Meet The Leadership Team
Hope’s Home proudly employs qualified and energetic staff whose passion for helping children with complex medical needs is just as strong as our own.
Learn more about the folks behind Hope’s Home below.
Meet the Leadership Team
Jacqueline Tisher, RN
CEO & Founder
About Me
Jacqueline is a compassionate, dedicated advocate and passionate leader. With a background in pediatric nursing, Jacqueline is a Registered Nurse and the Founder and CEO of Hope’s Home. Under the authority and guidance of the Board of Directors, Jacqueline works closely with her Executive Team and is responsible for implementing the organization’s strategic plan and achieving the mission, goals and objectives of Hope’s Home.
Jacqueline has excellent interpersonal skills that are essential to working with a diverse group of individuals. She consistently and effectively represents the organization with government officials and community agencies. Jacqueline creates liaisons to promote the growth and development of the organization, as well as new partnerships to facilitate the ongoing support of Hope’s Home.
She has been awarded the 2010 Saskatchewan Healthcare Excellence Award for Community Leadership and the 2013 YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. She freely offers her time and energy to be a voice for children with complex medical needs. Jacqueline is a 2013 graduate from Saskatchewan Institute of Health Leadership, 2016 Professional Leadership Certificate and 2018 Professional Management Certificate from University of Regina Continuing Learning with ongoing training in leadership and professional coaching. She is the recent recipient of the 2018 U of R Alumni Humanitarian & Community Service Award.
With help and dedication from the amazing staff at Hope’s Home, there is a place for special children just to be kids. Jacqueline’s dream is our reminder that there’s no place like Hope.
Nicole Cook, LPN
COO
About Me
Nicole Cook grew up in Prince Albert in an environment with many hardships. Despite the challenges she endured, Nicole was the first in her family to graduate from high school. She went on to study nursing. Shortly after her graduation from the nursing program she welcomed her first child into the world, who was born with complex medical needs. Her struggle to find the necessary support and care for her son led her to Jacqueline Tisher, who shared her determination to make the world a better place, and the modest daycare that would become Hope’s Home.
Today, Nicole is the Chief Operating Officer of Hope’s Home, starting as an LPN within the organization, she continued to take on various leadership roles and core responsibilities, eventually finding her niche as a passionate leader alongside the CEO. Nicole has incredible vision and a knack for turning innovative ideas into reality, which secured her an integral role in growing Hope’s Home from a small organization to the provincial corporation it has become. She oversees and improves all the functional aspects of the organization from finances and human resources to the day-to-day operations of nursing and early childhood education. Nicole was a graduate from Saskatchewan Institute of Health Leaders in 2011 and a proud recipient of the CBC Future 40 Under 40 Award for Saskatchewan in 2016.
Sudesh Galhenage, CPA CGA
CFO
About Me
Sudesh is a financial professional with over fifteen years of experience in accounting and financial management, enterprise risk assessment, business planning and system implementation. He graduated from the University of Colombo Sri Lanka. Sudesh is currently a member of the Charted Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA), Charted Institute of Management Accountant (UK) as well as the Global Risk Management Institute, Inc. In addition, he has completed his Master of Business Administration from Laurentian University.
Evelyn Marcil
Executive Assitant
About Me
Evelyn came to Hope’s Home five years ago to fill the position of executive assistant to the CEO. Having a child with complex medical needs within her family circle, it was Hope’s Home’s mission, vision and values that drew her to the organization. Her many years of experience in the administrative field and organizational abilities have proven an asset to the CEO. She has now expanded her duties to support the COO and CFO as well.
Amanda Montgomery, LPN
Senior Manager of Supportive Living
About Me
Amanda has been with Hope’s Home since 2007. Beginning her journey here as a floor nurse she has held many positions including Nursing Coordinator, Operations Manager for the Regina region and now has been the Senior Manager of Supportive Living since 2015.
Amanda’s responsibility is developing and overlooking all operations for our supportive living homes across the province. Amanda works hard to ensure that these children have a fun and safe environment to live and play alongside other children, and to participate in their communities and the early development programming we offer at Hope’s Home.
