Located on the southern edge of BC’s beautiful Okanagan Valley is an extraordinary habitat popularly referred to as Canada’s pocket desert. This semi-arid, antelope-brush habitat is one of Canada’s most critically endangered ecosystems, and also supports one of the greatest concentrations of species-at-risk in Canada. In the early 1990s a group of concerned citizens eager to protect this invaluable natural heritage formed the Osoyoos Desert Society. In 1999 the Society opened the Osoyoos Desert Centre (ODC), a 67-acre nature interpretive facility showcasing “Canada’s desert” and featuring a 1.5 km elevated boardwalk, an interpretive building with several hands-on displays and a native plant demonstration garden. Today the Osoyoos Desert Centre is a major tourist attraction welcoming visitors from around the world. We offer guided and self-guided tours along our boardwalk trail and host several workshops and nature talks teaching participants about sustainable tourism, biodiversity, species at risk, climate change, invasive species management, and more. ODC also delivers immersive, place-based school fieldtrips that tie learning outcomes to the BC educational curriculum.

Meadowlark Nature Festival is a five-day, multi-disciplinary festival featuring over 70 guided tours that celebrate the unique and beautiful natural environments of the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys. Programs include indigenous cultural events, canoe trips, guided walks, film screenings, bird watching tours, back-country horseback riding, geological lectures, astronomy events, art exhibitions, photography, writing and painting workshops, children’s programming, conservation and environmental seminars and more, all designed to be interactive, entertaining and informative.

Freelance consultant providing non-profit management, event coordination, customer relationship management (CRM), strategic marketing, branding, media relations and writing services.

Researched, interviewed, edited, scripted and produced feature programs covering arts and culture in southern Alberta.

Created and implemented marketing and communications strategies; oversaw branding, copy, design and production of all marketing and communications materials including advertising, media releases, promotional materials, newsletter, electronic media and websiteManaged publicity and advertising strategies including securing media sponsors, media buys, copywriting and art direction, coordinating media conferences and obtaining media coverageWorked in conjunction with Development department to create and coordinate fundraising activities including corporate and individual donor campaigns, grant writing, fundraising events, sponsorships and membership programsDeveloped and monitored ticket pricing and packaging, direct mail sales campaign, group sales and school sales to achieve target revenuesCoordinated educational activities and other audience development initiatives

Created and implemented marketing and communications strategies; oversaw branding, copy, design and production of all collateral including print material, electronic media, quarterly newsletter and websiteManaged advertising strategies including securing sponsors, media buys, copywriting and art directionIdentified and established effective relationships with key media contacts including writing and distributing media releases, coordinating news conferences and securing media coverage Developed ticket pricing, packaging and group sales, developed and maintained database, and managed direct mail campaignCreated and implemented fundraising activities including corporate and individual donor campaigns, grant writing, fundraising events, sponsorships and membership programsCoordinated tourism marketing activities including creating tourism product, negotiating partnerships with tour operators and identifying and targeting key tourism marketsCoordinated educational activities and other outreach initiatives

Developed and implemented publicity campaign including media relations, public relations, promotional materials and advertisingManaged ticket sales and festival box officeCoordinated over 200 volunteers and respective committees

Responsible for directing editorial content, researching, writing and editing feature articles, writing and updating listings, magazine layout and production, printing and distribution