoria, BC.

Emma has a background in adult education in varied roles including as a teacher, learning coordinator and project manager. She has worked in community, small business, post-secondary, university, and corporate environments in Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia and Canada. Emma strives to undertake work that centres Indigenous peoples and their aspirations in a way that is respectful and meaningful. Emma believes that understanding contexts, dismantling harmful systems and engaging in reciprocal relationships is vital in this work. She is currently undertaking a Masters in Education with a specialisation in Learning Design and Instructional Science at the University of Victoria.

Emma enjoys exploring the beautiful Victoria area and the surrounding Gulf Islands- especially connecting with the oceans and lakes.

Keisha Charnley

Keisha is a q̓icey̓ midwife and birth worker on xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ territories. She is a Registered Midwife and Indigenous consultant from the Katzie First Nation and Blackburn, Lancashire, England with over 10 years of experience in Indigenous research, strategic planning, curriculum development & program evaluation. She has worked in Vancouver’s urban Aboriginal community with non-profit, educational and government organizations and is particularly passionate about making space for dignified access to dynamic, decolonial, and land-based wellness strategies. She is also a co-founder of the ekw’í7tl Indigenous doula collective which seeks to build capacity for Indigenous birth workers and families in the context of reproductive health care.

Sebastian Silva

We have delivered a number of projects in partnership with Sebastian Silva of Roundtable Consulting. Sebastian is a visitor to the coast, with French Canadian, Spanish and Irish ancestry. He brings experience gained working across Canada in various sectors including:

• Working for non-profits and Indigenous community service organizations
• Public sector clients at the federal, provincial/territorial, and municipal levels
• Serving the private sector and Crown corporations

Sebastian has a background in law and a passion for people. He has dedicated his energies and relationship building to engagement of Indigenous communities across BC, Alberta and the Northwest territories. His skills include facilitation, community engagement, research and writing, curriculum development and project management. ​

Nella Nelson

Nella Nelson (Tlapalasugw’lakw and Maxwagila) is originally from the N’amgis Nation of Alert Bay and married into the Musgamagw Dzawada’enuwx Nation. She is a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Nella and her husband, Alex, have also cared for 34 First Nations young people from their home communities.

Nella worked for the Greater Victoria School District for 39 years and retired in 2018. She was a high school history teacher and counsellor for 10 years and was the district administrator for the Aboriginal Nations Education Division, a position she held for 29 years prior to her retirement. She has also taught as a sessional instructor in the University of Victoria School of Social Work, and currently is a guest lecturer for the UVic Faculty of Education.

Nella is a very active member in the Indigenous community. She served on the Camosun College Board of Governors from 1995-2001, and continues to be the Chair of the Camosun College First Nations Advisory Board, a position she has held for 35 years. She has been a Board Member of the M’akola Housing Societies, and the M’is kow’a ao Development Corporation for over 35 years. She is a board/advisory member of the University of Victoria Faculty of Education Advisory and Masters of Aboriginal Counselling Program Advisory. Nella completed terms as a board member of the B.C. Children’s Commission Multi-Disciplinary Team, the B.C. Human Rights First Nations Advisory, Greater Victoria Police Diversity Team, Sexually Exploited Youth Committee for the Capital Regional District and Hulitan Social Services.

She served for five years as President of Surrounded by Cedar Child & Family Services. She has served as a member of the Ministry of Education Provincial Audit Program Advisory Committee, Ministry of Education Elders & Knowledge Keepers Advisory, the University of Victoria Office of Community-Based Research Steering Committee, the Provincial Representative Advisory Committee on Children & Youth with Special Needs with the Representative for Children and Youth, the Aboriginal Early Intervention Local Advisory Committee and Success by Six Provincial Board Member.

Nella was seconded by the Ministry of Education to work on the curriculum teams that developed the First Nations Studies Framework for the province. In addition, Nella coauthored “A Framework for Developing First Nations Curriculums”, “A Response to the Celebration of 50 Years of Human Rights in Canada.” [Legislated Discrimination in Canada] and Welcome, Friends and Relatives, to our Bighouse: Volume 1, Kwakwak’wakw Potlatch. In 2009 Nella received the Camosun College Distinguished Alumni Award and in 2019 she received a UVIC distinguished Alumni.

Nella continues to be involved in a range of cross-cultural teaching initiatives including working as an Elder Consultant with the Called to Action Collaborative and with the Indigenous Sports and Recreation Association of B.C in areas of cultural safety and training.

In 2024, Nella was invested as an officer by the Order of the Diocese of British Columbia at Christ Church Cathedral. The title of officer is awarded to those who have made a significant contribution to reconciliation in their community and to the wider Anglican church of Canada.

Alex Nelson

Born in 1946, Alex is a proud member of the Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw First Nations in Kingcome Inlet. At age seven, he was taken away from family and community and became a seven-year product and survivor of St. Michaels Residential School in Alert Bay. Today, he maintains a strong family foundation with his wife Nella, daughter Natasha, grandsons Gigalis and Braden and great-grandson Marcus. His strong cultural background has been reinforced through his father Henry Nelson’s Chieftainship and by the Nelsons’ past four Potlatches. Alex is also a Hamatsa Cedar Man Dancer.

Alex holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Leisure Studies from the University of Victoria. He is an Elder and Senior Advisor to the Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation Council, and helped create the then-Aboriginal Sport, Recreation and Physical Activity Strategy for BC (the first strategy of its kind in Canada). Alex continues his work with youth through the T-birds youth soccer program.

