So you want to build a better world? You have come to the right place.

This beautiful, bubbling thing that is iNSPiRED PRACTiCE is a culmination of the passion and excellence at the core of one mighty eco-entrepreneur – Kristle Calisto-Tavares.

That’s me!

 

As Founder & Principal Innovator for iNSPiRED PRACTiCE, I create strategies and tools for conscientious businesses and enterprising non-profits to grow sustainably.

More specifically, this is what I do:

• Use my strategic planning superpowers to identify and assess the impact of changing conditions on an organization, match resources to short and long term goals, and set priorities.
• Apply project management skills to start-up opportunities or collaborative ventures building on a solid foundation of measurable goals and mechanisms for evaluation.
• Organize, design, host and convene in a variety of transformative environments.
• Help non-profit organizations diversify revenue streams through a multi-pronged approach and delivery including fee for service strategies, donors, sponsorship development, and, grant proposal research and writing.
• Deconstruct the concepts of sustainability through strategy and tool creation so that for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations can apply them in a meaningful way.
• Increase Cultural Intelligence (CI) in the workplace by breaking down barriers to integration.
• Work to lead self, others and community through the use of revolutionary processes, unique tools and values-based standards.
• Move across traditional boundaries and sectors to surface collaboration and leverage relationships toward successful initiatives.
• Transform conflicts and group dynamics through a systems approach to human resources; creating the conditions to resolve complex issues and reach decisions that last.

My Specialties

changing the world. sustainable business. Corporate Social Responsibility. non-profit management. facilitation. superhero training. partnership development.

Highlights

Want some practical examples of how iNSPiRED PRACTiCE is changing the world? I have:

• Conveyed the principles of green procurement to clients with the use of a chocolate vegan cake as a prop.
• Led a mini-revolution by founding Canada’s first student-funded and led grant making body for environmental and social impact initiatives.
• Helped a stalwart group of children’s environmental health advocates (representing different organizations) take their initiative from small impact to big impact by providing them with a framework to pool their resources, expertise and passion and partner together for the greater good.
• Developed a tailored sponsorship campaign for an international youth engagement organization seeking to diversify their revenue streams to achieve financial sustainability.
• Collaborated on projects with other consultants including one in which I helped pen a Green Your Business Toolkit for small and medium-sized businesses in the Canadian tourism sector.
• Turned accountants into modern-day superheroes with my signature Change the World at Work session.
• Researched and authored a plain-language Guide to Organizational Culture for newcomers as part of the highly-acclaimed Workplace Integration of Newcomers project.
• Used cutting-edge and sometimes unorthodox facilitation methods to assist teams and organizations move past road blocks to success.
• Even transformed my own wedding celebration into a lasting legacy (a.k.a. Project Tanzania) by building community and healthy futures for 500 children under the age of 5 in Tanzania, East Africa.

And when I am not suited up as a superhero, I am a prairie girl by day.

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10 Things I Want You to Know About Me

   

1. My first name is hard to spell and my last name is hard to pronounce.

I don’t get offended when people misspell or mispronounce my name. But I will correct you. Part of my charm is in being different. Not average. I think that’s a good thing. I am betting that you do too. Call it ESP, intuition or my crystal ball, but something tells me that you don’t wake up in the morning setting out to find mediocrity. If you are looking for business-as-usual, that’s not me. I am a testing ground for innovation.

 

2. I believe it takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. (Just like e.e. cummings said.)

In my time on this planet I have tried my hand at many things – not all with great success but I have tried. At the age of 24, I discovered that my lifelong dream of becoming a lawyer wasn’t such a fairytale after all. So I said sayonara to my life plan – 20 years in the making (yep, decided at 4 years of age) – and set out to find a dare-to-be-great situation. And I found it. Or rather it found me. The concept of iNSPiRED PRACTiCE came to me years earlier but got pushed back into the corners of my mind while I was pursuing a different path. It was there all along – just waiting for me to grow up and become who I really am.

 

3. I operate what is known as a social enterprise.

What does that mean? My definition is borrowed from the infinitely wise Kevin Lynch and Julius Walls Jr who penned Mission Inc. They say: “A social enterprise is a business that seeks, above all, to make the world a better place.” Yes, the legal structure of my company is for-profit. But my business model is based on values. Personal values. Social values. Environmental values. Cultural values. And economic values.

 

4. I am a citizen of the world but Canada is my home.

I have wandered the Western Saharan desert, hiked to the Roof of Africa, walked along the Great Wall of China and cycled through the Region of Provence. All of my travels have been with purpose. Every place I go allows me to meet new people and learn new things. I have seen – in real time – some of the most disheartening tragedies and empowering realities. I travel to experience the diversity of the world, build new relationships, share stories and bring back innovative ideas. Here – to my home.

 

5. I like what frogs symbolize.

Amphibians are particularly attuned to their environment. In fact, when an ecosystem is out of whack due to contamination or species and habitat depletion, frogs are the first to register the effects. The people of Haida Gwaii located just “at the edge of the world” believe that frogs are symbols of good fortune and magic. It is said, “there is always magic around when a frog is present”.  Frogs represent transformation and evolution. But the coolest thing about them is that they can successfully exist in seemingly opposite worlds – on land and in water. As a result, the Haida people label the frog a messenger and communicator. Frogs transfer knowledge, ideas, and vision from one world to the next. It is for all of the reasons above and then some that I chose the frog as a mascot for iNSPiRED PRACTiCE.

 

6.  I possess several hidden talents.

For whatever reason, I was blessed with the ability to think big picture while remembering the details. I consider this one of my hidden talents since most people either get lost in the minutiae or get overwhelmed by the whole. As far as my other hidden talents go: I can bake the best vegan chocolate chip banana bread you have ever tasted and I have a strange magnetic ability to draw babies and dogs to me with a word and a smile.

 

7. My ipod is full of obscure b-side songs.

That means I dig and look for the diamonds in the rough. I take the time to discover the less obvious things in life. I am willing to push myself to “learn” when I don’t “know”. I may not be able to address every question you have right away but I have mad skills when it comes to finding answers.

 

8. My favourite books of fiction are Charlotte’s Web and The Alchemist.

So much of reality is fiction anyway. So why not embrace it? (For more on good books to read, check out:  The Modern-Day Superhero Book Club.

 

9. I am a high D/high I with a soft gooey centre and a streak of pink hair (figuratively speaking, of course).

 

10. I like pistachios, Bizarro cartoons and the colour orange.

Feel free to send me anything resembling the above and I will respond in kind.

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FAQ

 

This section is still in development. (Changing the world is quite time consuming!) Your patience is greatly appreciated.

 

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