Responses to Catholicity Questionnaire

To help the Red Deer Catholic Schools community get to know each candidate running for a board position, the division is creating profiles for its website. Each candidate has been asked to submit responses to two questions. The questions and Kim’s responses are provided below.

Question 1: Active involvement in a local parish is a cornerstone of service as a Trustee. Could you please share which Catholic Church you are registered with and describe your involvement in the parish community?

My family and I are registered members of Sacred Heart Parish, a vibrant community in our neighborhood that has been a spiritual home for us for many years. Sacred Heart's welcoming spirit and commitment to living out the Gospel through service have deeply shaped our lives. As active parishioners, we regularly attend one of the Masses and participate in seasonal liturgies, which strengthen our family's faith and connection to the broader parish family. On occasion, we also attend Mass at one of the other Catholic Churches in our area. Our daughter Kate is enrolled in the Master of Theology and Ministry program at Boston College. We have registered with this Catholic institution as parents to receive faith-based reflections during the Lenten and Advent seasons to provide spiritual fulfillment.

Beyond worship, my involvement includes volunteering with initiatives that support our community's most vulnerable. For instance, I've helped organize community plans to end homelessness, built networks of organizations dedicated to improving access to legal information, managed home builds with a charity serving people with lower incomes, founded with colleagues a local charity whose mission is to improve access to justice for people confronting barriers like low income and disability, worked with Indigenous people and organizations to address access to housing and implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action, delivered business and entrepreneurial training to people incarcerated in a medium-security federal correctional facility, founded with a dedicated small team an alliance whose mission is to build a community committed to alleviating the impact, and reducing the number of individuals and families living in poverty, and provided financial support to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, ensuring that no one in our parish goes without during times of need. These efforts align with the Church's call to charity and justice, reminding me daily of Pope Francis's emphasis on a "Church that is poor and for the poor."

This parish engagement has been a natural extension of my service as a Trustee for Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools, where I've chaired the board and championed governance improvements to better serve our students' spiritual formation. As your Trustee, I envision bringing this same hands-on commitment to our school division, fostering partnerships between parishes and schools to nurture the whole child in faith, just as Sacred Heart has nurtured my own family.

Question 2: How does your Catholic faith influence your daily life, and how do you envision it guiding your work as a trustee?

My Catholic faith is the compass that guides every aspect of my life, from the quiet moments of prayer to the bold decisions I make in business and community leadership. Raised in rural Alberta with values rooted in hard work and compassion, I've always seen faith as a call to action—echoing my favourite saint, Saint John Paul II's vision of building a "civilization of love" through service to others. Daily, this manifests in simple practices like prayer for reflection, gratitude, and a deliberate choice to infuse ethical principles into my entrepreneurial ventures and governance work. At Brett Capital Corporation, where I now focus on philanthropic missions, faith inspires me to prioritize ventures that uplift the marginalized, much like the parable of the Good Samaritan.

As a Trustee, I envision my faith guiding my work by ensuring our Catholic schools remain champions of holistic education—nurturing students spiritually, intellectually, and socially in line with the Catechism's teachings on human dignity. Drawing from my experience chairing the Alberta Catholic School Trustees' Association's Governance Committee, participating in the founding of GrACE-Grateful Advocates for Catholic Education, and leading the Catholic Education Foundation, I'll advocate for transparent, faith-centered policies that protect our distinct Catholic identity while addressing modern challenges like mental health support, adequate educator and school resources, and inclusive curricula. Whether budgeting for faith-based programs or partnering with parishes, my decisions will always ask: "How does this serve the common good and form young hearts for Christ?" In this election, I commit to stewarding our schools with the humility and devotion of a servant-leader, trusting in God's grace to make our division a true reflection of His love.