Who
We
Are

Our team is experienced, innovative and committed to results.

Ascentum’s team includes some of the leading minds in social media and public participation in Canada. From conferences to workshops, to national and international projects and initiatives, our team is asked to provide their experience, perspective and valuable lessons learned.

Our unique work environment combined with high-energy, results-oriented staff makes Ascentum a workplace of choice.

Meet our Team

Manon Abud
Partner

Manon is a Partner with Ascentum. She holds a degree in communications and an MBA from the University of Ottawa. In addition to her responsibilities as Human Resources and Service Delivery Lead, Manon is also an experienced public engagement specialist, a skilled and fluently bilingual facilitator, and a highly effective project manager.

Paul Dymel
Multi Media Artist

As a New Media designer Paul is responsible for all graphics and multimedia projects developed by Ascentum. Paul is an Algonquin College graduate with 11 years of graphic design experience ranging from high-tech sector projects through to entertainment industry assignments.

Pierre Lacroix
Bilingual Facilitator

Pierre is an associate with Ascentum. He has an extensive background in designing and facilitating learning events in leadership, strategic thinking, influence and collaboration, and public engagement. He has work extensively in the private, public and social sectors and in various cultural international settings around the world. He is a fluently bilingual (French and English) facilitator. He holds an MSOD from Pepperdine University.

Mary Pat MacKinnon
Director

As a Director at Ascentum, Mary Pat leads public and stakeholder engagement initiatives and is integral to strategic planning. She has extensive background in government affairs, public policy research and community engagement practice. She is a Senior Fellow with the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and holds an BA (Hons 1st Class) and an MPA from Queen’s University.

Faith Mansfield
Associate Consultant

Faith works as an Associate Consultant, with strengths in process design, synthesis, and facilitation. She holds an MAES (Applied Environmental Studies) from the University of Waterloo. Drawing on her background in international cooperation she seeks to ensure that seldom-heard voices are included in decision making.

Robert Mariani
Partner

Rob is one of the founding partners of Ascentum. He has an MBA from the University of Ottawa. He brings to Ascentum strong business acumen and a background in Quality Assurance and service delivery. In his role Rob is responsible for collaborating on the future direction for Ascentum along with delivering creative, innovative and tremendously successful public involvement projects.

Bryan Myles
Consultant

In his role as Consultant at Ascentum, Bryan’s project responsibilities include analysis and report writing. He has a strong background in research and reporting and has an MA in social anthropology from Carleton University.

Joseph Peters
Partner

Joseph is one of the founding partners of Ascentum and is one of the leading minds in how technology and public participation intersect. He helps organizations build sustainable decisions to complex issues through public participation. As President and CEO, his responsibilities include marketing, and new technologies. Joseph is an advisor to the Deliberative Democracy Consortium and is a founding Board member of the Canadian Community for Dialogue and Deliberation. He was a 2007 recipient of the Ottawa Top 40 Under 40 award, and holds an MBA from the University of Ottawa.

Nicole Pollack
Senior Consultant

Nicole is a Senior Consultant at Ascentum with experience in public participation, process design and policy research. Her background is in International Development and Gender Studies. She has a BA Honours from Queen’s University and a MA from Saint Mary’s University.

Colin Smillie
Social Media Director

Colin Smillie is a Social Media Director with Ascentum, specializing in using Social Media to facilitate public participation. He has a broad base of experience with technology and where it intersects with marketing and communications. Previously Colin worked at Refresh Partners, where he ran Social Media campaigns for some of the world’s leading brands, where he won several awards for his work on the Whopper Sacrifice campaign. He has also worked as a Brand Manager for the AutoTrader brand owned by the Yellow Pages Group.

Colin has written several articles on Using Facebook to Build Your Brand, and been quote in marketing publications related to Social Media. He is also the co-Founder of the Toronto FacebookCamp, the largest Facebook focused technology event outside of Facebook’s own F8 Conference. He has also presented at Facebook community events around the world including London, Montreal and New York City.

Salman Shakeel
Technical Consultant

As a Technical Consultant at Ascentum, Salman is responsible for site design and development. He is well versed in web-based programming, site security management and enhancing end-user experience. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Science from Carleton University.

David Sutton
Technical Consultant

As a Technical Consultant at Ascentum David is responsible for web application design and development. He is well versed in web based programming languages, site management, and user interface design.

Ellen Spencer
Technical Consultant

As a Technical Consultant at Ascentum, Ellen is responsible for site development, managing and editing site content and technical support. Ellen is well versed in web programming, site accessibility (including GOC CLF standards) and video editing. Ellen has her B.A. in film and video production and a diploma in web development.

Stephan Telka
Consultant

As a Consultant, Stephan’s responsibilities include research, qualitative and quantitative analysis, and report writing. Stephan has a background in research and writing in the fields of International Affairs, International Education and 20th-Century History. He holds a BA (Hons) from Queen’s University, and a MA from Carleton University.

Kevin Timms
IT Director

Kevin is the lead technical resource for online consultations, as well as an architect of the dialoguecircles platform. He has broad based experience with information systems, including content and document management solutions, interactive consultation-based web sites including Government of Canada implementations.

Ellis Westwood
Senior Consultant

As a Senior Consultant, Ellis specializes in research, tool design, analysis, and project management. Ellis has a background in public affairs, policy research and public participation. He has a BA (Hons) from Queen’s University and an MA in Public Policy and Administration from Carleton University.

Sandra Zagon
Senior Associate

Sandra is a senior associate at Ascentum. She is called upon to provide strategic advice on public participation initiatives and often facilitates large consultation events. She has been working in the field of dialogue and deliberation for over 30 years and has had an extensive career in the federal public service as a Senior Manager. She is a founding Co-Chair of the Canadian Community for Dialogue and Deliberation (C2D2).