Since 2006 when she established CMR Consulting Inc., Carolyn has continued to demonstrate strong strategic, analytical and professional competency. She is a team leader who is energized by collaboration, a creative and innovative problem solver, and is dedicated to providing clients with value through tangible results. Carolyn has successfully counselled clients across various sectors in the areas of strategic planning, corporate governance, communications, issues management, stakeholder engagement, and Indigenous community planning, consultation and inclusion.
Drawing on more than 35 years of national and international experience in extractive industries including oil, gas and mining, her client base continues to grow to include a broad range of industries, governments, private sector and not-for-profit organizations. Carolyn is passionate about everything she does and is motivated and driven in all areas of her life.
When she is not working, Carolyn is “living her best life” through volunteering, spending time with family, having fun in the outdoors, and enjoying good food and wine.
Carolyn holds a Public Relations and Communications Management Graduate Certificate from Royal Roads University, Geology Certificate from SAIT and has extensive training in Stakeholder Engagement, Crisis Communication, Corporate Social Responsibility, Media, Leadership and Facilitation. She is an active member of the Canadian Public Relations Society, International Association for Public Participation, and Circle For Aboriginal Relations. Carolyn also serves on the Board of Sio Silica.
Sarah is a sustainability and community development specialist with almost 20 years of experience in research and project design, socioeconomic assessment and reporting, and community consultation and engagement in more than 15 developed and developing countries. She is driven by her passion to collaborate with organizations, local leaders, and their communities to build meaningful and lasting partnerships that allow a deeper understanding to address their needs and build strategies that foster mutually beneficial impacts, capacity building, and sustainable growth. Sarah has experience working with vulnerable, at-risk, and culturally diverse groups, Indigenous and rural communities, the private sector, governments, NGOs, academia, and international financial institutions in multi-stakeholder projects, some carried out in multiple countries. She has expertise in delivering innovative solutions at the local, regional, and national level that foster strong relationships and encompass a participative approach that strive for sustainable and healthy communities.
Sarah received her Ph.D. in Geography at the University of Calgary in 2014. She joined the University of Calgary's Sustainability Studies program as a Postdoctoral Research Scholar in 2016 and became the first Assistant Professor in the program until she joined CMR full-time in 2021. When not working, Sarah loves exploring the world and all its communities, cooking, time with family and friends (including her tiny puppy Violet), Super Jocks, and NFL Sundays. She was previously the Chair, and currently a Board Director, of The Fig Tree Foundation, a Calgary-based non-profit dedicated to building capacity for communities around the world to catalyze sustainable development and strong resilient communities.
Deborah brings extensive experience in corporate communications, public affairs, strategic planning, content creation, media relations, issues management and crisis communications.
Her career started in broadcast news and is grounded in agency settings, where she developed and delivered effective communications and marketing strategies for a range of public and private sector clients. She has worked across a broad range of sectors and industries including financial services, education, government, tourism and retail.
Recognized for building collaborative relationships and providing exceptional client service, Deborah thrives on working with individuals and organizations to produce compelling internal and external strategies, initiatives, events and content that support the achievement of business outcomes.
Deborah holds a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Radio and Television from Ryerson University and has augmented her experience with training in communications best practices, issues management, crisis communications, public participation and Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP). She is a member of the International Association of Business Communicators.
Away from the office, Deborah enjoys getting out for long walks with her husband and two rescue dogs, connecting with family and friends over a glass of Pinot Grigio, reading, and watching NHL hockey and tennis (especially Wimbledon and the U.S. Open).
Born and raised on Treaty 7 territory in Calgary, Tori brings a wealth of sustainability reporting and engagement expertise to CMR Consulting after spending years working in the public sector. An alumnus of the University of Calgary, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science, majoring in Biology and is currently finishing a Master of Arts in Environmental Education and Communication from Royal Roads University.
The culmination of her work and educational background lends Tori skills and experience, allowing her to benefit and meet client needs in the areas of sustainability and the environment, stakeholder engagement, facilitation, strategy development and communications. She is passionate about finding ways for people to connect and work together meaningfully and with respect.
When Tori isn’t working, she is very active and loves to spend time biking, running, hiking, skiing, reading an entire book much too quickly, or watching any of the Marvel movies repeatably.
As Executive Assistant and Office Manager at CMR, Melanie keeps all the balls in the air and ensures the smooth operation of the firm. She is responsive to client needs and is a proactive problem solver. She brings extensive knowledge of office management, administrative and invoice management skills, and enjoys supporting her CMR colleagues with client relations.
Melanie joined CMR Consulting with over 20 years of experience in professional office executive assistant positions for a range of industries and sectors, including education, grocery, and food services. She is a strong performer who excels in high-volume, high-pressure environments.
In her spare time, Melanie enjoys spending time on her deck around the fireplace with her husband, three children and two dogs.
Adam brings over a decade of senior corporate level experience working with Indigenous businesses. He has a keen understanding of client/contractor relationships and managing annual budgets in excess of $150 M. A compelling communicator, skilled in building trust and establishing long term relationships. He is a respected and influential leader with a unique blend of professional and educational experience in extractive industries.
He brings an expertise to CMR that supports organizations as they steer operations and generate initiatives that drives performance, reduce costs, and streamline processes. Adam has a solid understanding of procurement and associated agreements, including how to build capacity to support mutual interests and gain for both clients and Indigenous communities.
When Adam isn't working he enjoys spending time in the mountains with his wife and their senior Jack Russell Terrier (Berger). Adam graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Human Kinetics from St Francis Xavier University and holds several diplomas/certificates from Keyano College where he studied Project Management, Contract Management and Supply Chain Management.
