Make it
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Patti Flaherty
Chief Financial Officer
Patti Flaherty has worked in the field of brain injury and rehabilitation for almost 30 years. Before joining CONNECT as Executive Leader in 2007, she was a Senior Operating Officer at Vancouver Coastal Health responsible for the site operations of the GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre. Patti has a degree in physical education, a Master’s of Education and completed the Executive Health Leadership Program at the Rotman School of Management. Patti has helped develop and promote CONNECT’s Life Redesign Model, an approach that emphasizes social capital and person-centred goal-setting in a creative and flexible environment.
Patti is a founding member of the Interdependence Network and former chair for the British Columbia Brain Injury Association (BCBIA). She served as chair for the Pacific Coast Brain Injury Conference Society from 2009 – and was on the steering committee from 1996 – 2005. Patti is an active member of the Canadian College of Health Services Executives since 2005 and has been a mentor for the Executive Mentoring Program for the Canadian College of Health Service Executives. In her downtime, Patti enjoys time with her family and friends. She enjoys yoga, the outdoors, great music and travelling. She counts her father as one of her greatest mentors.
“We meet people where they’re at and we help to coach them to find a way to live a life after a brain injury or stroke that is meaningful to them.”
John Sherwood
Owner and Chief Financial Officer
John Sherwood, CEO, has more than 30 years of experience working in health care and holds a BA in Economics.
John joined family home care business Classic LifeCare in 1993. At that time he co-founded CONNECT Communities with his mother and business partner Janet Sherwood to address a gap in the system for people after acquired brain injury. Since then, CONNECT has grown to multiple locations in two provinces serving people after brain injury and stroke.
After 30 years deeply involved in the operations of the business, John has changed the way he works at CONNECT to mainly concern himself with people, strategy and finance. He remains actively involved in the business as Owner and Chief Financial Officer (CFO.)He relates to CONNECT’s person-centred approach where the individual supported is in control of their goals, choices and life. One of John’s favourite activities is fishing, although skiing and sailing are close seconds.
“I am a freedomist at heart. At CONNECT, we try to provide an experience for the people we support that is in line with what we would want for ourselves. For me, that is all about personal choice and preference and not about being prescribed how it’s going to go and how to live my life.”