Our unique set of experiences are exactly what companies need to navigate changing business demands.
At ACTivate HR, we are driven to create exceptional workplaces and communities.
We think ahead. We see the bigger playing field. We’ll guide you to create a culture that supports both your employees and your business.
We genuinely care about our clients and getting the best outcomes for everyone involved, whether that’s conducting a workplace investigation, giving you our expertise on an HR issue, or producing a comprehensive human resources plan. Our goal, in every situation, is to design human resources strategies to improve our clients’ companies by accelerating the potential and productivity of the individuals, managers and teams, in a culture that’s cooperative and supportive.

Shannon Friesen
Principal and Senior HR Consultant
The ability to make a meaningful difference to employers and employees keeps me engaged and excited about what I do every day.
Phone: 403-689-6470
Shannon is a process-oriented get-things-done kind of woman. She brings her career experiences to the table for each client, giving her the ability to step away from a problem, think strategically about a solution, and provide practical solutions that can be implemented and sustained by her clients. Her inherent knack for connecting with leaders gives her clients a worry-free partnership.
Shannon’s career has taken her through multiple industries, including law firms, government, utilities and oil and gas. Shannon is intrigued with human nature and with understanding what motivates and inspires people. The Calgary economic downturn led to interesting Human Resource opportunities, including a strong appetite for senior level Human Resource professionals with an ability to think strategically while offering made-to-measure business solutions.
When Shannon isn’t helping find great Human Resource solutions for her clients, she enjoys hiking or curling up with a good book. She can also be found volunteering at the Calgary Food Bank.

Krista McIntosh
Principal and Senior HR Consultant
What we do not only helps companies, it also positively impacts people’s experiences and relationships at work. That is why I got into this business and what drives me to continue.
Phone: 403-689-4578
Krista is a highly adaptable professional who is likes to inspire others by envisioning the future and what could be. She is able to go with the flow and uses her ability to see connections and interrelationships to generate ideas and make things happen. Her interest in human behaviour led to her attaining a Master’s degree in Human Factors, specializing in human error. Her professional background has brought her success at major organizations such as ENMAX and Canadian Pacific Railway, where her leadership role allowed her to implement programs around compensation, performance management and succession planning. She has applied her knowledge of human behaviour successfully in Human Resources, helping making people and organizations successful.
Krista is a highly personable, effective Human Resources expert that enjoys workplace investigations and working through workplace situations to determine why behaviours are occurring. This allows her to quickly and effectively identify practical and effective solutions. Her empathetic and knowledgeable spirit makes it easy for her to create and maintain great relationships with her clients.
When Krista isn’t helping identify root causes of issues to create meaningful, practical and workable solutions, she can be found volunteering with animal rescues, creating fibre art or spending quality time with her husband, teen daughter and their three dogs.

Joely Sorensen
Principal and Senior HR Consultant
Helping people and organizations to succeed is the reason I got into this line of work and continue to do it today.
Email: joely.sorensen@activatehr.ca
Phone: 403-689-7190
Joely is a goal-oriented, big-picture thinker who gets joy from helping people excel in what they love to do, adding value to their company. Her career has previously taken her to leadership and advisory roles at ENMAX and Canadian Pacific Railway.
Joely has always been interested in finding out what motivates people to be excellent at their jobs. She prides herself on her ability to step back from challenging situations to see the big picture and how things can be continuously improved. Staying out of irrelevant details and maintaining a focus on what needs to be done directly and positively improves her clients’ business. She most enjoys assessing a workplace and offering simple solutions with great payoff.
When Joely isn’t solving Human Resources and workplace issues for her clients, you can find her at rinks around Alberta cheering on her little figure skater and hockey player or taking time to herself reading, cycling and enjoying family time.
Ambar Camacho
Sr. HR Consultant
Ambar is a big picture, people-oriented HR professional, who’s genuinely passionate about helping organizations create great workplaces with strong teams. She brings 10 years of experience in the Human Resources field with 8 years in the leadership capacity. She is experienced conducting workplace investigations, is well versed on Canadian employment law and labour relations as well as leadership training, performance management, and employee development.
