Cultural Change Through Courageous Conversations

TRISH ROBICHAUD is a multiple award-winning Motivational Speaker, Work-Life Inclusion Coach and Accessibility Compliance Expert and her business are called CHANGING PACES. Trish has been providing coaching, counseling and advocacy support to people with disabilities for over 25 years, and training, speaking and consulting to organizations on disability issues for over 15 years.

With her passion for advocacy, Trish served on the York Region Accessibility Advisory Committee for 7 years, the last year as Vice-Chair. She spearheaded the founding of an MS Society of Canada Chapter in her area and served on that board for 14 years, 4 as Chapter Chair. Trish was honoured in 2004 by the MS Society of Canada as their most valued volunteer at both the provincial as well as national levels.

In response to the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), Changing Paces was the first training firm in Canada to have developed, tested and implemented an Accessible Customer Service Training Program.

Their program has been well regarded across the province by a multitude of public, private sector & non-profit organizations since November 2007. Trish was the author of that training program & continues to provide content development support to organizations looking to create a customized AODA training program of their own.

Trish’s services include, but are not limited to educational, inspirational or motivational speaking. 

The following is just a sampling of some of Trish’s past clients.

Motivational Speaking Engagement Clients

• MS Society, Alberta Division, Edmonton, Alberta
• MS Society, Saskatchewan Division, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
• MS Society, York South Chapter, Richmond Hill, Ontario
• MS Society, York East Chapter, Markham, Ontario
• National Neutropenia Network, Ann Arbour, Michigan
• Just Checking Shared Learning event, Vineland, Ontario
• MS Windsor-Essex County Chapter, Windsor, Ontario
• Teva Patient Advocate Conference, Montreal, Quebec
• MS Society, Durham Chapter, Whitby, Ontario
• Canadian Hearing Society, Newmarket, Ontario
• Southlake Village, Newmarket, Ontario
• MS Society, York North Chapter, Keswick, Ontario
• Job Skills – Brampton, Brampton, Ontario
• MS Society, Scarborough Chapter, Scarborough, Ontario

Other Clients Have Included

• Ministry of Government Services’ Accessibility Expo held at Queen’s Park on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 – Trish delivered their keynote address featuring an inspirational speech titled “Accessibility Empowers All” – Delegates included 300 representatives from across the Province who work on accessibility efforts within their own Ministries.

• Ministry of Community Safety & Correctional Services, Emergency Management Ontario – Trish hosted and recorded a series of internet radio interviews with ministry staff on emergency preparedness for people with disabilities.
• Government of Canada, Department of Justice – Trish served as an expert panelist for Justice Canada’s webcast presentation in celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in January 2013.
• CUPE Ontario – Trish was hired to be part of an expert panel discussing human rights issues in December 2017 at CUPE Ontario’s Human Rights Conference.  
• Accenture – Trish developed and delivered an educational piece about barriers and accommodations in a game show format in celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in December 2018.

• OWLware Ltd. Is a recognized Employment Ontario agency that provides training to persons with disabilities and those facing employment barriers.

  “We had encountered continuous conflict in our classroom between a person with a disability and someone from the LGBTQ+ community and this struggle extended online affecting our classroom dynamics significantly. When we contacted the Changing Paces expressing our concern, they dropped everything over the holiday period of 2023/2024 to support us and developed an intensive customized workshop within an extremely short turnaround, for the first week of January. 

  Even with the short notice the Changing Paces team developed our training workshop under intense pressure, the content and presentation they provided were top-notch. They even provided the time to give us an opportunity to have direct input on the content by inviting our staff to attend their rehearsals and offer feedback. The professionalism of the Changing Paces team was evident, but what truly stood out was their ability to make the presentation personal. This openness allowed for a poignant aspect of humanity to settle in “the room,” leaving a lasting impact on all the participants and ultimately resolving the classroom situation.

   Our extreme appreciation to the CP team for coming together over the holidays and creating a powerful presentation that educated, raised awareness, and eased tension in our classroom. We would highly recommend them to any firm.”