The Center for Human Engagement
Over a decade helping people rediscover what they already know how to do.
The backstory
We started as corporate communication training. Along the way, we realized what we thought we were teaching – presentation skills, executive presence – wasn't the work at all.
The work is reconnecting to what's already there. Eleven years later, we've worked with thousands of people, from truck drivers to venture capital CEOs. The ability to connect, to be present, to show up under stress. Same capacities. Same practice.
What fuels us
Language creates reality. Practice beats diagnosis.
The Socratic method builds understanding—we construct together rather than tear down. Facilitators must be participants first. You can't teach what you haven't practiced yourself. We practice what we preach, because the work doesn't happen any other way.
Why now
Digital saturation took something from us. The ability to be present. To read a room. To connect without performance.
Practice brings it back. That's what The Center for Human Engagement is for.
Meet the team
Russ founded Connection Lab after decades in broadcasting, film production, and the performing arts. Over 17 years, he's worked with thousands of professionals—from Fortune 500 executives to startup founders—helping them rediscover what they already know how to do. A former competitive bobsledder and Studio 58 graduate, he brings the same intensity to human engagement that he once brought to racing down ice. He hosts the Lab Notes podcast, volunteers with the Canadian Mental Health Association, and lives in North Vancouver with his wife Carolyn and their two cats.
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Carolyn brings 20+ years of technology leadership to Connection Lab, having built and scaled her own server architecture and web development firm before co-founding YouCake, a personalized printing business. Paris-born, NYC-raised, she holds degrees from NYU (MA Education) and Oberlin College, and earned her Connection Facilitator Certification in 2022. Her awards include NYWIA Rising Star (2009) and Public Policy Advocate of the Year (2006). She lives in Vancouver, where she splits her time between operations strategy, facilitation, and ensuring Connection Lab practices what it preaches.
Champions
With decades of experience in product engineering & technology, as a recruiting leader and a manager of software teams, Bradford currently leads product management and development for Bonsai’s search offerings. He also serves part-time as CEO of Kinasait recruiting services. Bradford is the lead engineer behind Connection Lab’s Check-in App. He has volunteered countless hours to help design and build our human engagement tool, extending and supporting the ongoing practice of Connection Lab participants. —Technology consultant, systems thinker, and mentor.
With decades of experience in adult education and employee and leadership development programs, Brenda is a Talent and Organizational Development professional and Certified Leadership Coach. Having worked across both private and government sectors, she brings deep insight and passion to the fields of learning design and organizational development. Brenda has experienced every iteration of Connection Lab since its earliest days. Her long-standing engagement with the work—both personally and in practice—has provided invaluable perspective and thoughtful guidance as the organization has evolved. —Talent & Organizational Development Leader
A strategic leader building and scaling people-centric work cultures within the technology and executive talent sectors, Cathy began her career in HR/Organizational development. She has served as co-founder, CEO, and leadership consultant, consistently advancing a people-first philosophy in every role she undertakes. Cathy has partnered with Connection Lab since its early days, helping to design and implement leadership journey programs within the technology sector and contributing to the human-centered approach to leadership development. —Connection Lab Facilitator, Startup and scaleup CEOs leadership development, Coach, and Team developer
Facilitator, Leadership Coach & Consultant, Esther is the Founder and Principal Counselor of Greater Web Consulting, a holistic counseling-based service. With extensive training in trauma-informed therapy, her work supports growth and healing for individuals, communities, and organizations. Esther’s approach integrates intellectual insight, somatic awareness, and intuitive understanding to help clients untangle fear-based patterns rooted in the past and move toward greater clarity, resilience, and well-being. —Trauma Counsellor
Heidi is a strategic HR leader with deep expertise in Leadership Development, Training & Development, Talent Management, Executive Coaching, and Organizational Development. She specializes in building measurable programs and processes that drive high engagement and workforce retention. Her insight into program design and evaluation has been an important contribution to Connection Lab, strengthening our assessment tools and demonstrating meaningful metrics that support the impact and evolution of our programs. —Connection Lab Facilitator, Strategic HR Business Partner, Organizational Development Designer
