Kirk Stinchcombe
Kirk’s mission is to sustain water systems and the communities that depend on them.
Finalist for:
Leader of the Year
What brought you to Victoria?
Kirk moved to Victoria in 1990 to go to UVic, which at that time had one of the only environmental studies programs in the country. He met my wife here shortly after. They moved away a few times over the years, but always found their way back. He can’t imagine a better place for his kids to grow up.
Where did you go to school and what did you take?
University of Victoria (BA in Environmental Studies); University of Waterloo (Master’s in Environmental Studies); Griffith University, Australia (Master’s in Business Administration).
What was the biggest obstacle to getting where you are now, and how did you overcome it?
Kirk spent the first part of his career in local and provincial government. He loves working in the public interest, but also wanted to see if he could succeed at self-employment. Leaving a secure government job to start a business was difficult, particularly as a middle-aged person with a family to think of. After few years, he discovered he could be reasonably successful as a consultant. He then had to decide whether to push himself further to try and become a true entrepreneur and build a scalable enterprise. Neither of these transitions came naturally to him.
He is very lucky to have an extremely supportive wife who encourages him to pursue his dreams. He also has a business partner who he deeply respects and trusts. They permit each other to take measured risks. Finally, he believes that what Waterworth does makes communities more sustainable. It is work worth doing.
What are you most proud of in your career?
In the early 2000s, Kirk found himself working in the water industry in Australia. At roughly the time he arrived, it pretty much stopped raining as the worst drought in recorded history unfolded. Through a combination of coincidence, luck and hard work, Kirk ended up delivering several multi-million-dollar emergency drought response projects on behalf of the State Government. This all took place at a relatively early point in his career. His efforts, combined with the heroics of many other people, helped avoid a water security crisis for a region of 3.5 million people.
Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did that person teach you?
Kirk’s wife Jodi is an amazing person. She was the first in her family to go to university. She went all the way to get her doctorate in urban planning. Along the way she got her black belt too. She has rocketed through the ranks of the provincial government civil service where she a senior leader responsible for transportation and housing policy for the Province.
Kirk and Jodi started out on very different career paths, but over time they converged, and both now work in urban infrastructure. They have deliberately never been employed by the same organization, but their shared passion and expertise mean that they can support each other professionally as well as personally. They are lucky to be able to help each other with career challenges and work issues while they make dinner or fold laundry.
She is much better than he is at the human size of the work equation – dealing with interpersonal challenges, staffing issues and the like. Kirk frequently seeks her advice on these kinds of problems, which are difficult for him but seemingly effortless for her.
He learns lessons every day from watching her work ethic, her ability to network and build productive relationships and her relentless efforts to make communities more liveable and sustainable.
What’s something most people don’t know about you?
Kirk once played a samurai warrior in a Japanese blockbuster movie.
For a Colleague or Client to answer: What do you admire most about this finalist?
“I started working with Kirk seven years ago and we began developing Waterworth shortly after that. I have come to deeply admire his dedication to environmental and community sustainability. His vision of making communities more liveable and less impactful on ecosystems around them underpins all his professional choices and the direction that we choose for the company. Business success is important to him, but financial performance is only one measure of our success. Kirk sees a direct line between the work we do and more financially and environmentally sustainable water systems.”
– JP Joly, COO, Waterworth