Ambar is educated in labour law and human resources management and is naturally talented in developing genuine relationships by becoming a trusted HR contributor. She strongly believes that an organization’s success comes into place with compassionate leadership and with a thoughtful workplace culture, supported by the right HR programs. Ambar has expertise supporting the retail and customer service industries and has experience with merge and acquisitions HR support.
When she is not working, Ambar spends much of her time with her family enjoying the outdoors, reading, and meditating. She is also passionate about music and dancing.
Angèle Mullins, BSc, FCPHR
Sr. HR Consultant
With a passion for the future of work and what it means to today’s organizations and their people, Angèle has a long career in HR leadership with both energy and technology organizations. Finding creative solutions to situations, while ensuring the business and individual’s best interests are addressed, is key to her past success. She has worked extensively with leaders at every level developing and supporting strategic planning, acquisition and divestiture activity, workforce planning and recruiting, coaching and performance management, compensation, reporting, and change management. Angèle believes communication is a fundamental driver leading to success and brings her strong communication skills to every assignment, along with a strong commitment to ethics and integrity.
Outside of work, Angèle is an active member of the human resources community where she has held various roles for local, provincial, and national HR associations and was awarded with the Fellowship: FCHRP designation in 2019. She also volunteers with the Air Cadet League and currently sits on the Alberta Board of Directors, while supporting local and national initiatives for the program that she sees as providing exceptional opportunities to youth in our community. She keeps active working out and walking and loves to cook as a stress reliever.
Arleen Gallo
Sr. HR Consultant
Arleen is a dedicated Human Resources professional who enjoys working with people and setting them up for success. She is passionate about building and inspiring teams who work together toward a shared vision. She enjoys delivering foundational learnings that are purposeful to ignite others to manage change and achieve results through empowerment.
Her lifelong learning and work in not-for-profit community organizations has provided her the skills to combine her professional work with her passion to be responsive to her community. Arleen’s career has allowed her to work in the private manufacturing and public post-secondary sector as an Indigenous senior leader who believes human resources is key to making change.
Arleen enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter, large extended family, and close friends. She spends her time off volunteering, enjoying the outdoors, reading a good book, enjoying a homemade cappuccino, and crafting.
Barb Purkiss
Sr. HR Consultant
Barb cares for the people she works with and for, and always strives to find the best solution to any situation. She brings many years of experience as an HR generalist along with being specialized in case management. She is known for her strong mentorship skills and has held many different leadership positions both in the business environment and HR.
Barb’s career allowed her to work in public government, small business and finally to a long career with a major oil and gas company with assignments throughout Canada.
During Barb’s non-working time, she loves to spend time with her husband, their three daughters and their families as well as camping and travelling.
Dara Boa
Sr. HR Consultant
Dara is a passionate people person who has successfully supported major government organizations in an advisory Human Resource capacity, including Alberta Health Services’ South Health Campus, City of Calgary Transit and Calgary Housing.
Dara’s experience in Labour Relations has made her a pro at workplace investigations, building relationships with difficult personalities and interpreting collective agreements. If you’re seeking a straight-talking expert to help you navigate your workplace investigation, Dara is the woman for you. She strives to provide actionable advice and takes pride in teaching leaders the skills they need to successfully support their teams and feel confident to make difficult decisions concerning their Human Resource issues.
When Dara isn’t assisting leaders to create a positive self-image and strong reputation throughout their organization, she can be found spending quality time with her husband and son or playing competitive volleyball.
Darla Blackmore
Sr. HR Consultant
Darla is a resulted oriented, client focused professional who is dedicated to helping others achieve success. Her career has evolved from teaching with the public school board to progressive leadership roles in the talent management realm in oil, gas, utility, insurance and public sector companies.
Darla brings considerable learning and leadership development, program development and project management experience with a focus on implementing solutions in collaboration with clients. Her positive and consultative personal style lends itself to building great partnerships and achieving great results.
