The most effective means of developing sustainable programs supporting healthy, vibrant communities involves an approach appealing to mission, vision and values rather than to logo placement and number of impressions. A deeply-held belief in this approach inspired the creation of Siena Consulting.

In order to be successful, social profit organizations, businesses, government, schools, community centres all need to be part of healthy, vibrant communities made up of engaged, caring citizens. In 2000, when Siena Consulting was established, we recognized that despite this shared requirement, it was often very difficult for the sectors to work together effectively. We addressed this by creating our own framework for mutually meaningful engagement between the sectors.

Collectively, Siena Consulting's work force represents significant experience in bringing together organizations, business and government to effectively address issues and opportunities for the benefit of our communities.

Leadership

Gayle Farrell
Gayle, a community engagement and investment specialist, is the President of Siena Consulting. She brings to her clients expertise in multi-stakeholder facilitation, strategic and operational planning, cross-sectoral partnership development and relationship management. With experience in the social profit, public and private sectors, Gayle uses Siena Consulting's mission-based model to create plans and programs that invest in community-focused priorities. She is highly regarded for her ability to bring divergent groups together to build consensus on sensitive issues and to work collaboratively.  

Gayle has worked with national organizations to structure and lead Canada-wide consultations to support the development of strategies, plans and campaigns that were successful nationally, provincially and locally. She has also facilitated consultations involving public, private and social profit sector representatives supporting the re-imagination of primary health care in BC and of social programs nationally. Gayle has a B.A. and M.A. in the social sciences from McGill University as well as a Graduate Certificate in Managerial Leadership from City University (WA).

Bohdan Zajcew

Bohdan, Managing Partner with Siena Consulting,  is a highly skilled facilitator, communicator, project manager and strategic planner with extensive experience in both the public and private sectors. His expertise is concentrated in the areas of communications, strategic management, social policy development and research, public education, and community and partnership development. Bohdan is proficient in all facets of strategic planning, environmental scanning, needs analysis, asset mapping, capacity building and leveraging resources. He has a B.A. in political science from University of Manitoba, an M.A. in Communications from Simon Fraser University and a Graduate Certificate in Non-Profit Management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Principal Associates

Siena Consulting’s Associates bring unique skills and talents to our clients. They are instrumental in supporting the implementation of the plans and programs we develop.

Kerry Elfstrom

Kerry is a strategic analyst, organizational designer, trainer and facilitator who has worked with a wide variety of organizations and inviduals in all sectors. With a background in learning and performance improvement he is Siena's lead on organizational development. Kerry has a B.Ed. and M.A. in Educational Media, Communications and Technology from University of British Columbia as well as a Master Trainer Certificate (Specialist Level, TELUS Communications). He is a senior performance technologist, training consultant and instructional technologist with over 40 years experience. He has helped organizations in education, business and industry in both the private and social profit sectors of B.C., Alberta and the USA build curricula and train instructors and developers in the principles of the design and management of competency based education programs. Kerry has developed expertise in instructor training which integrates principles of holistic, accelerated, whole brain and multi-sensory learning which he includes in any curricula he builds for customers. He also has extensive experience designing and developing competency based, modular, workplace learning interventions for face-to-face, eLearning and blended delivery. He built, obtained university accreditation and delivers The Master Training Program©, a multi-level professional training program that assists vocational & technical and subject matter experts obtain the skills and knowledge necessary to design competency based training programs and deliver them to adult learners in the workplace.

Kerry also has expertise in governance and organizational restructuring which he uses to help leaders understand the pivotal role they play in framing an organization around its core business, aligning programs, products and services with its mission and core values and clarifying strategic and competitive uniqueness. He helps organizations’ leadership teams and boards operate in a governance role with a clear sense of direction, well-articulated governance, administrative and program policies thereby releasing senior executives to implement programs with clear expectations and appropriate accountability measures. Kerry also helps restructure organizations for efficient operation.

Tamara Leigh

Tamara is an accomplished communicator, writer, and facilitator. A strategist, journalist, organizer, and enabler, Tamara has worked with government, business, social-profits, and media. She brings both broad organizational and deeply personal perspectives to the craft of storytelling. Tamara works collaboratively with our clients to make sense of the context and relationships they are working in, and distill effective strategies and messages to move the conversation forward.

Associates

Sarah Farina

Sarah Farina is a veteran of the social-profit and government worlds, building capacity within organizations, developing strategic and operational plans and budgets, and using evaluation as a learning tool for organizations to improve their planning and implementation. She has worked with agencies, organizations and networks to design and conduct consultation processes, develop indicators and evaluation frameworks, carry out participatory research, develop plans and budgets, and create successful funding proposals.   Sarah uses creativity and open communication to build the relationships necessary to help clients move their aspirations effectively and energetically into reality.

Mike Dillon
Mike has been a leader in the field of corporate training and educational eLearning for over 30 years. He has extensive experience in learning development in both eLearning and instructor led and has taught and developed processes for both. He was a General Partner in Performance Solutions International that designed and produced learning products for corporations and social profit organizations in Canada and the USA. His current focus is primarily on the production side of eLearning products.

Susan Jackson
Susan has an extensive background in social profit management and consulting, with over 15 years of professional experience and strong strategic planning, marketing and fund development expertise. Susan assists our social profit clients with their organizational development and planning needs. This includes research, project management, fund development, communications plans, corporate partnership strategies and search/recruitment services.

Heather Osborne
Heather has over 20 years experience as a performance consultant, trainer, curriculum and instructional designer, facilitator and manager. Her current focus is on providing instructional design, facilitation skills training and facilitator coaching. Heather has designed and developed a wide variety of training courses and materials relevant to suit the needs of several clients in the private sector. Her strengths include her interpersonal skills and her ability to communicate effectively across all levels in an organization which she demonstrates with skilled leadership in all projects she undertakes. Heather has a Certificate in Adult and Continuing Education from the University of Victoria, CTT+ Certification from the Computing Technology Association (IL, US) and Instructor, Developer & Specialist Certificates in the Master Trainer Program (TELUS Communications Inc.).

Christopher Pollon
Christopher is a veteran freelance journalist with 10 years experience researching and writing stories about the environment.  Not only is Christopher an expert researcher with a passion for crafting compelling narratives, he understands sustainability and can clearly articulate what it means on the written page.  When he’s not writing newspaper or magazine stories, Christopher works with social profit and business clients as an editorial consultant, providing writing, editing and research services.