Kathleen Johnson

Coach/Consultant/Educator

CEO/Founder & DEI Specialist – Kreativ Culture Strategies

Kathleen Johnson (she/her/hers) is the author of the book Thinking Outside the Boardroom: Creative Solutions in DEI and Anti-racism, CEO of Kreativ Culture Strategies, a coach, speaker, podcaster, and healthcare executive. She is based on the west coast of Canada in beautiful British Columbia on the traditional indigenous territory of the Coast Salish peoples. In her work, she provides diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism training to organizations based on creative critical thinking, conversation skills building, and emotional intelligence that is grounded in history, human rights, and anthropology.

She earned a BA in Sociology and Cultural Anthropology in 1998 from Carleton University, a certificate in DEI from Cornell University, international human resources certification in Diversity Inclusion Service Management (DISM ISO 30415:2021), and coaching certificates from Certified Coaches Federation and Values Inspired Coaching. Kathleen has also earned a paralegal diploma from Canadian Business College, and Makeup Art diploma from CMU College of Makeup Art and Design in Toronto.

A former long-time resident of Toronto, born and raised in Calgary, Kathleen now resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2021 she ran for federal office in her hometown, but moved to Victoria, British Columbia in 2022, to take on the role of Ministerial Advisor in the Ministry of Education and Child Care in the BC Legislature. That same year she transitioned to Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), where she is a Senior Advisor of DEI. Within her capacity at the health authority she is an education lead, creating and facilitating courses, and advises on a broad range of work throughout the organization of almost 30,000 staff, and leads on accessibility work, liaising with partners in government to have a positive impact on the care of a diverse patient population.

She has spoken to groups of all sizes across the country about women’s empowerment, politics, humanism, mental health, disability, building community, compassionate leadership, and other issues as addressed in her articles and books. In addition, Kathleen has spoken at some of Canada’s top post-secondary institutions such as Emily Carr University of Art and Design, and University of British Columbia.

Companies such as Bank of America, national non-profits, federal, and provincial institutions have sought her ability to broach difficult topics with calm, compassion, wit, and directness while advising on change management and authentic engagement for long-term growth, resiliency, and stability. In 2024, she started as a course creator and sessional instructor for Simon Fraser University’s Equity in Healthcare Certificate program, a first-of-its-kind in Canada, and earned the distinction of being one of 4 Black women from BC to be recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Black Women to Watch in 2025

As an executive coach Kathleen has worked with leaders at PHSA, and in other major health authorities in Ontario. She has worked with leaders in public federal institutions, and leadership for cities and towns across the country. Most recently she signed on to be a coach for the Region of Waterloo and accepted a position as BC member of the African Caribbean and Black (ACB) advisory board of Canadian Blood Services. In addition, she coaches creative professionals on mindset and their creative process.

Creativity is an essential way Kathleen approaches everything she does. A background as a makeup artist working in film, television, fashion, and weddings, she has served as key artist for Toronto Men’s Fashion Week and African Fashion week, worked on TV shows such as Beauty and the Beast, Suits, Umbrella Academy, major feature films such as the first Suicide Squad, on celebrities such as Ben Affleck, and had her wedding work shown in major Canadian news publications like the Calgary Herald. Kathleen is also an amateur comedian, sharing the stage with some of Canada’s top talent, led a hip hop/funk fusion band in her youth, and recited original poetry in some of her hometown’s most prestigious venues like the Glenbow Museum.

In her work with teams, she uses techniques such as improv to help people process what they are learning and break down barriers. As host of The Kreactivators Podcast, she talks to professionals from the arts, business world, and academia while offering her own insights on how creativity factors into solving human issues.

Love for her family is what motivates Kathleen the most having raised 5 children with disabilities, including autism, ADHD, and schizophrenia, while self-identifying as neurodivergent. 3 of her children are also in the LGBTQIA+ community. She pays homage to her parents from Grenada, W.I. in the Caribbean in everything she does. They settled in Canada in the late 1960s and were avid community builders who set an example of hard work and perseverance.