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Our Team:

The team at Pacific Center for Leadership is chosen for their commitment to development and unwavering belief in people. Our program leaders bring years of practical experience designing and delivering learning engagements that produce outstanding results and they have a proven track record of skillfully assisting teams and individuals to move to higher levels of performance.


Christo Grayling (email)

Christo Grayling specializes in Leadership and Team development for organizations that are on the move.

Christo has explored the world, worked on farms, lead wilderness expeditions, worked with street kids, line workers, supervisors and business executives. He has climbed peaks in the Andes, Himalayas, New Zealand and the Canadian Rockies; paddled rivers and oceans in Australia and North America.

Christo Grayling

Christo has extensive experience facilitating learning that focuses on personal, team and leadership development. Since 1976 he has specialized in designing and delivering experiential learning programs that develop human potential and assist organizations to higher levels of performance by enhancing the quality of team work and their commitment to action.

In his words: “My purpose is to assist myself, my family and others to discover ways to live life to the fullest; to help individuals and organizations seek out ways of becoming even more effective in creating the results they want; facilitating rich conversations.”
Christo is a graduate from the acclaimed University Associates Internship in Human Resource and Organizational Development. In 1978 Christo received the Queen’s Silver Jubilee award. He is an associate faculty of the internationally renowned Banff Centre Leadership Development division and has been a faculty member for the Universities of Toronto, Calgary and Queen’s Executive Development Programs.

Christo is joined in business by his wife Barb. Together they travel and adventure with their sons Logan and Luke.


Mike Shaw (email)

Mike Shaw specializes in facilitating leadership and team development for corporate client groups.

After receiving a B.Sc. in Physical Geography from the University of Victoria, Mike moved to Calgary. As a computer programmer for 6 years with an oil and gas company, he gained the valuable experience of working in a large organization. It was either his desire for instability in his life and/or his passion for the outdoors that led to a career move into the outdoors.

Mike Shaw

During the last 18 years Mike has worked in numerous aspects of the outdoors; with youth groups to senior executives of corporations. He has gained a strong reputation for his use of the outdoors as a powerful and enjoyable learning environment. People appreciate his ability to create an environment of trust, safety and confidence.

Mike is a member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides which is the only certifying body in Canada. He is also a member of the Association of Challenge Course Technology and has been involved in the design and construction of many challenge course facilities in Western Canada. This expertise in challenge and orienteering course design brings a unique dimension to Pacific Center for Leadership and the creative program elements that we offer our clients.

Mike is a registered Strength Deployment Inventory facilitator.

One of his goals is to continue to learn, grow and try new experiences. Life has certainly continued to evolve and bring it new adventures and insights.


Marni Virtue (email)

For the past 18 years, Marni Virtue has designed and facilitated leadership and team development programs with Pacific Center for Leadership.

Marni’s strength is in group facilitation, the flexibility she brings to program design, and her ability to work closely with her clients to achieve desired outcomes. She is committed to helping teams and individuals achieve their highest potential through increased awareness of leadership style, team dynamics and personal introspection.

Marni Virtue

For the past 18 years, Marni Virtue has designed and facilitated leadership and team development programs with Pacific Center for Leadership.

Marni’s strength is in group facilitation, the flexibility she brings to program design, and her ability to work closely with her clients to achieve desired outcomes. She is committed to helping teams and individuals achieve their highest potential through increased awareness of leadership style, team dynamics and personal introspection.

Marni has designed and facilitated leadership development sessions for a wide variety of corporate clients based on leadership styles and tools, communication skills, creating highly effective teams, coaching for results and leading people through change, She works with intact teams within organizations to increase their effectiveness and offers individual coaching to team members.

Marni has a B.A. in Psychology and post-graduate courses in Communication, Learning Theory and Group Dynamics.

Marni was the former co-owner and director of Canada’s largest mountain instruction service, Yamnuska Mountain School, and was one of the first women to become a member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. With this unique background, combined with her facilitation style and depth of experience working with corporate groups, Marni brings a creative and results oriented approach to her work with teams and individuals.


Geoff Powter (email)

Geoff has facilitated team development programs since 1989. Using experiential learning opportunities and insightful awareness, he is committed to helping teams and leaders achieve exceptional results.

Geoff has a B.Sc (Hons) and a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology from McGill University. He has run private counselling practices in Canmore, Alberta and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory for many years.