Past Executive Director of the Victoria Native Friendship Centre, Alex is a founder of the Aboriginal Sports & Recreation Association of BC. He is also a founder of the National Aboriginal Sports Circle and was the first Chair and three-time President of the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) Council. He has served as Aboriginal Team BC Chef de Mission for the 1993 and 1995 North American Indigenous Games, Board Member of the Native Participation Committee for the 1994 Commonwealth Games and member of the Minister’s Sport & Recreation Advisory Council of BC. One of his greatest and proudest achievements was helping organize the 1997 NAIG in Victoria which drew over 5,000 athletes, 3,000 cultural performers and 2,500 volunteers on a budget of only $2.5 million!

Alex is humbled and honoured to have been inducted into the Victoria Sports Hall of Fame, then the BC Sports Hall of Fame. He received a UVIC distinguished Alumni award in 2019.

Alex knows that connection, ceremony and a sense of belonging are important to children so he has dedicated his life to helping youth as a founder of the Kwaguilth Urban Suicide Prevention & Intervention Group, where he has conducted community and self-help suicide prevention workshops for 18 years. He also lectures on Indigenous issues to universities, high schools, government bodies, communities and at various conferences. He is long-time event facilitator and Emcee a founding member of the Called to Action Collaborative.

In 2024, Alex was invested as an officer by the Order of the Diocese of British Columbia at Christ Church Cathedral. The title of officer is awarded to those who have made a significant contribution to their community and to the wider Anglican church of Canada. Alex was also inducted into the North American Indigenous Games Hall of Honour in 2024.

Tanya Clarmont

Tanya is Teme-Augama Anishnabai on her father’s side and her community is Bear Island Reserve in Ontario, a water access only community. She is also French Canadian from the Ottawa Valley on her mother’s side. She acknowledges and embraces both sides of her culture and has made efforts to learn both the Anishnabai and French languages.

Tanya moved to BC to further her education while also continuing her career with the Friendship Centre Movement, which dates back to 2001. She currently works for the Victoria Native Friendship Centre as the Director of Management Supports, a position that supports research, reconciliation, partnerships, and education efforts of the Friendship Centre. She has also held positions at the provincial and national level of the Friendship Centre Movement. In her consulting role, Tanya’s most recent work has centred around the topics of Reconciliation, TRC Calls to Action, UNDRIP and financial literacy.

Tanya graduated from the University of Victoria with a B.A. in Fine Arts focused in Creative Writing and attended the Banff Arts Centre in the Aboriginal Emerging Artists Program. She can often be found sharing her stories at local public readings. Tanya also holds a double Humanities B.A. in Native Studies and Law & Justice from Laurentian University in Sudbury, ON.

Tanya is married to a Gitxsan man and they have two small children, a girl and a boy.​

Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Carmen Wiigwaas Craig is from Pemdashkoodyong, Lake of Burning Planes, referred to today as Hiawatha First Nation on Rice Lake in Ontario. She is Michi Saagii Nishnaabe, Irish, and Welsh on her father’s side and Dutch and Irish on her mother’s side. She is a member of the Crane Clan which means that she has leadership responsibilities to fulfill and continues to learn about those responsibilities every day. She currently lives on the territory of the Lekwungen peoples and is grateful for their stewardship and continued protection of the lands and waters.

Carmen has a diploma in creative writing from Camosun College, a B.A. in linguistics with a focus on language revitalization and acquisition from the University of Victoria, and is currently working on her M.Ed in Indigenous language revitalization at the University of Victoria. Carmen is passionate about linguistic and cultural resurgence and learning that is accessible to everyone. She is a lifelong and current learner of her language, Nishnaabemwin, and has built curriculum, materials, and lesson plans for adult language learners. She has also worked with Elders and Old Ones through Camosun College, worked in settler education and anti-racism training at the University of Victoria Libraries, and taught English as an additional language overseas in Ukraine, China, and Korea. ​

Rachel Mason

Rachel Mason enables dialogue, learning, planning and transformative change across a range of sectors and organizations. Her personal gift is to lovingly guide individuals and organizations on a journey of discovery that reveals a clear path forward.

Rachel’s cultural heritage is Eastern-European Jewish and English. She lives on the beautiful territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking people, the Songhees and Xwsepsum (Esquimalt) Nations, in what is today known as Victoria, B.C.

Rachel’s experience centres on supporting organizations who are ready to take their work to the next level and become even more effective and impactful. Rachel has over 20 years of experience and is the owner and principal of Arrive Consulting, where she offers services that:

• Help organizations to clarify and communicate their goals, priorities, and approach
• Help teams to become more effective at achieving those goals
• Help individuals to grow into their potential as leaders
• Create value through the nexus of planning, coaching, advising, strategy, learning, and change
• Help clients to navigate inter-cultural connections and work in a good way with Indigenous people

Rachel has worked extensively with Indigenous organizations and Nations for over 20 years, providing services such as strategic and operational planning, developing ways to measure impacts, creating tools and resources to communicate with partners, re-thinking operational systems, and creating learning programs.

She has also worked with many government and non-profit organizations to increase their Indigenous cultural competency. She holds a master’s degree in education and develops and delivers participatory learning curricula that offer opportunities for personal growth, inquiry-based learning, and cross-cultural understanding. She is a founding member of the Called to Action Collaborative, a network of Elders and Indigenous and non-Indigenous consultants working in partnership to support learning for reconciliation.

Rachel is passionate about working with leaders and influencers to create opportunities for transformative learning and change on personal, organizational, and societal levels. Rachel will work with you or your organization to identify and articulate a clear vision of your future: where you want to arrive and when. She will support you on planning for the journey and will accompany you along the way, welcoming new opportunities and adjusting to new challenges as they occur. She invites the wisdom of individuals and groups she is working with to promote collaboration and learning, proceeding in a way that feels right and good.

Rachel is committed to helping you reach the future you desire so that you can arrive together where you want to be.