She/Her
Jennifer Pernfuss is the founder and principal of RESPECT: Conciliation & Education located in Toronto, Canada. For the past 30 years she has been helping organizations effectively address and resolve workplace harassment complaints and transform conflict. She was one of the first legally trained consultants to conduct external investigations in Ontario. She left that work to study different ways of resolving employee complaints and conflict that encourage low-level resolution and regard for all the stakeholders in a dispute. In addition to a law degree, Jennifer has a degree in psychology. She trained as a mediator at Pepperdine University School of Law in California as well as at CDR Associates in Boulder, Colorado. She also trained as a coach with CTI and then pursed a certification as an Organization and Relationship Systems Coach. Recognizing the significance of trauma as it relates to complaint management, Jennifer obtained a certification as a Trauma Informed Professional Coach through Lodestar Consulting & Executive Coaching (U.S.) where she is now a senior faculty member offering services in the U.S. She has also had the pleasure of being trained by Brene Brown in the areas of shame and vulnerability. All her education, training, personal, and field experience has culminated in a unique and highly effective approach to addressing and resolving harassment and other forms of conflict in the workplace. She is a management and union consultant, human resource systems design specialist, restoration practitioner, facilitator, trainer, speaker, coach to complainants and respondents, and leaders, systems coach, complaint strategist, and developer of an online training program, Management Harassment Toolkit. She also taught at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies – Special Certificate in Managing, Investigating and Resolving Harassment Complaints. She has worked with private, public, and not-for-profit organizations in most industries across Canada.
She is a frequent guest on Relationship Matters podcast and is contacted by media outlets for her expertise in the field of workplace human rights. She is a proud Mom of two children – one who is articling and another who is studying psychology – and a dog named Henry.
