Where Values Meet Reality: Craig Hrynchuk on Psychological Safety and Shared Growth

We sat down with Craig Hrynchuk, Cheif Administrative Officer of

Alberta Municipality Health and Safety Association, to talk about what it felt like to collaborate with Ember and the moments that stood out most to him.

When Craig thinks about how the Ember Experience team lives their values, he thinks about staying honest and deliberate when things need a course correction. 

“One of the most recent examples that stands out,” Craig shared, “was during planning for our 2026 business year. As we looked back, we realized there were areas we could improve on to maximize our 2025 partnership with Ember.” 

Rather than gloss over it, Craig brought it forward in conversation with Jesse. “I told him, ‘It would be easy to just rinse and repeat what we did. But we want to keep improving?’ So we looked at what worked, what didn’t, what the symptoms were, and what the root causes might have been. From there, we committed to doing things differently; planning with more focus, executing with more intention.” 

Craig says conversations like that are only possible because of the trust and alignment between their teams. “You can only have those discussions when your values match,” he explained. “With Jesse, it’s never pointy or defensive. We both approach things with curiosity. It’s about learning, not blame. That’s the strength of the relationship. You can name the thing that isn’t working and move forward together.” 

For Craig, that sense of safety is tied to how Ember cares for people. “Real leadership isn’t about making it personal,” he said. “It’s about looking at the causes behind what’s happening. Sometimes those causes are you, and you have to be willing to own that. Both Jesse and I are open to reflecting on how we might have contributed to a miss, and that creates a lot of psychological safety. I always feel comfortable having those conversations with him.” 

This openness extends to generosity and learning, too. Craig recalled a recent joint proposal project that brought both organizations into vulnerable territory. “Jesse was the first to say, ‘When we’ve done this kind of work before, we didn’t fully grasp everything required for the online learning side.’ And on our end, we were honest too; we didn’t have the subject-matter expertise in mental health,” he explained. “So we decided to combine what we each do best. Ember brought the mental health expertise, and we brought the learning and design capability.” 

That collaboration, he said, worked because both sides were willing to acknowledge what they didn’t know. “It’s rare,” Craig reflected. “In small organizations, it’s tempting to try to be everything to everyone. But that’s not realistic and it doesn’t lead to quality work. Jesse’s openness to name those gaps, and to see them as opportunities for partnership, is one of the reasons the work succeeds.” 

When asked to describe the energy of working with Ember, Craig was quick to answer. “Intentional and open,” he said. “You can always be yourself. That’s what psychological safety looks like in action; being able to show up as you are, whether it’s a good day, a bad day, or one of those in-between days where you’re just doing your best.” 

He paused before adding, “There’s a shared understanding that it’s okay to be a little messy sometimes. That you can bring your full self to the work and it’ll be received with honesty and care. That’s the combination of generosity, care, and growth that not many teams pull off.” 

Craig carries that mindset into his own organization. “At the end of every season, I ask myself and the team: what do we start, stop, and keep doing? It’s easy to get busy and just repeat what worked before, but that’s not growth. Every project deserves a moment to retool, to keep what’s working and change what’s not. That’s exactly what this value means to me; being open, reflective, and willing to evolve, together.”