The Catalyst
Issue #3
Originally Distributed November 20, 2025
Dear Changemakers,
Last month, we stood before two separate groups of students who told us the world was ending.
We didn’t argue.
We showed them how to rebuild it.
All around the world, people are feeling the weight of climate anxiety, global conflict, and systems that often forget our voices. But when you give frameworks, futures thinking, foresight, storytelling, problem-mapping — something extraordinary happens:
Fear becomes fuel.
Overwhelm becomes imagination. Hopelessness becomes strategy.
In this issue, we’re talking about hope not as a soft feeling, but as infrastructure; a design principle for building the future.
Let’s dive in.
Jess
Inside this issue:
Framework – Health as Infrastructure for Changemakers
Field Notes – Honda collaboration, SHSM futures work, global proposals, and mental health resources for families
Spotlight – YouMeWe Summit: Conscious leadership meets community impact
Media Room – Community Builder Award + Top 10 recognition
Action Prompt – Turn the volume up on hope
Collab Lab Breakthrough – This month’s subscriber giveaway winner announced!
In Closing: What becomes possible when we choose hope
Framework of the Month
Health as Necessary Infrastructure
At the end of August, I hit a wall. The kind of wall you don’t walk around, you collide with. Burnout isn’t always loud; sometimes it’s a slow erosion you only notice when your body finally says enough.
And here’s the truth I needed to learn the hard way:
There is no systems change without personal sustainability.
There is no community impact without a regulated nervous system.
There is no long game if the leader collapses in the middle.
We talk a lot about strategy, alignment, and multi-sector collaboration — but I have come to learn that the most overlooked infrastructure for changemakers begins with health.
Not the “once this project wraps” kind.
Not the “when things settle down” kind.
Not the “after we reach this revenue milestone” kind.
The now kind.
The consistent kind.
The “this matters as much as the mission” kind.
Over the past four months, I’ve rebuilt my own foundation with support from:
Naturopathic care
Therapy
Access to wellness science at Vortex Wellness Studio
Stress resilience practices
And a new level of grounding through the work of Edie Gudaitis Wellness
Edie has been a steady guide — a practitioner who understands that workplace wellness isn’t about bubble baths, it’s about leadership, regulation, resilience, and repair.
Free Masterclass: Stress Relief for Leaders
Hosted by: Edie Gudaitis
Date: Wednesday, November 26 at 12:00 PM EST
Length: 45 minutes
In this session, you’ll learn evidence-based strategies to:
Reduce stress before it hits its breaking point
Apply simple breathing techniques that regulate your system
Strengthen team resilience and performance
Lead with clarity instead of depletion
REGISTER FOR THE MASTERCLASS HERE
This is the kind of support changemakers need before burnout forces the issue. Your health is not a luxury. It is leadership infrastructure.
Field Notes
What we’re working on (and what it’s shifting)
Honda + SHSM: Futures Thinking in Action
In Collaboration with Georgian College’s #CTN program, we ventured out into Community with SHSM students from the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board, and with Honda in Alliston for their Take Your Kid to Work Day. The workshops within #CTN have been a powerful reminder that the next generation is not waiting for permission.
They’re imagining and designing what work, mobility, climate solutions, and community will look like 25 years from now.
Strategic insight: Youth-led foresight is not extracurricular; it’s essential R&D for regions preparing for economic transition.
Proposals in Motion: Scaling Youth Entrepreneurship Globally
This month alone, The YOU Power Project has been answering the call to proposal requests from:
Ontario’s Ministry of Economic Development
Simcoe County Economic Development & Community
Local MPP engagement
Kenyan National teacher professional development pathways
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Strategic insight: Momentum compounds. When systems recognize youth as economic and social contributors — not future contributors, but current ones — entire ecosystems shift.
The Academy of South Georgian Bay: Mental Health, Community, and the Future of Schooling
Families are joining info sessions with increased momentum- having us feel more hopeful than ever about a Fall 2026 launch.
