The Kickstart HR Story

Lewisa Anciano is a seasoned HR professional with over 25 years of HR experience in large and small organizations. In 2008, Lewisa realized that many lone-ranger HR professionals, smaller HR departments and non-HR experts were struggling from a cost and time perspective to design and implement effective HR programs and practices.

She saw a huge gap in the availability of high quality ready-to-go HR tools and made a commitment to ensure that companies, large and small, had easy access to cost-effective, progressive and practical HR tools that had been tested in the workplace. Lewisa likened it to the Target department store, where everyone could afford a $50 Isaac Mizrahi dress — functional and good quality at a reasonable price.

Kickstart HR's first customer was Best Buy Canada, a large organization very impressed with their product — an exciting start! Customer #2, the Vancouver Aquarium, was on the other side of the spectrum — small non-profit with a small HR team.

It has been a labour of love for Lewisa. She is now confident that HR professionals have access to HR practices and tools that can give them a head start, leaving them time to build relationships, be more strategic in the workplace and avoid being bogged down in research and instructional design.

About Lewisa 

Based in Vancouver, Lewisa Anciano was formerly a Vice President, Human Resources with an award-winning technology company, in charge of strategic planning, corporate communications and human resources. She is a Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) with a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Masters of Arts in Organizational Management. In 2009 she completed the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Executive Institute (Advanced Management) Program. Lewisa has applied her HR Practices to Technology, Telecommunications, Banking, Entertainment and Contact Centre industries. As well, she has brought her expertise to unionized and non-unionized environments, start-up, turnaround and established corporate cultures.

Lewisa serves on the Board of Directors and is Chair of the Finance Committee of the BC Human Resources Management Association. Between 2005 and 2008, she taught Management Courses in the Business Continuing Studies Program at Langara College. Lewisa has been featured in the National Post, BC Business magazine and Canadian HR Reporter for progressive work in the human resources field and has been a speaker at the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) International Conference on innovative action learning leadership development practices.