Northern Engagement

I do organizational development differently. I put community and people first and work with you to ensure that the project is cost-effective and appropriately scaled to your needs. I help you develop an organization that is focused on its unique mission and the value it brings to the community.

Board Development

I develop and deliver board governance workshops for boards that are ready to take their work to the next level. I help your board gain new insights into their roles and responsibilities; the higher meanings of accountability, transparency, fiduciary responsibility, and duty of care; the sheer joy of effective meetings; and the importance of organizational culture. I believe that governance is how we take care of the organization, the people in it, and the people it serves.

Staff Engagement

I work with staff teams to create the story of their organization and to build a culture of trust, ease, and enjoyment. Being engaged is being heard, seen, and respected. Your organization runs on the energy of dedicated staff. Staff open the doors, deliver on the organization’s mission, and create value for the community. An engaged staff takes this further.

Organizational Problem Solving

I use analytical business tools but make them useful and jargon free while I work with you to find out what is at the root of being stuck and to build solutions. Areas where organizations get stuck include constraining policies and procedures, outdated staff structures, role and responsibility ambiguity, poor communications, conflicting strategic priorities, and mission confusion. Whatever the problem, I have seen it before, and I am ready to tackle it with you. You don’t need to do this alone.

Community Connecting

I help you know your community differently and know how better to connect with them. I conduct research and analysis and host community conversations, forums, and surveys. Most importantly, working together we will listen to the community with curiosity and openness to understand what is important to them, what they want from your organization, and how they want to connect.

The community you work with and serve is why your organization does the work it does. Connect with your community in a way that makes a difference to them, to you, and to the organization.

Strategic Check-ins and Planning

I work with you to blow the dust off your strategic plan so that you have a plan in hand that is concise, jargon free, measurable, and focused on what you do and the difference your organization makes in the world. Together we will explore your organization’s capacity and possibilities, I facilitate big (generative) discussions with board, staff, and community members to gather the information you need for knowing the why, how, and where your organization is going.

Strategic planning doesn’t have to be onerous and strategic plans don’t have to be boring. But the planning does need to be thorough and transparent, and the plan must be useable. Don’t worry, working together we’ve got this.

Babs Kelly

I approach work through a community engagement and relationship-based lens as I believe that connecting and belonging is what we are all about.

I am of mixed heritage living and working in the traditional and unceded territory of the Lheidli T'enneh (Prince George, B.C.). My life includes two kindhearted, wickedly smart, and good-humoured adult sons, a beautiful and loving husband, and a variety of cats and dogs that help ensure that a clean and tidy home will never be a priority.

Whipping up things in the kitchen and feeding people brings me joy. I also garden and craft with great gusto but little skill.

Some of my other details include that I have been certified by the International Association of Facilitators, been trained at the master's level in creative problem solving and design thinking, and I have an MLIS and an MBA. The MLIS experience makes me a librarian and information specialist able to find, share, and make sense of information that is relevant to your organization and community. The MBA experience makes me a different kind of consultant because I know and challenge the barriers of business jargon, systems that support the status quo, and capacity depleting consultancy processes.

In addition to Northern Engagement projects, I hold a contract with the BC Library Trustees Association for their Learning and Development services, I am a member of the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation, a member of Culturally Committed, and a board member with the POUNDS Project.