We’ve also been asking:
How do we protect our kids’ mental health in a digital world?
How do we help them thrive in a system that wasn’t built for today’s realities?
On the horizon:
A Parent Night on Youth Mental Health and Social Media — practical tools, shared truth, and community collaboration. Hit “reply” to request more info about this free event happening at the Collingwood Public Library on Monday, December 15th at 6 PM.
Strategic insight: Education can no longer be siloed from wellness. Thriving students require thriving families and thriving communiti
Spotlight:
In January, something remarkable is coming to the region.
The YouMeWe Summit is more than an event — it’s a catalyst for a regional movement where inclusion, innovation, and conscious entrepreneurship fuel economic prosperity and community well-being.
I’m honoured to be both speaker and co-MC for this inaugural gathering — a space designed for Women Wave-Making Entrepreneurs who are building businesses that serve people, planet, and prosperity.
This Summit is for:
Women entrepreneurs building social or environmental impact ventures
Social enterprise leaders
Nonprofit innovators
Aspiring entrepreneurs
Ecosystem partners: funders, supporters, advisors, suppliers
Anyone ready to evolve into purpose-driven entrepreneurship
Over two days, attendees will access:
15+ experts
Workshops on purpose, strategy, and authentic leadership
Conscious business tools
Ecosystem networking
A post-summit pitch competition
And a community to keep the momentum flowing
Interactive. Strategy-Driven. Locally Rooted. Globally Minded.
Where profit powers sustainable social impact.
Early-Wave Pricing: Save 20% until Nov 30 or the first 50 passes
Learn more & Register at: youmewe-summit.com
Media Room: Awards Season!
(and what awards really mean to me)
Community Builder Award – City of Barrie
Honoured to receive this recognition for contributions to education, youth empowerment, and local systems change. Read the Barrie Today write-up here.
Top 10 in Canada – Capital Elle Business Excellence Awards
A powerful moment of national recognition for work that blends entrepreneurship, social innovation, and community impact.
Closing Message
While these two award recognitions mean a lot, they’re not why we do the work — and they certainly aren’t about me alone. They represent the collective effort of our team, partners, students, and community.
What awards do help with is visibility: they make it easier for aligned parents, students, funders, and collaborators to find us, and they show others what’s possible when we build differently.
We receive them as encouragement, not the destination.
Take Action
Your Catalyst moves this month
Ask yourself:
“How can I turn the volume up on hope?”
Try one of these:
Hope as a lens: Revisit a challenge and ask, “What’s the hopeful hypothesis? What’s the possibility I haven’t explored yet?”
Hope as collaboration: Bring one new partner into a project you care about.
Hope as design: In your next meeting, ask, “What would this look like if we designed it for human thriving?”
Hope becomes a strategy the moment we choose to operationalize it.
Collab Lab Breakthroughs
November’s winner:
Daniel, W!
Daniel, I’ll be reaching out personally so you can share the focus area or question you’d like me to explore in your note. Think of it as your own mini strategy session — a quick burst of clarity, perspective, and momentum.
Each month, one Catalyst subscriber wins a personalized 3–5 minute voice or video note from me — unpacking your challenge, sharing a framework, or sparking new ideas to move your work forward.
Want in for next month?
The next winner (first name + last initial) will be announced in the December issue of The Catalyst — exclusively for subscribers.
In the #CTN Jobs of the Future workshop, we ask students to imagine the world in 2050.
Some see possibility.
Some see devastation.
Most see uncertainty.
But when they map problems, design solutions, and build futures-thinking prototypes, something profound happens:
They start to believe again.
Hope is not passive.
Hope is not naive.
Hope is not optional.
Hope is the raw material of systems change —
the scaffolding that holds up everything we dare to imagine.
Thank you for choosing to build with hope.
Until next time — keep moving boldly,
Jess