Geoff has been the editor of the award-winning Canadian Alpine Journal for 13 years, has written award-winning adventure travel stories for many international publications, and is the author of a new book on the psychology of risk and adventure which won a prize at the 2006 Banff Mountain Book Festival. “Strange and Dangerous Dreams – the line between adventure and madness” is a fascinating book bringing out Geoff’s life experiences as a clinical psychologist, an avid mountain climber for more than 30 years around the globe and an engaging story teller and facilitator.

He lives in Canmore, Alberta.


Sue Panning (email)

Sue Panning joined Pacific Centre for Leadership in 1993. Sue graduated from the University of Waterloo in Outdoor Recreation and Resource Management.

After earning her degree she moved west to lead the Outdoor Program at the Banff Centre for Continuing Education for 5 years. Sue moved further west to be the head trainer at the Mountain Equipment Co-op in Vancouver. The Rocky Mountains kept calling, however, so back she came to the Rockies for the quality of life and to begin her work with Pacific Centre for Leadership. Sue also worked with the Canmore Minor Soccer League and now acts as the administrator for the Canmore Folk Festival along side her PCfL work.

Sue brings her hands on and practical work experience to our clients and eagerly shares her skills, interest in group dynamics and her passion for growth and development. She is well respected for her calm and direct approach with teams along with her ability to bring focus to complex situations.

Sue has a passion for the outdoors and is an avid mountain biker and skier. She loves to share outdoor experiences and traveling adventures with her husband and their two boys. Sue actively volunteers in her community of Canmore and is well known for her contribution to various school groups and boards, the Nordic Ski Club and many youth activities.


Anne Ryall (email)

Anne Ryall has worked as a team development facilitator with Pacific Centre for Leadership since 1994. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics at the University of Toronto, she felt the pull of the mountains and moved to Alberta, where she obtained a Bachelor of Physical Education in Outdoor Pursuits at the University of Calgary. For more than 15 years she has been instructing and facilitating outdoor-based leadership- and team-development programs in Alberta, British Columbia and the western United States.

Using the outdoor environment in order to challenge teams to reach their full potential provides Anne with a great deal of inspiration and satisfaction. In addition to her employment with Pacific Centre for Leadership, she combines her interests in languages, film and climbing by doing translation work and other projects for the world-renowned Banff Mountain Film Festival.


Janet Miller (email)

Janet Miller has worked with Pacific Centre for Leadership since 1997. The opportunity to assist people to challenge their beliefs and behaviours through experiential learning is an ongoing source of inspiration for her.

Teaching skiing brought Janet to the mountains as a young woman. She has taught outdoor skills such as hiking, climbing and backcountry living, and is a Day Hiking Guide and member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. Her passion for wildlife led to several years of providing education programs for the Central Rockies Wolf Project, to groups both small and large.

With a Bachelor of Nursing degree from the University of Calgary, Janet worked for nearly a decade as a Community Care Nurse/Manager for a large health region. Provincial health care restructuring gave her intimate experience with change and how it affects individuals, program delivery, and corporate cultures.

Janet lives in Canmore, Alberta with her husband and various dogs and cats. She strongly values working as a member of the Pacific Center for Leadership team, and finds that her work continually affirms her belief in the unlimited potential of people.


Barb Hertell (email)

Over the past 25 years, Barb has specialized in designing and delivering experiential learning programs that enhance leadership, team and personal performance. She is a graduate from the acclaimed University Associates Internship Program in Human Resources and Organizational Development. She also completed a degree in Honours Human Kinetics and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo.

Barb is committed to providing safe learning opportunities through custom-designed experiential activities. She believes that “through experience, people have an opportunity to examine their own beliefs, assumptions, attitudes and opinions about team and leadership in a fun and unique way. Through examination, people then have an opportunity to create even more effective individuals, teams and relationships.”

Barb Hertell

Having been a team member and working with groups throughout her career, Barb believes very strongly that effectively working teams can produce incredible results. “Each individual brings unique resources to a team. When we mutually realize our individual strengths and recognize the value of working harmoniously, greater results will be accomplished.”

Barb places a high priority in creating opportunities in all aspects of her life - professional career, family, friends, travel and love for the outdoors.


Althea Shaw (email)

Althea has been working with Pacific Center for Leadership since 1994, providing technical assistance to programs involving challenge courses, rock climbing, and orienteering. Althea has been active in the mountains for over 25 years. Her favorite pursuits include trail running, mountaineering and hiking in the back country.

Althea has a degree in Mathematics from the University of Victoria; she worked for 12 years as a systems analyst in Victoria and Calgary. She is now the active mother of two children and lives in Canmore, Alberta.

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For more information give us a call: 1-800-661-9400


@ Pacific Center for Leadership
Canmore, Alberta, Canada
near Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies