Board and governance transformation

Assess where your organization stands in its governance journey, celebrate your strengths, uncover opportunity areas, and align your board on how to increase its governance effectiveness.

Evaluate current-state board effectiveness

Leverage honest and confidential board feedback to assess the effectiveness of your governance model, evaluate its ability to meet your organization’s goals, determine whether your policies and practices are fit for purpose, and measure the performance of individual directors and officers.

Uncover opportunities to improve governance

Receive practical, customized solutions that address your current board effectiveness, elevate your board’s abilities, position your governance model as a true partner to your organization, and reinspire your board team.

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Clients who have seen results

Strengthened confidence in BC Tree Fruits’ board of directors

"Our board of directors is dysfunctional and we don't know how to fix it."

-, BC Tree Fruits

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Expert opinion

"Is your board and management team doing the right things, or doing things right? Doing the right things means building an organization that excites customers, inspires employees and creates long-term value. Doing things right means you’re following a checklist of activities designed to ensure compliance. It’s not the playbook for an organization that drives constantly for gold-medal performance."

John Kay

Client solutions in strategy, governance, leadership, and finance

Our team

Meet your team of Client Solutions specialists.

Who we are

Alison Marshall

Principal

Alison Marshall

Client solutions in strategy and leadership / MBA

Alison Marshall has over twenty years of consulting experience supporting public-sector and nonprofit organizations in strategic planning, organizational design, and change management. With both an MBA and a BA in Psychology informing her approach, Alison is uniquely skilled at helping institutions identify opportunities, navigate challenges, and optimize strategies to support their mission. She has worked at Realize Solutions for nineteen years and is an expert in facilitating in-person and virtual sessions with Boards, leadership teams, and management groups. Alison’s people-centred method to strategy and development ensures that the most valuable resources of an organization, its employees, are considered throughout the process.

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Projects involved in

Thought leadership

Harvard Business Review Says Corporate Leaders Should “Stop Softening Tough Feedback.” But What About Non-Profits?

Brad Boyce

Director

Brad Boyce

Client solutions in finance and accounting

With more than twenty years of experience in finance and procurement behind him, Brad’s expertise lies in his holistic understanding of the financial ecosystem of community-based organizations. He is able to interpret financials while maintaining a focus on the larger goals, values, and purpose of an institution. Brad has a keen eye for efficiencies, making him an expert in building sound organizational foundations and finding creative solutions to financial issues.

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Thought leadership

Being Financially Prepared for the “New Normal”: Back to the Basics

John Kay

CEO

John Kay

Client solutions in strategy, governance, leadership, and finance / CPA, CMA, MBA

Over the last twenty years, John Kay has held senior and executive positions in both the private and public sectors, and supported projects spanning social services, real estate, insurance, finance, food and beverage, education, arts, tourism, and more. As a Principal Consultant at Realize Solutions, John assists executive clients in driving sustainable, transformative organizational change through strategy, governance, culture, and business model innovation. As CEO of Realize Solutions, he supports and empowers his team in unlocking their potential and creativity to strengthen and support their clients. John serves as chair on several nonprofit and co-op boards across the country, and seeks inspiration in people-centred businesses locally and abroad.

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Projects involved in

Thought leadership

Laurie Wilson

Advisor

Laurie Wilson

Client solutions in culture and risk management / MA Risk

A social scientist, Laurie Wilson takes a people-centric lens and uses organizational psychology to design resilient and adaptive organizational frameworks. Applying her expertise in risk and resilience, Laurie partners with organizations to assess and manage risk, develop people systems and behaviours that foster long-term growth and resilience, and cultivate powerful employee experiences. As a consultant with Realize Solutions, Laurie helps clients to enhance their organizational capabilities and adaptive capacity; identify strategically-aligned leadership candidates; augment their knowledge management; and optimize their organizational structure.

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Projects involved in

Lisa Zentner

Director

Lisa Zentner

Client solutions in business development and marketing

Lisa is a bilingual professional with multinational experience in business development, brand building, strategic marketing, and digital communications. She has worked with nonprofits and corporations across multiple industries and sectors including international development, ethical trade, environment, SaaS, aerospace, and consumer products. Her varied background gives her a unique vantage point to build impactful strategies into customer-focused campaigns that support business opportunities and drive action. Lisa is exceptionally skilled in global stakeholder engagement, cross-functional management, and new business creation.

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Projects involved in

Maintained market share and stakeholder relevance for Recycle BC

Mark Roseland

Senior Associate

Mark Roseland

Client solutions in sustainability, climate, and development / Ph.D., MCIP, RPP

Dr. Mark Roseland is a groundbreaking sustainability leader innovating solutions for communities, governments, and organizations. As a professor of planning and development at Arizona State University and Simon Fraser University, he has advised a range of organizations including governments, state/provincial and federal agencies, foundations, developers and media organizations. He has produced sustainability plans, performance assessments, policy documents, communications strategies, and tools for monitoring, decision-support and implementation. In addition to his field-defining research, teaching and publications, Dr. Roseland helps produce practical innovations in areas such as mobility, food, housing, energy, climate, planning and economic development.

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Michael Cook

Senior Advisor

Michael Cook

Client solutions in technology and product innovation

Michael has decades of experience leading digital innovation, strategic growth, and people-centred change management at all scales from international enterprises to small startups. Along with holding senior and executive positions, Michael has supported projects across a variety of industries including technology, digital media, and online marketplaces and platforms. At Realize, Michael partners with clients to create transformative success through governance, strategy, and operational excellence, employing a blend of collaborative innovation, insightful data analysis, and agile leadership to navigate and thrive in dynamic market conditions.

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Projects involved in

Maintained market share and stakeholder relevance for Recycle BC

Samantha Lee

Manager

Samantha Lee

Client solutions in communications and content

Samantha is an experienced marketing professional who supports organizations in finding, clarifying, and boosting their voices and brands. Her expertise allows her to quickly distill and capture the essence of your organization by identifying core values which resonate with stakeholders, and helping to align internal and external brand identities. As she crafts content for Realize Solutions and our clients, Samantha maintains focus on creating a consistent user experience so that the final product is clear, articulate and aligned with the larger vision. She has worked on projects across North America spanning a variety of private and public sector organizations including healthcare, government, technology, advocacy, and consumer goods.

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Thought leadership

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