When Darla isn’t helping to develop solutions for her clients, she can be found volunteering in the community, golfing, traveling or spending quality time with family and friends.
Karen Marner
Sr. HR Consultant
Karen’s philosophy is “employees ARE an organizations greatest asset!” Karen brings strong leadership by demonstrating integrity through respectful and collaborative stakeholder relationships. Karen
is focused on ensuring a positive client experience and service excellence by providing objective and strategic oriented solutions to meet her clients’ needs.
Karen brings considerable experience as a HR Generalist in senior and executive level roles in private, public and non-profit sectors. Karen has worked in various industries for provincial, national
and global organizations in Oil & Gas, Construction and Manufacturing, Utilities and Telecommunications. Karen also has worked with non-profit organizations, Government of Alberta and the City of Edmonton in union and non-union environments.
As a Consultant, Karen has worked with start-ups and small to large companies assisting them with their HR needs as well as providing support in the areas of Occupational Health and Safety and Communications
and Marketing.
In Karen’s spare time, she enjoys travelling, taking courses, supporting non-profit organizations, and participating in many sports for fun and competitively such as golfing, biking, skiing, running,
hiking or being in the gym!
Max Perron
Information Design Analyst
Max is a current student of communications who is majoring in information design. He is dedicated to helping the company create concise and easy to understand documents. He is passionate about making information as understandable and as visually pleasing as possible. He loves the design process and tackling difficult design problems in order to create the best possible solution. He designs with the client in mind, making sure that every piece of information he comes across makes it easy for them to understand every step of their journey with the company.
When Max isn’t designing information, he is busy completing his bachelor’s degree at Mount Royal University. He can also be seen outside hiking, working on cars, or spending time with his dog.
Pauline Murdock
Sr. HR Consultant
As a seasoned Human Resources professional with more than 20 years of HR experience, Pauline is known for her amazing ability to build strong relationships with clients and the passion and courage she shows in everything she does. Pauline has never shied away from a challenge and always acts in the best interests of her clients.
Prior to joining ACTivate HR, Pauline held various positions within Human Resources in diverse industries including government, finance, telecommunications and public service. Her areas of expertise include, but are not limited to workplace investigations, labour relations, change management, recruitment and training and development as well as consulting on general HR issues.
Pauline enjoys acrylic painting, travelling, golfing and enjoys cycling around Calgary with her husband.
Risha Vashista
HR Consultant
Risha’s ability to build connections and strengthen relationships has brought her great success over the years. She is passionate about finding the right talent for a team, enhancing team culture and integrating diversity, inclusion and belonging in every step of the recruitment process.
In her previous role as a Team Leader, she hired, trained and coached teams of customer service representatives at a local call center. During this time she honed in her ability to truly connect with others while guiding them towards achieving a common goal. Risha made the transition to Human Resources in 2019 as a Talent Acquisition Advisor. She’s well versed in supporting various business units in full cycle recruitment including the initial intake meeting through to on-boarding.
Outside of work, you’ll find her at your local brunch spot, retreating in the mountains, or hanging out with her high spirited chihuahua.
Lea-Anne McCartney
Senior Human Resources Consultant
Lea-Anne is a customer focused Human Resources professional with over 17 years of experience in both private and public sectors. Her passion for people and desire to add value to her clients makes her an excellent business partner. Lea-Anne has experience working in not-for-profit and specific HR experience in a large grocery chain and municipal government. She enjoys taking on new challenges and collaborating with her team and clients to creatively come up with new ideas and solutions. Lea-Anne has well rounded and diverse experience in onboarding, recruitment, labour relations, leadership, training and development, workplace investigations, performance management, succession planning and many other areas in human resources. Even in the most difficult of situations she approaches work with a smile and a positive attitude.
Lea-Anne has a love for music and enjoys traveling with family and friends to see shows and explore new places. Most recently she has taken up some new hobbies and can be found on the golf course with her son and at the lake camping with her family.
