A custom-designed program for Niagara’s mental health leaders is set to see its first round of graduates this week.

The partnership between Pathstone Mental Health and Brock University’s Goodman School of Business has seen 27 Pathstone employees complete a 12-week professional development program that focused on key aspects of strategic planning, change management, leadership, performance management, communication and teamwork in the context of the mental health sector.

Developed by Goodman Group’s Professional Development Office, the Healthcare Business Management Certificate was specially curated to support Pathstone’s unique needs.

“We were proud to develop and deliver this program that takes a transdisciplinary approach to management development and supports the wonderful work that Pathstone is doing in our community,” said Goodman Group Director Abdul Rahimi.

The program builds on the partnership between Brock and Pathstone established last year with a memorandum of understanding between the two. For Pathstone CEO Shaun Baylis, the program reflects the organization’s collaborative and consensus building approach to leadership.

“It’s important that you cultivate leadership development for successful planning to ensure that we are following our guiding principles to create a centre of excellence,” he said.

The program’s graduation ceremony will take place Wednesday, Jan. 29 on Bell Let’s Talk Day at Pathstone’s Branscombe Mental Health Centre in St. Catharines.

Bill Helmeczi, Pathstone Director of Strategic Planning, Standards and Practices, said the program helped develop competencies in an engaging and interesting way.

“Our Agency and programming are excellent; however, our core belief in continuous quality improvement has helped us to discover, create and implement innovative practices and solutions that better support families and individuals that we serve,” said Helmeczi. “The training in leadership health care is an excellent example of this commitment. Goodman Group worked with us to flesh out a curriculum that would provide a level of management insight and expertise to meet this need.”

This certificate is just one example of the professional development programs Goodman Group offers the Niagara community. In addition to creating custom professional development based on organizational needs, the group runs a number of programs open to the public. Upcoming courses include the Non-Profit Leadership Certificate and Wine Business Management Certificate.