MEET OUR TEAM
InnoVisions & Associates provides innovative processes that are designed specifically for your business or community. For each client, we hand pick the professional associates needed from our extensive network of experts. We then work collectively and collaboratively to bring about new processes and solutions.
InnoVisions works with a vast professional network and chooses associates that excel at his/her chosen field. The diversity and breadth of this network is one of InnoVisions most valuable resources; a resource we can share with you. The following is an abridged list of associates; we select our team based on your needs:
NATALIE GIBSON
PRINCIPAL & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EXPERT
Natalie Gibson, President of InnoVisions & Associates, is an award-winning, international economic development and marketing expert based in Alberta, Canada.
For over 20 years, Natalie has been encouraging community leaders with her dedication to positive change through her work in both the public and private sectors. Natalie is an excellent problem solver who can identify, discuss and determine the best path forward for a community of any size.
As a teacher and motivator, Natalie continues to deliver one of Canada’s best Community Economic Development Training Programs (CEDTP) through Economic Developers of Alberta, inspiring hundreds of community representatives, elected officials and industry leaders.
Natalie’s experience in economic development provided her an opportunity to join leaders from around the world to take part in ‘Disrupting for Good – Leadership Gathering’ on Necker Island, sponsored by Virgin Unit Group (via Richard Branson). The initiative is focused on ways to create more opportunities to better the world.
MARKETING & TOURISM STRATEGIST
CAROLYN GUICHON
Carolyn is an international tourism specialist and marketing expert, with a broad range of experience in business and particularly in wholesale and retail tourism, tourism attraction and development, product development, and communication strategy.
Carolyn is a principal at Strategic Solutions of Calgary, Canada. Her expertise includes, but is not limited to, operations management, market strategy, business development, market research, market planning, executive development and board governance.
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INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT EXPERT
CHRIS KING
Chris has more than 20 years of experience in Corporate Finance, Economic Development and Socio-Economics. Chris has worked on Community Engagement files for several large scale multi-billion dollar industrial and mining projects (including most of the socio-economic assessments of the mining projects in Nunavut) and has been CAO of a small Northern Alberta town and most recently the Economic Development Manager for the County of Grande Prairie, Alberta.
Chris was instrumental in working with the Tri-Municipal Industrial project to bring Nautical Energy to the Grande Prairie region.
Chris supports InnoVisions on a project-by-project basis as an expert advisor.
STRATEGY, MERCHANDISING & DESIGN EXPERT
DEIDRE HACKMAN
Deidre is an award-winning creative designer who brings a wealth of experience in branding and creative design, having worked on some of the best-known brands in the world – including Nike, Disney, Victoria’s Secret and Spyder/OLYMPIC ski team to name just a few.
Deidre is a creative branding expert who has over twenty-five years of design and creative direction within the Canadian, American, and European consumer marketplace
JOURNALIST
OLIVIA CONDON
Olivia is a communications expert with a keen journalistic eye. Most recently, Olivia was managing editor for the ‘Fort McMurray Today’ newspaper (2015 through to 2018). Olivia and her Today team won the National Newspaper Award for breaking news coverage of the Fort McMurray wildfires in 2016.
Currently, she is a freelancer and consultant who loves telling other’s stories in a colourful and intriguing way. Her writing and photography have appeared in magazines such as New Tribe, AirdrieLife, Opitemisiwak and the Calgary Herald.
Olivia continues working for Postmedia, freelancing for various community newspapers and helping transitions between management and staff.
RURAL DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST
LESLIE WARREN
Leslie has worked in the field of economic and business development as an economic development manager for Vulcan County and as a business advisor with Tecconnect (a technology business incubator). Leslie was instrumental in attracting a variety of new investment to Vulcan County including a wind farm.
Leslie’s expertise includes fundraising and grant writing, partnership development, board governance, communications, event planning, report writing, market research, tourism brand development and strategy.
PROFESSIONAL WRITER
STACEY CAREFOOT
Stacey is a professional writer, editor and historian whose most recent projects include a publication highlighting the history and inter-generational effects of the Indian Residential School system. All of her projects include conducting countless hours of interviews and compiling relevant information to meet the desired outcomes of each publication.
As a researcher, writer and editor, she has extensive experience in creating documents from the stages of inception thru to publication. Proficient in all aspects of the process from creating precise and relevant interview questions, conducting stimulating interviews and compiling the information into worthy documents she has completed numerous assignments in a multitude of mediums including magazine articles, books, academic papers and marketing/communications materials.
DISASTER & RESILIENCE CHAMP
LEANN HACKMAN-CARTY
Leann is the founder and principal of HackmanCarty & Associates(HC&A). HC&A believes resilient businesses are the heart of a resilient community. They equip leaders in the private, non-profit and public sector with a range of practical prevention, mitigation, preparation, response and recovery tools and strategies to foster and support accelerated business and economic resiliency.
Leann authored the “Master Your Disaster” response and recovery guides (www.masteryourdisaster.ca), and “Community Toolkit for Economic Recovery and Resiliency” ( http://www.edaalberta.ca/page-1861533). She also hosts the MYD Global YouTube Channel that talks “All Things Disaster”.
WRITER
MADELINE PEARCE
Madeline is an experienced freelance writer, editor, and communicator who has used her skill with words to benefit several non-profit organizations as well as InnoVisions and Associates. She has studied in the U.K., U.S. and Canada. Her well-honed research and analytical skills allow her to cut to the heart of problems and find creative solutions.
Madeline provides a range of communication-enhancing services, including ghost-writing, editing and technology-based communications support.
CARTOGRAPHER
KIM KOONS
Kim Koons is a geography wizard wearing a cartographer’s hat who owns Tarin Resource Services and has worked in the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) industry for the last 20 years.
With hundreds of clients across multiple industries - including government, oil and gas and retail- Kim provides everything from specialized maps to aerial imagery to geographic data reports on a daily basis.
MEDIATOR
MARK DONOVAN
Mark is a seasoned mediator, educator and facilitator. His vast experience and personal approach have enabled him to facilitate and mediate many challenging and difficult meetings and projects.
He has facilitated for the SAIT School of Business, Economic Developers Alberta, the Alberta Provincial Court, the Leduc-Nisku Economic Development Association (an Inter-provincial meeting of economic developers), and the Salvation Army, to name a few.
RISK, BUSINESS PROCESS AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT
DAN CAREFOOT
Dan is an experienced consultant who focuses on transforming business operations to ensure clients goals and objectives are achieved through an effective and efficient operating model that connects the entities vision with their goals and objectives and industry leading best practices. He is also experienced in implementing new ERP systems to enable these objectives.
He is an accomplished finance, governance and risk management professional with over twenty years of experience, including ten years in senior management roles. A decisive, intuitive leader with an executive presence, Dan establishes vision and appropriate strategies while aligning team members to deliver on that vision.
GRAPHIC & WEB DESIGNER
CELINA BARNAS
Celina is the owner of Mad Attic Design Studio, an Alberta boutique design studio that strives to marry the love of art and graphic design by finding a harmonious balance between functionality and aesthetics.
Celina is a creative innovator, branding specialist, digital & print design expert. She has been creating impactful visual brand solutions for private business, government projects, and international clients across various industry verticals for over 14 years. She makes ideas a reality and understands visual communication that delivers high impact creative solutions for agencies and innovative brands.