Tyler Pelke
"Altona" Wins World Documentary Award & Sets Record for Online Views at the 2023 Whistler Film Festival
This true crime documentary examines the far-reaching effects of a deadly attack that shattered a community and the survivor who needed to face his demons in order to overcome them.
The debut feature from the award-winning Affolter brothers, and award-winning Producer Craig Langdon, "Altona" combines stunning animation with never-before-told eyewitness accounts to ask the question, can you forgive what you'll never forget?
Click the view links below to view the "Altona" Trailer and the latest video podcast with True Vine discussing the Documentary, Forgiveness & Adversity.
About Tyler
Learn the story behind the power of living a life of Forgiveness, Mindfulness & Resilience.
The Early Days
In November of 1990, at the age of 14, Tyler’s friend Curtis was murdered while he was sexually assaulted, his throat slit, set on fire and left to die by the same attacker. After years of surgical procedures, including skin grafting, Tyler was the key witness in the trial which led to the conviction and life sentence of their attacker.
For years he dealt with survivors guilt and unforgiveness, but refused to believe that an event or circumstance could define him. Over the years, he learned to press on make the most of everyday and committed to helping others, believing there was a reason he was still here.
Featured on the Biography Channel’s acclaimed series - “I Survived”, as well as the latest full feature Documentary "Altona", Tyler tells the compelling story of visiting the man who tried to kill him in prison and finding peace and purpose in life through exploring mental wellness and a journey of forgiveness.
Over 30 years have passed since the attack on Curtis & Tyler, and after serving a life sentence, the high school boy who attacked them that night has since been released from prison.
Over all those years, Tyler has developed a genuine curiosity about understanding mental health & well-being, and continues to grow and explore how we can all live a life to the full everyday.
Professional Speaker
Based on his experience as a burn/post traumatic growth survivor, first responder and crisis leader, Tyler is a sought after speaker and facilitator having reached audiences as far as Central America.
His goal is simply to help others build resilience through inspiration & education relating to developing our mindfulness and resilience skills. Tyler has had his share of mental health struggles & speaks to audiences about practical steps we can all take to make the most everday, build resilience and face adversity.
Tyler is well versed in small and large group faciliation, as well as delivering keynote, or interactive sessions . His dynamic and interactive approach will inspire audiences to develop a healthy perspective and continue to push forward both personally and professionally.
Professional Experience
Professionally, despite sustaining 3rd degree burns to 25% of his body, Tyler went on to pursue a career as a Firefighter/Primary Care Paramedic and has continued to rise within the ranks of the Canadian fire service over the last 30 years, working today as a Deputy Chief.
Further to his career in Emergency Services, he is also a member of Canada Task Force II (one of 5 national disaster response teams within Canada), where he has had the opportunity to serve in Command and General Staff roles a at the 2011 Slave Lake Wildfires, 2013 Calgary Floods, 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfires, 2021 Yukon Floods, and 2023 Alberta & NWT Wildfires.
Tyler is also an innovation geek - He loves exploring concepts around design thinking, and people centric problem solving. Tyler led a large scale innovation movement within Emergency Services from 2016-2018, which included the development of a large scale innovation community of practice built from grass roots interest in Emergency Services. This provided him invaluable expereince in facilitating groups of diverse people.
He holds a Bachelors of Public Safety Administration and most recently completed his certificate in Diversity & Inclusion through eCornell University.
Topics
Tyler’s interactive style, his emergency services training and facilitation background make him adaptable to requests of all kinds. Whether it be a keynote, discussion panel or workshop, he is able to work with the client to suit their needs. The basis for all these sessions is grounded in priniciples of mental health & well-being principles for individuals or teams.
Tyler's expereince is related to being proactive in our approach to facing challenges and adversity in everyday life. Our Mind, Body & Spirit need to be in alignment to fully explore ourselves and undersand how to live life to the fullest, regardless of the circumstances.
The key topics Tyler speaks about:
Forgiveness
Building Resilience & Facing Adversity
Mindfullness & Self Care
Culture & Values - Building Teams Intentionally
Crisis Leadership
This session is built upon lessons learned & experiences working in Emergency Services and Emergency Management over the last 28 years on the frontlines everyday, or serving in command roles at some of the largest natural disasters in Canadian history:
Slave Lake Wildfire (2011), Calgary Floods (2013), Fort McMurray Wildfire (2016) & Yukon Floods (2021).
Drawing from these experiences, as well as other relevant examples to emphasize how today's teams and leaders at any level need a greater focus on no fail environments for team success.
More specifically, this session will explore some of the foundational building blocks of what true crisis leadership looks like including 4 key elements:
Building Culture
(what is it? cultural conversations & reinforcing the desired state)
Building Trust
(leading by example, empathy, speaking
truth & being transparent)
Essentials of Team Dynamics
(a clear north star, an inspirational leader,
balanced environments, valuing diversity & perspectives,
being a good teammate and healthy conflict)
Essentials of Communication
(establishing norms, shifting mindsets, using the right medium,
asking powerful questions and challenging assumptions)
Format: Keynote or workshop
Length: 2.5 hours to full day session in length depending on client request.Exploring Forgiveness
This session explores my journey of forgiveness that brought me face to face with the man who tried to kill me. It is built upon the premise that forgiveness should be considered a key part of our make up as emotionally intelligent people and leaders.
Forgiveness is a part of a persons ability to thrive in adversity and will ultimately be a determining factor in one’s ability to chose to live in their past or future.
The idea of developing our mindsets to foster our own self-care & compassion for forgiving ourselves and others helps to explore elements such as dealing with and or accepting change, restoration or reconciliation of relationships and the concept of severity in relation to one’s ability to forgive.
Format: Keynote or workshop
Length: 30mins to 2.5hours in length depending on client request.Podcasts
Catch the latest discussions with Tyler and today's thought leaders...
Click on the links below to listen!
The Second Act Podcast - Episode 69 (Tyler chats with Gord Kiteley on Trauma and Resilience)
Warriors Unmasked - Episode 29 (Tyler chats with Chuck Thuss & Clint Malarchuk on Forgiveness)
Who's Crime is it Anyway - Episode 43 ( Lisa and Chelle Discuss True Crime)
Blog
Thoughts, musings, and ruminations.
Leadership,InspirationalLeadership,InspirationalInspirationalContact or Book Tyler
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