Meet The Team
Kerage is an organizational performance and leadership design agency that focuses on improving results delivered by companies and individuals.
Meet the team that makes it all happen. Our leadership team are also coaches who live and breathe what we teach.
Karen Kersey
Founder / Advisor
Karen’s academic accomplishments include graduating with honors from Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada, earning a Bachelor of Commerce degree. Her hunger for knowledge and growth didn’t stop there; she further honed her skills through a Project Management Professional designation, a current Coaching Certification, and leadership in Human Dynamics education.
Karen proudly partners as an Associate at Contexis Ltd, a GuruDeveloper at Market Force®, and an Associate with vNacelle™.
In her journey, Karen stays true to her commitment: to collaborate with brave leaders eager to explore uncharted territories, and to inspire them to achieve more for themselves, their businesses, and their teams.
Here’s what people have to say about working with Karen:
“I just can’t say enough about Karen. I think she is definitely wise beyond her years, and anyone who is looking for that next level, should for sure pursue seeing Karen and seeing her team at Kerage because it’s been a tremendous road and I am eternally grateful for her. ”
– Nancy Ewing, President, Brac Informatics
“I’m not sure I know exactly how to describe what Karen does. What I do know is that it is rare and extremely valuable to work with someone who can combine business skills, empathy and overall value the way she does. Karen operates with mutual faith, trust and respect and that is a refreshing way to do business. I give Karen a 100% recommendation.”
– Scott C. Richards, Founder, Casa International Inc.
Stephanie Kelly
Global Director of Leadership & Growth
Stephanie is an award-winning marketing and communications guru with over 15 years of experience in marketing, PR, and project management. While collaborating with industry titans, she uncovered a universal truth: business problems are often people problems. She’s seen it all, and no matter how high you climb, the inner critic and crushing pressure to achieve can knock even the most seasoned leaders off their game.
After experiencing her own burnout, Stephanie shifted her focus to helping other high-achievers reach more success without the overwhelm and anxiety, by addressing the human element behind organizational challenges.
Based in Ottawa, Canada, Stephanie shares her life with her partner and a very sweet 70-lb Golden Doodle. Beyond coaching, Stephanie is a champion for inclusivity and representation, volunteering time to support numerous causes. When she steps away from her desk, you’ll likely find her outside hiking, camping, and seeking new adventures.
Here’s what people are saying about working with Stephanie:
“I’ve worked with many coaches, and Stephanie is by far the person who has seen me through the most positive growth in my life.
Since working with Stephanie, my life has changed in many drastic ways, all for the better. I quit my full-time job and opened a consultancy. My annual income has increased by 500$ (yes, you read that right.). My stress levels have gown down considerably because of hte tool and skills I gained working with Stephanie” – Kyra Cole, Ontario Canada
Cheryl-Dean Thompson
Advisor
Deemed a renaissance woman, Cheryl-Dean has embraced many roles – executive coach, consultant, speaker, educator, mentor, therapist, leader, facilitator – all to unleash the power and potential of others.
She has provided tailored solutions for personal and professional growth for over thirty years. Now, as the Chief People Officer for Kerage, she offers her experience and expertise to those within Kerage who are fine-tuning their abilities as they work together collectively to enhance the lives of others as ambassadors.
Cheryl-Dean has been fortunate to work with those who excel within their spheres of influence and want to take their impact to the next level. They exhibit a “consciousness in action” that is powerful and they reside in many fields including telecommunications, engineering, education, entertainment, health, leadership and business, to name just a few.
Cheryl-Dean has held numerous leadership positions within these fields and enables her clients through mentoring, coaching and consulting to co-create individual and organizational transformations. Cheryl-Dean’s expertise and background in psychology, as a past clinical counsellor, enables her to work with clients and organizations on any level. Whether working through personal blocks or accelerating action, based on a true understanding of self, she bridges the many worlds so that they may operate in a holistic and integrated way to achieve the impact they want in their lives.
While her way of being infuses everything, Cheryl-Dean also revels in the lives of her talented and diverse family who bring wisdom and play in the diverse fields of stand-up comedy, psychology, performing arts, construction, leadership, municipal government, business, education, kinesiology, sports, gaming, and so much more. Dancing with the diversity and offering our gifts to the greater whole puts a smile on her face.
Here’s what people have to say about working with Cheryl:
“Working with Cheryl-Dean has been nothing short of transformative. Her intuitive wisdom and profound insights have proven invaluable. Cheryl-Dean approaches every situation with grace and unwavering support, uncovering underlying issues that others may overlook. She has consistently guided me toward clearer paths and more successful outcomes.”
Adrienne White, Canada
“Cheryl Dean is an incredible leader who has the profound ability to see a clear and powerful vision for what the world needs. She intuitively inspires and helps cultivate holistic transformations to emerge for all of those seeking her guidance. Her innate wisdom is a gift to all of those that she connects with and it creates a ripple effect into the world. She is a guiding light, showing the most natural ways to uncover the beauty of humanity.”
Jenny Karas
Sara Jan
Chief of Operations
Sara is passionate about working with organizations and people that want to achieve their higher purpose. She helps by creating clarity around the objectives, building teams that work, and ultimately assisting in fitting the pieces of the puzzle together.
The outcome of working with Sara is the creation of environments that allow people to be successful.
Sara was raised in Trinidad but ended up in Canada. After completing her Bachelors in Physical Education, she started her career as a competitive swim coach and was fortunate enough to work with talented athletes across Canada. For the next 15 years she was driven by the quest to understand ‘what factors create success?’
This quest lead her to her embark on her Masters in Business Administration after which she started her entrepreneurial journey by growing a small gelato factory in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As she achieved entrepreneurial success and looked at what she was doing along the way, she became more convinced that the same factors that create success with athletes were also the best formula for creating success in business.
For the past ten years she has been bringing her passion for creating success to off-shore law firms by leading projects and teams that are implementing significant change to achieve aggressive growth, and managing the new opportunities that arise from that growth.
Sara currently lives in the Cayman Islands with her large extended family. When not designing new cocktails she enjoys swimming in the pristine Caribbean waters, meeting friends for dinner and being the loudest cheerleader at her nephew’s football games.
Here’s what people have to say about working with Sara:
“Sara shows real ability to keep projects and people on point and motivated. She is able to take our vision and make all the moving parts work together to get the results we want and is able to provide valuable input at the management table.” – J. Ross McDonough, Senior Partner and Managing Partner Hong Kong, Campbells Law Firm
