Karon West
The core of Karon’s mission is to assist individuals and their organizations grow to reach their potential. She specializes in strategy development, organizational change, leadership and team development; her expertise is providing a unique perspective on organizational culture and healthy workplaces. She helps organizations become places where partnerships are realized and where people believe that the work they do is significant to their organization.
Karon brings a strong background in complex systems change as well as experiential learning methods to help others learn and develop their talents and skills in job and organizational performance. She works with and coaches executives and managers to implement key strategic initiatives and develop leadership talent, with a focus on aligning teams toward shared business results. A firm set of values, including learning, creativity and client focus, guide Karon’s relationships with her clients. She customizes her approach to meet specific client needs by partnering closely with them from the initial contact through to follow-up.
Karon frequently works in international and cross-cultural settings and with complex governance structures. She has extensive experience with community-based organizations and focuses on supporting collaborative structures, partnerships and social change.
Before initiating her consulting practice, Karon held a senior position in an urban teaching hospital in Ontario. Partial client list includes AstraZeneca, Bayer, Bell Canada, Cadbury Adams, Canadian Institute for Health Information, Canadian Medical Association, CARA Operations, Fraser Valley Health Authority, GlaxoSmithKline, The Hospital for Sick Children, Human Resources Development Canada, IBM, International Finance Corporation, KPMG, Management Board Secretariat of Ontario, Ministries of Health, Nunatsiavut Government of Labrador, Ontario Hospital Association, Pfizer, Public Health Agency of Canada, Saskatchewan Public Service, Sunoco, Teranet, Toronto East General Hospital, University Health Network, US Golf Association, The World Bank, and many health care, community and government institutions.
Karon earned a Master in Environmental Studies from York University in Toronto, with emphasis on organizational change. She was in the University Associates Intern Program in Human and Organization Development in San Diego and is certified in MHS EQ-I 2.0 and Herrmann HBDI.
Professional activities include board members for the Canadian Women’s Health Network and several medical institutions, and senior faculty for the Canadian Organization Development Institute in Toronto. Karon also is partnering in an academic research initiative to development an assessment framework to measure the Interprofessional Education and Collaboration readiness of clinical settings at the University of Toronto. She has written several books, including A Quick Guide to Interaction Styles and Time Dynamics, co-authored with Susan Gerke.