One of the core strengths of our organization is the rich diversity of skills and personalities that make up our team. The breadth of expertise we are able to offer clients stems directly from our employees unique experiences and interests. In an effort to celebrate this diversity and provide a glimpse into the vibrant culture that defines our workplace, we crafted a questionnaire designed to spotlight the skills and interests of our team members to allow you to see a more personal side of Diplomat,
At Diplomat, we believe in bringing humanity back to bureaucracy and business. If you have any interest in the services we provide, please take a few moments to get to know us on a deeper level:
1. If you could have lunch with anyone, living or historical, who would it be and why?
Matthew: I would love to have lunch with Chinua Achebe – he was a Nigerian author of “Things Fall Apart”, my favourite book and the subject of one of the best papers I ever wrote.
Jason: Richard Branson….why not?
Ivan Ross: Nelson Mandela – and if you don’t know why in this time of crazy and demagogic leaders that litter the world, learn more about him to see how one can lead by offering hope, forgiveness and understanding.
Steph: Charles Darwin, as natural selection is fundamental to modern theories of biology and our foundational understanding of the diversity of life. I have no doubts it would be endlessly fascinating to discuss evolution and geological sciences with him.
Colin: Taylor Swift… just kidding. Probably someone like Jim Carrey. Lots of laughter, philosophical discussion and someone I can relate to while contributing to the conversation. I wouldn’t want it to be a one-way exchange with someone out of my depth.
Nathan: Charlie Chaplin. He was so ahead of his time – The Dictators Greatest Speech is one of the most uplifting speeches that has always inspired me.
2. What’s a book you’d recommend to anyone?
Matthew: Aside from Things Fall Apart, I would recommend “The Plague” by Albert Camus. I read it in early 2021, but it is interesting to anyone who lives in a post-pandemic world and cares about how political structures and the “experts” try to make the best decisions.
Jason: The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
Ivan Ross: Anything by the American Writer John D. MacDonald – one of the first and great pop crime fiction writers of the 20th century.
Steph: The Shape of Family by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Colin: The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible by Charles Eisenstein (read it!)
Nathan: Whoa, a book for anyone is a big request, but if I had to choose I would go with The Book With No Pictures by BJ Novak. Something I would recommend for a more discerning audience is Sweet Tooth by Jeff Lemire.
3. Describe your perfect weekend getaway in three words.
Matthew: Pizza, shade, driving.
Jason: Off-Grid, Mountains, Unknown
Ivan Ross: Sailing
Steph: Nature. Dog. Campfire.
Colin: Dogs, wilderness, romance.
Nathan: Friends, family, laughter.
4. What’s a skill you’ve always wanted to learn or improve, and why?
Matthew: I really want to learn how to weld, but I have very little opportunities to do so. I am a backyard mechanic, so it would be helpful for keeping the rusty old cars I drive on the road and looking whole!
Jason: Active Listening – Better presence in the moment
Ivan Ross: The ability to play a musical instrument – Why? Why not?
Steph: I’ve never been particularly gifted athletically due to my clumsiness. I’d love to be better at sports.
Colin: I have always been fascinated by electricity and magnetism. It would be amazing to have a better understanding of electrical systems and apply that to my home.
Nathan: I have wanted to be able to speak more languages. It would be amazing to have the ability to communicate with people in their native language and experience their culture through their words.
5. If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be and why?
Matthew: Telekinesis – ever since I saw the first Star Wars episode, I wished that “The Force” was real. I definitely tried to use it every once in a while, to no avail.
Jason: Iron Man – Built his super power. Innovation
Ivan Ross: To breathe underwater – imagine the possibilities for exploration.
Steph: The ability to make everyone see their best self. Perhaps because this is something I wish I was better at as well, but we spend so much of our time focused on the negative and beating ourselves down. Everyone’s path is different but we all have our own exceptional moments. We treat our achievements so flippantly in our lives, but we all ought to give ourselves more credit and recognition.
Colin: Would love to have the ability to communicate with all life forms – as long as I could cut out the noise. Not interested in hearing the dialogue of the trillions of microbes we are constantly surrounded by. Why? To make friends with the more than human world and give a voice to the voiceless.
Nathan: The ability to convince people to do good for themselves and others through the spoken word.
6. What’s the most unusual job you’ve ever had, and what did you learn from it?
Matthew: I was an assistant to a mobile heavy duty mechanic, and I learned a lot about entrepreneurship, specifically how to build a business from word-of-mouth and positive recommendations. I also learned how to replace drum brakes on a semi, how to use an oxy-acetylene torch, and about a half dozen new curse words.