Shelley Barker
Sr. HR Consultant
Shelley is an HR professional who believes in building strong working relationships with the people and clients she works with. She has developed a diverse background as a HR generalist, leader, and mentor. Shelley has solid experience in compensation, benefits, payroll, data management, reporting and analysis, organizational change, as well as system design and implementation and providing continued user support. She also has experience in employee relations including workplace investigations, performance management, onboarding/offboarding, training & development, recruiting, and workforce planning.
Shelley most recently held a senior management position in a large not-for-profit agency and has also worked in various HR roles in oil & gas, executive search, and post-secondary.
Shelley loves to spend time in BC during the summer at her trailer with her family and friends. She is also an animal lover and has 3 dogs and 2 cats to spoil!
Testimonials
“As a result of the training, we feel competent to provide legally defendable investigations for any type of workplace concern. After our experience with them through this training we have engaged them to provide their experience and expertise in several other areas, including workplace culture reviews.
We strongly recommend Krista and the team at ActivateHR to support you.”
Aron W - Director HR
Long Term Care Facility
“Krista is a highly capable HR professional, and is quick to respond, approachable, and really easy to work with. She and her team really understand various intricacies of HR management. While working with her, she not only prepared the requested document for us, but went above and beyond by coaching me on how to present the document in a correct manner. I strongly recommend her services.”
Avneesh K - CEO and President
Web Services Company
“Shannon is extremely knowledgeable and up to date on all HR policy and practice areas, knows how to implement and maintain policy in a non bureaucratic way, and is skilled on investigation and follow up when required. She has comprehensive knowledge about HR information systems and operations and can make systems “sing”."
Gill B - VP Human Resources
Mid-Size Oil and Gas Company
“Joely has been very responsive and helpful from the first conversation had about our business needs. She understands our culture, her knowledge is broad and she is able to give a clear, concise responses in areas we lack. I sincerely recommend adding her to your team.”
Donna H - Executive / Clinical Director
Psychological Services Organization
“Krista, Joely and Shannon are a professional, trustworthy and results driven team committed to delivering value to the organization.”
Erin K - VP, Human Resources and Environment, Health and Safety
Mid-size Utility
“Krista and Joely conduct workplace investigations in a professional, confidential manner that mitigates clients’ legal risk. They also recommend and implement solutions following investigations that have created more harmonious work environments, reinforcing a client’s desired corporate culture and increasing employee engagement.”
Cameron B - Manager, Total Talent
Municipal Airport
“I have no hesitation in recommending both Krista and Joely based on their high level of performance and the confidential manner in which they conduct business on our behalf.”
Terri J - People Services Manager
Mid-size Energy Company
"Krista and her team have been an absolutely invaluable resource. As a small business owner, having someone as experienced and knowledgeable as Krista on HR laws, guidelines and industry norms available to answer questions and guide us has definitely increased our professionalism, confidence and trust that we are doing the right thing for our people."
Stephani C - Owner
Sustainable Consulting Company
“We are a small company that occasionally needs to draw upon the knowledge and expertise of a senior Human Resources Team and we have found ACTivateHR to be a perfect fit for our needs. The ACTivateHR team is responsive and knowledgeable; they understand our HR needs and most definitely provide value-added services. We highly recommend them.”
Lisa G - Senior Business and HR Analyst
Professional Services Company
"ACTivate HR is an amazing company and wonderful to work with. Our company had a large scale investigation occurring, and our team was overloaded and unable to respond to it by ourselves. Upon reaching out to ACTivate HR, I received a quick response from Krista, followed by plenty of great assistance. She was extremely professional and insightful, and provided a thorough report of the findings in a timely manner. I can’t recommend ACTivate HR enough.”
Garnet D - People Portfolio
Health Care
"When working with Krista on some sensitive topics I found Krista was quick to understand the business, responsive and understanding in difficult times and thoroughly professional in her approach to these sensitive issues. I would recommend Krista’s services and will be using them again the future should the need arise!”
Tania D - AVP HR Client Support
Financial Services Company