Marie-France Lapierre

Career

Marie-France brings over three decades of experience in public service, community leadership, and psychological practice. She has supported individuals and teams—from frontline staff to executives—in navigating complex human and organizational challenges. Her work focuses on strengthening people, teams, and organizational resilience, often in multilingual and multicultural contexts. She has also designed and facilitated training across sectors.

After retiring from government, she established a successful private practice as a psychologist and coach and continues to assist organizations responding to high-impact events.

Her governance experience spans provincial and national boards in health, education, labour, arts, immigration, and francophone minority communities. As Vice-Chair and Chair of BC’s francophone school board, she oversaw 40+ schools, 1,000 employees, and a $100M budget. She currently sits on four boards, including three in executive roles, and provides governance training and strategic planning through Vantage Point.

Her multidisciplinary background enables her to work at the intersection of human development, organizational culture, and community systems, bringing clarity, compassion, and grounded leadership to complex environments.

Coaching

Since beginning her formal coaching practice in 2021, Marie-France has coached individuals, leaders, and teams navigating growth, transitions, and complex workplace demands. Her approach blends developmental methodology, systems thinking, and psychological insight to help clients gain clarity and take sustainable action.

Known for her warm, direct presence, she helps clients understand the patterns shaping their choices and build self-awareness, communication, emotional regulation, and relational intelligence. She creates psychologically safe and culturally sensitive spaces rooted in strong intercultural competence and longstanding allyship. She also contributes to the profession as a Board Member with ICF British Columbia and as Adjunct Faculty with Integral Coaching Canada.

Qualifications/Certifications

Marie-France is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation and an Integral Master Coach trained through Integral Coaching Canada. She is certified in MBTI Step I and II tools and has worked as a psychologist for more than 35 years in clinical, organizational, and community settings. She is registered in BC, New Brunswick, and Québec and holds a Master’s in Psychology from the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Her professional development includes training in leadership, trauma-informed practice, governance, change management, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Fully bilingual in French and English, with working knowledge of Spanish and Croatian, she brings a culturally attuned perspective to all her work.