For a referral to an employment counsellor, please contact Miri Tal at 604.637.3313.
Charlotte Katzen, MA
Interim Executive Director
604.637.3311
Charlotte has come from Poland in 1977 and completed her studies in Social Sciences at UBC. Charlotte has been with JFSA since 1989 where for the first 10 years she worked as a case manager providing resettlement and employment services to new immigrants as well as designing and implementing integration programming. Charlotte speaks Polish and Russian.
Miri Tal, BA, HR
Resettlement & Settlement Related Labour Market Services Counsellor
604.637.3313
Miri provides services for immigrants in Hebrew and English including one-on-one case management such as needs assessment, information, referrals and counselling. She also develops life skills and educational group programming in Hebrew, such as the Speakers Bureau Series around financial planning, education systems, health, legal rights, immigration laws and other topics. Miri has over 10 years of experience in Human Resources and Management. Miri speaks Hebrew as well as some German, Yiddish and French. Miri is at JFSA Monday to Thursday.
Ken Johnston, CHRP, BA, DIP
Employment Counsellor
Ken is an entrepreneurial, “big-picture” ideas and goal-oriented human resources professional with a background in career development, training and development, counselling, workshop design, recruitment, testing and some organizational design. He has a BA, an Honours Diploma in Career Counselling and a CHRP designation. His mission is to “help people live self-expressed lives” by assisting them to clarify their passions, turn them into goals and challenge them to courageously and persistently follow them. He helps organizations create an engaging culture that flows from a compelling “raison d’être” and sound organizational design that breaks down silos and enriches jobs. His style is fun-loving, focused, forward-thinking and compassionate.
Ken believes strongly in JFSA’s model to work co-operatively to serve the client in a holistic manner that acknowledges his/her individuality.
In his spare time, Ken hikes, bikes, practices Wu Style Tai Chi, yoga, plays with creative writing, is struggling to learn the guitar and after a long hiatus is looking forward to returning to the slopes next year.
Naz Gurbuz, CCDP
Employment Counsellor
Naz is a certified career development professional who has 10 years of experience in this field. She has certification in career counselling, Personality Dimensions, True Colors, Job Club Leadership Training, the Emotional Quotient Inventory, and Implicit Career Search.
Naz is a member of the BC Career Development Association, the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, and the BC Network for Compassionate Communication. She is passionate about her work and she brings six years of self employment expertise and perspective to her clients, helping them to achieve optimal results in their careers.
Mary Irvine, CHRP, BA, DIP
Employment Counsellor
Mary lives life “on purpose" and has inspired others to do the same in the Human Resources Departments of public and private organizations, and as a dedicated Career Coach. Mary loves sharing her passion for career satisfaction, listening to intuition, and living a balanced life when she teams up with individuals and organizations. Accredited to administer the best validated career assessments on the market today, Mary offers this service to JFSA clients. She also shares her resume expertise, leads Employment workshops and matches up employers and job seekers.
