Our
Team
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 the Management 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.
Mary Pat MacKinnon
Partner
Mary Pat is a Partner at Ascentum and leads public and stakeholder engagement initiatives. With deep experience in citizen engagement practice, public policy and government affairs, she is an integral member of the management team. Former positions include: Director, Public Involvement Network, Canadian Policy Research Network; Director, Government Affairs and Public Policy, Canadian Co-operative Association/Credit Union Central of Canada; Social Policy Consultant, Social Planning Council of Ottawa. She is an active volunteer, serving several national and local initiatives. She is a Senior Fellow with the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and has an MPA from Queens University.
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.
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. 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.
Colin Smillie
Director, Social Media
Colin Smillie is the Director of social media at 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 Trader Corporation, formerly a Yellow Media company.
Ellis Westwood
Director, Project Innovation
Ellis is a practice leader at Ascentum and an experienced public engagement practitioner. He started his career with the Government of Canada before leaving to join an independent policy think tank, and from there to Ascentum. Since joining the team in 2006, Ellis has designed and delivered over 40 engagement initiatives, one of which, “Share Your Story, Shape Your Care” won the Innovation of the Year Award for 2009 from the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2). Ellis’s passion is innovative approaches, using online and social media techniques to engage participants. He has a BA (Hons) from Queen’s University and an MA in Public Policy and Administration from Carleton University.
Meet the Rest of Our Team
Holly Clark
Office Manager
As the Office Manager at Ascentum, Holly is responsible for the administrative side of the office. She handles corporate operations, from special event logistics and coordination, to supporting corporate marketing and communications initiatives. She is well versed in public sector media relations and the important role that communications play in enabling public engagement. Holly holds a Bachelor of Journalism with a concentration in communications from Carleton University.
Tristan Eclarin
Consultant
As a consultant, Tristan’s responsibilities include research, data analysis and report writing. His background is in public administration and policy, political studies and history. He has a BA (Honours) from Queen’s University and is in the final stages of completing his MPA from the University of Victoria.
Heather Fulsom
Project Coordinator
Heather is the Project Coordinator and Payroll and Benefits Administrator for Ascentum. She has extensive experience in providing a full range of project and budget coordination, administrative management and support in the telecommunications industry and in the field of public policy research. Heather is a member of the Project Management Institute, Ottawa Valley Outaouais Chapter.
Miriam Goldman
Software Developer/Web Publisher
At Ascentum, Miriam’s responsibilities include managing and editing site content, technical support, and site development. With several years experience in both public and private sector web development firms, Miriam has a wide depth of knowledge of web development technologies. Miriam has worked as a web developer and technical support analyst for several federal government departments, liaising with clients on an ongoing basis and working within specific, strict timeframes. She holds a diploma in Web Development from CDI College (now Everest College).
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.
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.
Nicole Pollack
Senior Consultant
As a Senior Consultant at Ascentum since March 2009, Nicole specializes in public and stakeholder engagement. She is a Project Manager responsible for process design, data collection, note-taking and small group facilitation. Nicole leads qualitative data analysis and report writing, and trains facilitators and note-takers. She holds a BA Honours from Queen’s University and a MA from Saint Mary’s University in International Development and Gender Studies, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Dialogue, Deliberation and Public Engagement
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.
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).
Careers
There are currently no openings at Ascentum, but stay posted for upcoming opportunities! To find out more about careers at Ascentum, drop us a line here.