In addition to the Supportive Living Program, she works alongside the nurses in our supportive living and daycare programs to develop the nursing departments and policies and procedures that govern the care provided for all of our children.
Amanda graduated from Alberta’s Practical Nursing program in 2004. She since has trained to facilitate Color Spectrums training as well as Basic Skills training, is a graduate of the Saskatchewan Institute of Health Leadership program, the LEAP management skills development program and is working towards being a certified coach with the International Coach Federation.
Lisa Wyatt, BA
Senior Manager of Early Learning & Childcare
About Me
Lisa Graduated from the University of Regina and quickly found her place at Hope’s Home in 2009. She has grown within the organization and now oversees the programs of our childcare centres within the province. Lisa strives to ensure each child has a place to grow and flourish in an integrated program. Early learning and intervention are key initiatives that Hope’s Home offers all our families whether in house or partnering with outside agencies. Allowing children to explore and learn in safe and fun ways no matter their condition/ability is something we strongly believe for.
Kelsey Stewart, BBA
Senior Manager of Fundraising & Marketing
About Me
As a graduate from the Paul J. Hill School of Business at the University of Regina, Kelsey has her degree in Marketing with a Certificate in Economics. Upon graduation, she started her career at Hope’s Home in 2015. In her role, Kelsey is responsible for managing internal and external communications strategies, as well as implementing a strategic plan for raising vital funds for the organization, including attending and planning a variety of fundraisers throughout the province.
Kelsey is very passionate about her community as well as communities around the world. She is a team leader with the Habitat Global Village program, which allows groups to build houses for low-income families in many countries. Kelsey has lead 7 teams to El Salvador over the years to spread this mission that she is very passionate about.
Kelsey is an active member of her community, serving on the Board of Directors for another non-profit, and constantly seeking out new projects to become involved in.
Joseph “Joey” Friedt
Finance Administrator
About Me
Joseph, casually referred to as Joey, is a graduate of the Paul J. Hill School of Business at the University of Regina with a degree in Accounting and a Certificate in Economics. Joey’s responsibilities at Hope’s Home include: general accounting, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, and supporting the other departments.
Rae Hawkins
Senior Manager of Human Resources
About Me
As the Senior Manager of HR, Rae ensures our internal systems, policies, procedures and staff across the province are getting the attention they deserve. Consistently solution-oriented, Rae came to the organization as a seasoned administrative professional with a Legal Assistant diploma from Saskatoon Business College and a specialty in supporting executives. She started at Hope’s Home in 2017 as support to the COO and has since grown to build and oversee the HR Department provincially, focusing on implementing comprehensive solutions within the organization. Working remotely from Saskatoon, Rae enjoys rising to any challenge, spending much of her time researching, problem-solving and continuing her education in the field of HR.
Raquel Vallee
Provincial Administrator
About Me
Raquel Vallee was born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan. From an early age, she had an awareness of a bigger picture and has strived to help things be better; whether by helping her fellow students and teachers or by volunteering at various organizations.
She has held positions in the field of childcare and administration and loves people. Her goal at Hope’s Home is to aid her team in the smooth running of this great organization and support wherever she can.
Yoyo Yuan
Finance Administrator
About Me
Yoyo comes to hope’s home with nine years of experience in the fields of accounting and finance. She received her bachelor’s degree in International Business from Hunan University of Science and Technology in China and completed her Master of Professional Accounting and Master of Commerce from Deakin University in Australia. Yoyo works alongside the CFO to oversee the accounting responsibilities across the province.
Katya Wenc
Policy and Communications Coordinator
About Me
Katya comes to Hope’s Home with a degree in Honours English and a Creative Writing concentration from the University of Regina, Luther College, and four years of professional Communications and Public Relations experience. Her passion for family and desire to show everyone they are loved drew her to Hope’s Home as those are two of our core values, and her bright positivity is the perfect fit for our team. As our Policy and Communications Coordinator, she is responsible for the creation and updating of our policies and procedures, as well as helping to streamline Hope’s Home’s internal communications.
