Gerry Bechard puts the lessons he's learned as a foster parent into action to mentor, lead and support others at work and in his community.
At Henkel, our pioneers are driven by an unwavering spirit to explore, create, and transform possibilities into progress and improve life for generations to come. Learn their stories.
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESS Newswire / July 2, 2026 / In this story, you will discover:
From Foster Care to Finding His Path: Life experiences shaped how Gerry connects with others and laid the foundation for his journey at Henkel
Turning Care into Action: Gerry mobilizes colleagues to support the needs of foster youth
Guiding the Next Generation: Gerry draws on his life lessons to mentor eraly-in--career engineers
Introducing Gerry Bechard
With more than 30 years at Henkel as a Lead Applications Engineering Specialist for Henkel Adhesive Technologies, Gerry is a technical leader by trade and mentor to junior engineers. He has also helped shape the lives of hundreds of children as a long-time foster parent, an experience that continues to define how he builds relationships and shows up for others each day.
Gerry shares what inspires him to be a pioneer for good
From Foster Care to Finding His Path
Gerry's story begins at home in Ontario, Canada. For 36 years, he and his wife have served as foster parents, providing stability, support and opportunity to children in need. Having spent the first six months of his own life in foster care before being adopted, Gerry is motivated by a desire to give others the same chance for a stable family life. Over time, that motivation deepened as he saw the positive impact the children he fostered went on to have on others.
Throughout their fostering experience, Gerry and his wife adopted four children and fostered more than 350 children - some for a day, some for years.
From his home life to work life, Gerry learned invaluable lessons about working with people, solving problems and being open to different perspectives.
After working in a variety of roles early in his career, Gerry joined Henkel looking for an opportunity to apply his true interest, science, in a more hands-on way. He decided to continue his professional growth by returning to school to earn his bachelor's degree while working. This experience helped him build new skills he relies on today.
The culture at Henkel feels like a family. From education reimbursement to having team members who cheer you on, you're supported no matter what. If I had challenges that I went through, there's always been a team of Henkel colleagues I could lean on.
Gerry Bechard, Lead Applications Engineering Specialist for Henkel Adhesive Technologies
That support is something Gerry has experienced throughout his life and something he has worked to create for others.
Turning Care into Action
As a passionate advocate for foster care, Gerry always looks for ways to rally his colleagues to support children in need, especially those often overlooked. During Henkel's holiday donation program, he noticed most donations were geared toward younger children, not teenagers.
Determined to close this gap, Gerry began organizing pancake breakfasts at Henkel to raise money for the Peel Children's Aid Foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves youth and families in the region of Peel, Canada. In the company lunchroom, Gerry whipped up the pancake batter himself, while colleagues served hundreds of meals to raise funds.
Henkel's Community Impact Day was another opportunity where Gerry saw a chance to support children in need. He brought together his colleagues to once again support the Peel Children's Aid Foundation for a day of sorting and organizing donated items for children in foster care. Gerry has also received funding through Henkel's Make an Impact on Tomorrow (MIT) initiative to further support the foundation's work and coordinate product donations of everyday essentials.
In addition to supporting families, Gerry contributes to environmental efforts through Henkel Canada's Earth Squad, an employee group that engages in local community projects, like local park clean-ups, as part of Henkel's broader sustainability efforts.
Together, these efforts reflect Gerry's focus on supporting others in meaningful and practical ways, an approach that carries into how he works with people every day.
Guiding the Next Generation
At Henkel, Gerry mentors early-career engineers, helping them translate what they've learned in school into real-world applications to collaborate on customer-facing problem solving. His life experiences shape his communication style: listening to understand and responding thoughtfully based on individual needs.
Communication and the ability to listen are very important. Everyone comes with their own biases and their own experiences. Being able to understand where people are coming from and translate that into how it fits within the business is key.
Gerry Bechard, Lead Applications Engineering Specialist for Henkel Adhesive Technologies
As Henkel celebrates its 150th anniversary, Gerry is helping the company become future ready by passing on his knowledge and ensuring the next generation is equipped to move the business -and their own careers- forward. By showing up with empathy - at work, at home, and in the community - Gerry proves that lasting impact starts with supporting others when and where they need it most.
Find more stories and multimedia from Henkel at 3blmedia.com.
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SOURCE: Henkel
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/industrial-and-manufacturing/meet-gerry-showing-up-for-others-every-step-of-the-way-1185938
