As the Manager of Community Sustainability, I lead efforts in disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, sustainability, and emergency management across the Regional District of Central Kootenay. During times when the emergency operations centre is activated, I assume the role of Director. I am proud to manage a dedicated team integrating climate change risk into adaptive actions, and taking the same perspective across all phases of emergency management: mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery. Ultimately, in my work I seek to emphasize community resilience and human-centered approaches to emergency management (a work-in-progress).

Resilience and Economic Integration Division - As team member of the nimble policy integration and engagement team (PIE!), I provided innovative, high-quality analysis and advice on advancing several governmental mandate commitments. My team worked to modernize Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) and implement a low-cost residential flood insurance program for homeowners living at high-risk of flooding. My experience was utilized to design and facilitate multi-jurisdictional engagement processes.

I was a consultant in organizational design and strategy. My areas of specialization included strategy, structure, and technology. I helped organizations clarify their most desirable future, develop structures that support human potential, and uncover tech-rich tools that maximize organizational capacity.Blending learning and behavioral theories with web technologies fueled my interest in organizational design. I had more of a life path than a career, working part-time in a call center, as elementary school support staff, then as a web specialist, and later obtaining a Master’s degree in Human Systems Intervention. Together, these life opportunities led me to build my boutique-style consulting practice that specialized in solving complex problems through unique approaches and participative processes.My work was based on actions that supported effectiveness within people and entire client systems. My success stemmed from my deep belief that true transformation can only happen through the trusted engagement of those responsible for doing the actual work.Representative ClientsColumbia Basin Trust, Canadian Bar Association, J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, Community Capital Management, RSF Social Finance, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, BC Ministry of Health - Shared Care, The School of Extended Learning – Concordia University, The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation – Think Again Conference, Yasodhara Ashram Society, Office of International Research – McGill University, English-Speaking Community of the Eastern Townships – Townshippers Association, and City of Kingston.

By day, I studied to become an elementary school teacher, and by night, I delved deeply into web technologies. I didn’t stay long in the classroom and instead co-founded a web design studio at a time when no one knew what the web was. I led the company’s strategic and business development initiatives while managing a team of designers and coders.