Founded and facilitated by Darren Sinke.
Darren Sinke is the former CEO of Emmanuel Seniors Living Society, former Executive Director of APHAA, and co-founder of VS Partners.
He holds an MBA from the University of Alberta and has dedicated his career to serving Alberta's housing sector through leadership, governance, and organizational development. More than anything, Darren believes that when people are given the opportunity to grow, they become better leaders, build stronger teams, and create healthier organizations.
HLC was shaped through conversations with senior housing leaders who saw a clear gap: the sector needed a practical, credible leadership space for the people just below the senior table.
A Letter From Darren
If you’re here, there’s a good chance you’re carrying more leadership responsibility than your job description ever prepared you for.
Maybe you’re leading a department. Maybe you’re supervising a team. Maybe you’re making difficult decisions that affect residents, staff, and budgets every day.
You’re expected to know the answers. But often, there’s nobody to ask.
Over the past fifteen years, I’ve had the privilege of serving our sector in many different roles—as a CEO, an Executive Director, a consultant, and a project leader. Through each of those experiences, I’ve seen something that keeps repeating itself.
The best managers and supervisors often find themselves learning leadership by trial and error. They’re trusted with enormous responsibility, but they rarely have a group of peers who understand the unique challenges of housing. They carry difficult conversations, staffing issues, operational pressures, resident concerns, capital projects, and organizational change, often without a safe place to compare notes or ask honest questions.
HLC was built to change that. This isn’t another course. It isn’t another certification. And it isn’t another association competing for your attention.
It’s a community.
A place where housing leaders can learn from one another, share practical experiences, ask better questions, and grow together.
The idea didn’t come from me sitting alone trying to invent something new. It came from countless conversations with senior leaders across Alberta who kept saying the same thing:
“We need to do a better job developing the next layer of leadership.”
I agree. So we are building the kind of community we wished had existed years ago. One that’s practical, generous, and built specifically for housing.
If you decide to join us, I hope you’ll contribute your own experiences, ask the questions you’ve been carrying, and help someone else grow along the way.
I’d be honoured to have you join us. Let’s grow together.
Darren Sinke
Founder & Facilitator