The core of the New Economy Development Group is its Management Team which acts as the hub of its networking activity. It brings together the diversity of Canadian and overseas experience which informs the work of New Economy’s teams. Its team managers are bound together in a shared commitment to explore new approaches based upon both practical on-the-ground expertise, in-government experience, as well as not-for profit, business and voluntary sector perspectives.
Its nexus is a set of shared values which stress the importance of community-driven initiatives and the meaningful participation of all stakeholders in searching out solutions to both community and government issues.
The Management Team members are actively involved in the implementation of projects, the liaison with clients and communities, as well as in assuring high quality team work and value-added, accessible reports and documentation. The New Economy Development Group places emphasis upon team work, collegial approaches and exploring new directions.
Dal Brodhead, Principal and Chief Executive Officer
Dal Brodhead is Principal and the Chief Executive Officer of the New Economy Development Group Inc. He is also a Principal and Senior Associate of E.T. Jackson and Associates Ltd. Mr. Brodhead has been involved in international and national development since 1978. He has held senior posts in various federal departments, and he directed a national research project on regional development for the Economic Council of Canada. Internationally, he served as a project manager for CIDA’s largest micro-credit project worldwide, as well as leading evaluation and monitoring missions in a number of countries. He is able to work in both English and French.
Mr. Brodhead presently manages a portfolio of consulting projects in Canada in the fields of community economic and rural development, citizen engagement, and participatory evaluation. In addition, he is a frequent facilitator specializing in organizational capacity building, community-driven initiatives and Board development. He has written, lectured, and provided technical assistance in the community economic development field. He also has extensive experience working with Aboriginal, rural and northern communities in Canada. He is an advisor and mentor to the Vibrant Communities Initiative of the Tamarack Institute and he was a technical assistance provider for the Community Economic Development Technical Assistance Program based at Carleton University.
Mr. Brodhead has developed expertise in the following areas:
- Strategic planning, facilitation and public policy development;
- Organizational and Board development and revitalization;
- Program review/assessment and project evaluation;
- Community-driven development and capacity-building;
- Social economy, community economic development & micro-credit; and
- Project design, management and research.
Ricardo Ramirez
Dr. Ricardo Ramírez is a researcher and consultant, based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. He brings to New Economy his experience in the fields of evaluation and communication for development in rural and remote settings. He has collaborated with Dal Brodhead over the years in evaluation assignments and communication strategy development, and is co-principal investigator in DECI. He and an associate of his, Galin Kora, recently completed a Utilization-Focused Developmental Evaluation (UFDE)in the Netherlands and he has also recently co-authored a Primer on UFE with Dal Brodhead with the support of the IDRC.
John Reid
John Reid has 25 years of national and international experience addressing the environmental and community development concerns of Aboriginal, rural and urban communities, and public and private sector clients. An experienced former professional engineer, now retired, Mr. Reid has developed an interdisciplinary approach to community development with an understanding of socio-economic issues and their links with the technical/biophysical components of projects and programs.
Working first with Non-governmental Organizations on participatory-based water and transportation projects in West Africa in the 1980s, Mr. Reid was subsequently involved in major urban infrastructure projects in Africa and Asia in the 1990s. These projects included, for example, environmental management planning for Ha Long Bay in Vietnam (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and water, wastewater and energy infrastructure planning for urban, peri-urban and rural areas in several countries in Africa for the World Bank.
Since the mid-1990s Mr. Reid has worked extensively with First Nation communities in Canada on a range of environmental and infrastructure issues including, for example: environmental assessments for the Wataynikaneyap Power Transmission project that will extend the provincial electrical grid into 15 remote Aboriginal communities in Northwestern Ontario; evaluating the potential environmental impacts of proposed projects on First Nations reserve lands and traditional territories; the development of contaminated site remediation guidelines for First Nation lands; the impacts of climate change on the traditional livelihoods of First Nation communities and the identification of adaptation options; and, the development of community and regional infrastructure projects.
Mr. Reid has also had significant evidence-based evaluation experience on summative, formative and special impact assessments through his work with national, international, First Nation, municipal and community-based organizations. These assessments include: the analysis of models for rural development and community capacity building for the Federal Rural and Co-operative Secretariats; the development of performance measurement models for Environment Canada to evaluate the contribution to improvements in the environment that enforcement activities are making; and, the Impact Evaluation of the Contribution to Indian Bands for Land and Estate Management for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.
Wendy Quarry
Wendy Quarry, based in Canada, is an independent consultant. She is a specialist in social (development) communication, monitoring and evaluation and institutional capacity building. Her MSc. degree is in Rural Extension Studies from Guelph University and in addition she has received specialized training in Gender, PRA and research communication.
Ms. Quarry has field experience in both Canada and overseas and has worked for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) where she was posted in Ghana and in Pakistan; the World Bank (India), FAO UNICEF, the Swiss Development Corporation (SDC) and various NGOs including IUCN and NOVIB. Her development experience includes serving as Chief Technical Advisor on a Kabul based sustainable livelihood (2004 – 2006) and co-management of an operational review of Tibet’s Basic Needs Project.
Ms. Quarry also served as field team leader for a longitudinal study of a large irrigation and drainage project in Pakistan. In the area of institutional strengthening and policy development she assisted the Government of Pakistan develop its National Conservation Strategy and the Government of Mozambique’s Rural Water Policy. Ms. Quarry and Ricardo Ramirez co-authored the book, Communication for Another Development, Listening before Telling (Zed Book, 2009) that has recently been published in India.
She is an adjunct professor in the school of Communication for Royal Roads University and is currently acting as mentor in research communication for various small organizations. She speaks English and Spanish.
Mary Brodhead
Mary Brodhead is an Ottawa-based leadership and learning specialist. She worked as the Executive Director of Learning at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (a science-based regulator) for over 10 years, helped create their Leadership Development programs and coached and mentored emerging leaders, usually with diverse backgrounds. She also worked with the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples doing research and developing recommendations as part of the Education team. She has developed aboriginal leaders within communities throughout Canada, including Saluit, and Ougoubougamou in Quebec and Alert Bay in BC. Her Doctorate is in Adult Education and Counselling, she is a Certified, Training and Development Practitioner (CTDP) and a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC). Mary was the Chair of the Board and remains a Director of the (National) Institute for Performance and Learning in Canada.
Mary Brodhead has almost 30 years’ experience in learning, career development, coaching / mentoring, management development, human resources management. She has proven ability to create and lead a diverse, results-oriented, high performing team, as well as an effective and creative use of partnerships and networks. She is adept at handling sensitive issues with diplomacy, discretion and tact and has superior interpersonal and communication skills, transcending cultural differences, as well as strong financial management skills. Her knowledge and experience in LMS, ROI, and evaluation of learning and expertise in change management is also an asset to the firm.
Mary has won several awards, such as the Michelle C. Comeau Human Resources Leadership Award in 2000; the PSC Excellence Award in 2001; the CFIA President’s National Award in 2005, and the most recent, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal in 2013.
Administration Team:
Jennifer De Bien, Financial Assistant
Jennifer De Bien is on our team to assist with day-to-day financial administration. Jennifer is a Carleton University graduate.
Sonja Vanek
Ms Vanek’s expertise is in word processing, desktop publishing, website management and graphics. She has over 35 years’ experience in the application of a wide range of software with various firms in the Ottawa area, and more than 20 with New Economy. She is responsible for the formatting and production of documents and reports, the maintenance of the company website, as well as administrative responsibilities on a part-time basis.