Brieanne Robin is a summer student going into her second year at Mount Royal University in Psychology and Woman's Studies. As a Project Coorindator she is supporting systems organization, research, and project development.
Brieanne brings a diverse background and experience to our team, with previous work in the corporate and hospitality sectors, and intends to learn more about working with Indigenous communities and other stakeholders in her work with CMR that can support her academic and professional pursuits in the future.
Amy has twenty-five years of senior corporate, utility and energy expertise working at the forefront of some of North America's leading utility and energy industry evolutions including energy efficiency and emissions reduction programs, smart metering and smart grid design and implementation, and most recently Indigenous business start-up services. She specializes in sustainability and technology-driven strategic initiatives and projects.
Prior to her current consulting roles, she led the start-up and operations of North America’s first ever market-wide commercial and industrial energy efficiency and methane emissions reduction programs for Energy Efficiency Alberta. She is a results-driven, facilitative, and structured advisor, having led diverse teams to achieve extraordinary results.
Amy has also given many years of her time serving on non-profit boards such as the Alberta Energy Efficiency Alliance and is currently an Independent Director on the board of ZS2 Technologies Inc, a sustainable construction technology corporation. She holds an MBA with a specialization in Sustainable Development from the University of Calgary and a BSc Honours in Earth Sciences from the University of Alberta.
Outside of work, Amy likes to camp and go on road trips with her husband and kids, run on some of the fantastic nearby trails, and spend time with family and friends on the West Coast.
Alex Wilkinson brings years of experience as a consultant and researcher working on projects related to environmental liability management and remediation, technical feasibility and socio-economics of energy efficiency technologies, sustainable development, community resilience, climate change, and developing effective responses to social ecological change. Alex has expertise in project research, design and execution, collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative datasets, and report preparation. Alex has worked with the private sector, government, regulatory agencies, and academia.
While working in the private sector as an environmental consultant Alex developed expertise in assessing, monitoring and remediating environmental contamination. Alex’s work with industry required constant consideration of the triple bottom line: technical feasibility, economic viability, and socially acceptable solutions. These projects often involved multiple stakeholders including First Nations, private industry, government and regulatory agencies at provincial and federal levels.
Alex is a competent research analyst that informs and supports the understanding our complex social ecological systems to support effective decision making related to sustainable and resilient food, water, and energy systems, and develop responses to social ecological change.
Alex is currently pursuing a Ph.D. In Environmental Design at the University of Calgary, where he also holds a Research Analyst position in Sustainability Studies. He received his Master of Science in Sustainable Energy Development and his Bachelor of Science in Applied and Environmental Geology from the University of Calgary.
When Alex is not busy working, he enjoys spending time with his wife and new son, running, and watching Premier League soccer.
Since shifting to contracting in 2015, Spencer has established his reputation for providing an vast array of high quality technology-related products. His achievements include developing custom websites for dozens of companies, designing a wide variety of branding material and documents, constructing a mobile-accessible intranet for a large multi-site company, facilitating successful email marketing campaigns, producing videos for both education and promotional purposes and providing technical support for established businesses.
Spencer maintains a strong focus on collaborating with clients on each project to produce results that best fit the purpose, flow of information and project deadlines. He is constantly learning about new innovative products and software to ensure our clients are provided with the best support available and opportunities for adapting new technology.
Barry’s diverse projects range from developing the Indigenous Awareness E-learning platform for Conoco Philips to Travel Alberta's Online Travel Agent Portal to E-zone Networks, North America’s first large-scale interactive television systems. Barry has worked Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, BBDO, Ogilvy & Mather, and Walt Disney Studios, where he produced films, commercials, documentaries, photo shoots, and interactive projects. He has received several awards for his talents, and accolades over the years and works with non-profits, finding ways on utilizing social enterprise to help sustain various organizations.
He is engaged in developing Indigenous Digital Sovereignty Platforms (IDSP) with a goal to provide new solution for internet and STEM learning in remote First Nation Communities, with a goal in growing the opportunities for Indigenous youth and knowledge-based technologies. Through the Elders Legacy Project, Barry’s goal achieved show youth how to use their cellphones to document and preserve the teaching and knowledge of Elders, by allowing the youth to collect and preserve the 7 generations knowledge.
Recently Barry produced a short film called “Coming Home” with the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona where he brought together an Indigenous youth Film Crew to direct and produce the short film. “Coming Home” team has received many awards and are proud of the story that was developed and told.
Barry was in pre-development of “Two Wolves” a film that is to be filmed on the Westbank First Nations, staring Gene Braverock, Common, and Tom Jackson. The Film Production was to train and hire local youth for various film career roles. Unfortunately, the project is currently on hold due to Covid-19 and expected to go back in production in April of 2022.
Barry believes what he does is about passion, and not about the work. He sees value in giving back and helping others grow. If we can help our fellow being just once, its is enough to create positive change for those around us and the world. He is always thinking and reflecting, guided by nature, and the passion to capture stories and moments, always embracing new experiences
The CMR creative team manages a number of high profile, complex projects concurrently, organizing and executing workflow from team planning sessions through to implementation in a variety of media, capitalizing on strengths and competencies of team members and internal and external stakeholders to deliver exceptional products.
Our team lead is a highly motivated versatile research, marketing, communications and design professional with more than 20 years of experience. She is a winner of the coveted International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Gold Quill Award, which recognizes innovation in design and communications and excellence on a global scale.
Our creative team also includes a web designer who has built websites for businesses both large and small, including a corporate intranet with over one thousand users. With a keen visual eye and skills in graphic design our web designer has guided many business owners through the process of transforming intangible ideas into polished websites.
The CMR Creative Team has designed and produced products such as:
In every project our creative team undertakes, they are dedicated and committed to the highest level of excellence