Jason: Cleaning rotten grain from underground granaries while suspended on a swing. Learned about what occupational health and safety doesn’t look like!!!
Ivan Ross: Being the Managing Partner at Diplomat – always learning, improving skills and adding new ones (e.g. accounting).
Steph: When I was young, I worked in the back of a sewing factory doing all the odds and ends jobs. I became very skilled at taking long stretches of stitching out of all types of fabric without causing damage. It taught me that patience truly can be learned.
Colin: Community Manager at an ‘intentional community’ in Guatemala. I learned a lot about the challenges of working and living with coworkers and the challenge of having no separation from your work and home life. Also how to herd cats.
Nathan: Being a dishwasher. Only unusual because it is often perceived as the least important and lowest job, yet the whole restaurant relies on you. Nothing works with out your effort. It made me appreciate that people’s perceptions are often not the reality. Treat everyone with respect because you never know who you will need to beg for forks or pans.
7. What’s a unique skill that you bring to Diplomat?
Matthew: While I can talk about my knowledge of the student movement from the last five years in it, or my robust knowledge of political theory, the most purely unique skill I have is game show hosting. In my leadership roles in various student groups, I used game shows (specifically Family Feud) to bring people together and have a great time on a budget. I am still eagerly trying to find a way to fit a game show into one of Diplomat’s events.
Jason: The patience that comes with parenting 6 young adults
Ivan Ross: Me, myself and I. Sounds arrogant I know but it is not meant as such, I am an amalgam of various skills and experiences.
Steph: I’m a very quick learner and there is no shortage of steep learning curves with the work we conduct on a daily basis. Our daily (non)routine allows me to flex my creative muscles, learn new things constantly, and adapt quickly to the wide variety of client work we conduct.
Colin: Probably my ability to take complex ideas or materials and not only extract the key nuggets but also effectively translate them to people in a way that is meaningful to them.
Nathan: I am a voracious reader and absorb statistics that I store and can use for later.
8. Share a hobby or interest unrelated to work.
Matthew: My “COVID hobby” was learning how to make fermented foods – sourdough breads, kombucha, and kvass. However, that has now translated into me mastering homemade pizzas. Next step is to build my own brick pizza oven!
Jason: I have 6 active young adult children that love to come up with adventures to test their old man.
Ivan Ross: Sailing.
Steph: I absolutely love to work on jigsaw puzzles. There’s almost always a puzzle work-in-progress set up in my house somewhere, and I have a large collection of puzzles on my storage shelf.
Colin: I am an amateur mycologist, so I work with fungi in many ways – primarily mushroom cultivation and tincture making.
Nathan: I love playing board games but no one will play risk with me
9. If you could visit any place in the world, where would it be, and why?
Matthew: I don’t like to travel much, but my wife really wants to go to Ireland, as she and I love ancient Celtic history, and we recently found out we are both Irish!
Jason: South America – Andes (adventure motorcycle trip)
Ivan Ross: Ooof – this is a hard one – I have never been to Asia so this tops the list today.
Steph: I’d love to explore the depths of the ocean. Life on earth emerged from the ocean, and there is so much more to our world that we haven’t even fathomed to exist.
Colin: Hmm… Probably Africa. Very general answer but it’s a place at once so foreign to me yet has such deep roots in our collective ancestry. The wildlife is a big draw, as well as the rawness of the reality of life in many places.
Nathan: I currently have Croatia at the top of my list. I have heard amazing things and look forward to exploring there.
10. What professional achievement are you most proud of?
Matt: It would probably be the million-dollar bursary me and my colleagues created as executives of SAMU, that provides $40k in needs-based funding to low income students at MacEwan every year.
Jason: Supporting Alberta through COVID and our success with the NHL Bubble and many related achievements.
Ivan Ross: Being the Managing Partner of Diplomat.
Steph: In 2016, I quit my job, sold everything, and moved back to Alberta. I was unhappy with my career and needed a totally fresh start. A former manager offered me a position at an indoor vertical farm startup that kick started the career path I have now. It was the largest aquaponic farm in Canada at the time, and I won several awards and have been nationally recognized for my work and expertise. I’ve been working as an indoor agriculture expert since then, helping communities and organizations across Canada to develop their own food sovereignty and food security frameworks. It brings me so much joy knowing that I’m helping secure the future for generations to come.
Colin: Completing my first book.
Nathan: That I helped build a ground-breaking start-up for over three and a half years and still have my wife and kids like me.
