ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY
Senior strategic advisor, regional and rural economic development
More than twenty years strengthening regional economies, building innovation ecosystems, and translating economic development strategy into programs, partnerships and investment.
Rural is not a smaller version of urban
Strategies designed for large urban centres cannot simply be transferred to rural settings. Smaller communities need approaches grounded in local capacity, industry strengths, workforce realities and regional relationships.
I help communities identify their distinctive assets, understand their position within the wider economy, and determine where targeted investment builds resilience. The objective is not a strategy document. It is a set of programs, partnerships and funding pathways a community can actually carry.
What I bring to a mandate
Regional and inclusive perspective. Strengthening the regional and inclusive dimensions of an economic development strategy so it reflects the communities it is meant to serve.
Program and initiative design. Designing the programs, governance and delivery structures required to move a strategy from intent into implementation.
Partnership alignment. Aligning municipal, provincial, federal, post-secondary, industry and community partners around shared economic priorities.
Funding pathways. Identifying and structuring non-dilutive and government funding opportunities, and building the case that supports them.
Entrepreneurship and commercialization. Incubation, technology adoption, intellectual property access, creative industries and support systems for founders.
Gap and opportunity analysis. Identifying what is missing, what is emerging, and where targeted effort produces disproportionate return.
Track record
Independently evaluated
In 2022, Alberta Innovates commissioned an independent ten-year impact study of the Regional Innovation Network of Southern Alberta, the network I helped establish alongside Tecconnect. The study was conducted by Dr. Jonathan Grant and covered the period from 2011 to 2021. I initiated the study and served on its advisory committee.
The evaluation found that RINSA's program expenditures and commercialization support contributed 204.86 million dollars to southern Alberta's GDP over the decade, returning 3.09 dollars in regional GDP for every dollar invested, and supporting 1,480 full-time equivalent jobs.
The study also examined what made the network work. It identified relationship and trust building as central, found that giving entrepreneurs time and space rather than over managing the ecosystem was critical, and documented the network's engagement with Indigenous and under-represented communities as a standout success requiring sustained time, effort and respect.
An Emerging Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Impact Ripple Effects: A retrospective realist impact case study of the Regional Innovation Network of Southern Alberta (RINSA), 2011 to 2021. Prepared by Dr. Jonathan Grant for Alberta Innovates, July 2022.
The wider record
Hundreds
technology and STEM entrepreneurs supported
1,800+
women engaged through entrepreneurship and technology programs
Hundreds
ecosystem partners connected across sectors
Millions
in provincial and federal investment attracted
As Vice President of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Economic Development Lethbridge, I led Tecconnect, Southern Alberta's technology incubator, and helped establish the Regional Innovation Network of Southern Alberta. I built and led first-of-their-kind programs including Women Entrepreneurs in STEM, Rural Women Entrepreneurs in Technology, and ElevateIP Alberta, working across municipal, provincial, federal, post-secondary, industry and community systems.
How I work
I work with consulting teams and lead firms, not directly with communities.
Senior advisory support on economic development, innovation and ecosystem mandates. I contribute regional and inclusive perspective, program and partnership design, and funding pathway insight alongside the team's existing expertise. The team holds the client relationship and the deliverable. I strengthen the thinking behind it.
This is a deliberate boundary. It keeps my involvement focused on where two decades of regional experience adds the most, and it means I am not competing with the firms I work alongside.
Recognition
- EDAC Community Award of Excellence, Regional Collaboration and Partnership, Rural Women Entrepreneurs in Technology
- EDAC Cup Marketing Canada Award, social media and app category
- YWCA Woman of Distinction, Entrepreneur and Innovation, 2018
- Canada's Most Powerful Women Top 100, 2020 nominee
Discuss a mandate
If you are assembling a team, shaping a strategy, or working through where to focus limited resources, I am glad to have the conversation.