Artist, teacher, and founder of The Art of Awareness. Lori’s work brings a powerful integration of voice and acting practice to her work, FitzMeisner—her unique synthesis of Fitzmaurice Voicework® and the Mesiner technique. This approach weaves together somatic voice training and foundational acting exercises to support actors and non-actors to release blocks, cultivating greater freedom, spontaneity, and finding ease in performance on screen, on stage, and in everyday life. Her work reinforces the fundamental role of the body and breath work in communication and human engagement. Lori’s work offers clear techniques and accessible pathways—so their voices can be truly heard. —Voice and acting mentor and coach
A veteran of startup and scale-up operations, Mark has served as CEO, COO, and CHRO across the tech industry. A writer, coach, speaker, and musician, he brings both strategic rigor and creative insight to his work with organizations navigating growth and change. Mark’s business acumen is paired with a deep understanding of gaming culture and systems thinking. He has helped numerous companies create productive cultures. Mark was an important advisor during Connection Lab’s early years and has long championed our integration of performing arts principles into business leadership. —Gaming guide and business consultant
A multi-time founder and CEO specializing in scaling and operating disruptive technology businesses, Matt has run multiple Internet-based companies since 1995 in the martech, media & entertainment, analytics, security, and recruiting & staffing sectors, with experience in SaaS, AI, marketplace, B2B, and DTC models. Matt’s superpowers include building and leading high-impact executive teams and boards; inspiring people by striking the right balance between running a values-based, people- first culture and driving a results-based operating discipline; and creating sector transformation with both business model and technology innovation. A people-first executive, Matt was an early adopter of Connection Lab programs and a longtime champion of human-centered leadership in practice. —Early adopter and champion of human-centered leadership.
A computer science student at Simon Fraser University and a Co-op student with Connection Lab, Nicholas has been building our Connection Lab Check-in App. Alongside his studies, he is an avid chess player and, by default, a steady workshop participant. He has been our developer working with Bradford on the implementation of the Connection Lab Check-in App. —Contributor to the engineering of our human engagement platform, Computer Science student, and our most youthful perspective.
Two paths to practice
More than a decade of workshops
years of practice
People found what they came for
satisfaction rate
Humans who found their voice
and counting…
Questions we hear
Three questions applied to three relationships. Who's your audience, what are you asking for, what's the story? Applied to your relationship with yourself, your content, and your audience. That's nine combinations, but we call it six boxes because it sounds better. It's a structure for practicing under stress, not a diagnostic tool. You use it to notice where you're breaking down and practice something different.
Neither. Therapy digs into your past. Coaching sets future goals. We practice in the present. We create scenarios that trigger real stress responses—the board meeting, the difficult conversation, the presentation where you lose the room—and help you practice new ways of showing up. You don't talk about what you'd do differently. You do it differently, in front of real people, until it becomes automatic.
Yes. Workshops run in-person or via Zoom—the practice works either way. We've facilitated for teams across six continents at this point. Geography isn't the constraint. Willingness to practice is.
Every facilitator was a participant first. You can't teach this work if you haven't done it yourself—you need experiential memory of what it feels like to practice under stress, to get feedback that lands, to notice yourself changing. It's not a certification you can study for. You have to earn it by practicing.
Connection Lab is the company name—it's what's on the door. The Center for Human Engagement is what we're building: a place where practice matters more than diagnosis, where people rediscover capabilities they already have. Same team, same work, different ways of talking about it depending on who's asking.
Eleven years. We started as corporate communication training—slides, techniques, vocal variety. Somewhere along the way we realized we were teaching the wrong thing. This isn't about professional skills. It's about fundamental human capabilities: showing up under stress, connecting when it counts, asking for what you need. The methodology's been refined through thousands of workshops, but the core insight hasn't changed.
Anyone exhausted by conventional solutions. HR leaders who've watched programs fail. Executives who freeze when it matters. Teams that know their content but can't connect.
This isn't about becoming an extrovert. It's about showing up authentically under stress—whatever that looks like for you. Introverts often have the most powerful breakthroughs because connection doesn't require volume.