Consultants

We are a federation of independents who work together when it makes sense. We add resources to projects based on the client’s needs, digging into our networks to bring the right resources to task without carrying heavy overhead costs for our clients.

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Jennifer Frees

Principal

Jenn has diverse executive leadership, marketing, business development, and strategic partnership experience in private, public and non-profit sectors. She has developed innovative, award-winning projects for top international brands, as well as leading the generation of over $180M for her non-profit clients globally.

Jenn has served on executive leadership teams at the Toronto Region Board of Trade and TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), leading units including Membership, Marketing, Analytics, Events, and Partnerships. She is an internationally sought-after business development speaker and has trained business leaders from over 20 countries. Jenn is passionate about working with organizations dedicated to the authentic pursuit of total equity, and is proud to support an array of related charitable causes.

Email: jennifer@secondorder.ca

LinkedIn

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Darren McLennan

Darren has more than 17 years experience in consulting including 8 years consulting to small and mid-size organizations across all business functions in services, technology, manufacturing, distribution, and retail. More recently, he worked with Deloitte Consulting, where he focused on customer strategy and customer service in public sector businesses and technology-media-telecom. He is currently focused on engagements in customer strategy, strategic planning, and the startup/tech innovation ecosystem.

In his spare time Darren reads voraciously and practices Muay Thai kickboxing and Brazilian jiu jitsu. But he does a bit less of both since his awesome son was born in the summer of 2016.

Email: darren@secondorder.ca

LinkedIn

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Chloë Wade

Chloë is a respected business development and client service leader, an architect of revenue strategy and partnerships that deliver tangible impact. She is known for her calm, collaborative and empathetic approach to coaching and engaging clients and teams. Chloë’s experience spans leadership roles at TIFF, Ottawa Sports & Entertainment Group, with FIFA and Luminato International Arts Festival early in her career. She has smoothly secured and managed tens of millions of dollars in sponsorship revenue, and is fluent in English, French and Spanish.

LinkedIn

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Laura Ryan

Laura is a highly skilled executive leader with a concentrated focus on strategic planning, operational effectiveness, and business development.  She has experience in private and non-profit sectors.  Laura is dedicated to fostering cohesive partnerships and producing highly effective organizations through transformational change. Laura’s work experience includes IBM, Oracle, and American Express. She most recently held the role of Chief of Staff and VP of Operations for the Toronto International Film Festival, leading Operations, Event Production, People and Culture as well as the Executive Office and Board Relations teams.  She is currently serving as COO of Sundance Institute and providing SME services for international not for profit organizations.

LinkedIn

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Meghan Warby

Meghan is a multi-hyphenate media and content leader. Her work has garnered multiple credits, awards and a reputation for generating engagement and impressions that make your investment worthwhile. With instincts you can trust, she’s known for being imaginative, resourceful, adaptable and an affable collaborator. Meghan has worked as a creative director, producer & writer with brands like Ford, WarChild, HSBC, Plan Canada, NXNE and SXSW. She’s coached government leaders through comprehensive social media strategy and written & produced content for major public health and budget campaigns.

LinkedIn

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Richard Lee

Richard retired as a Partner in Deloitte’s Consulting practice in Canada in 2014 after a career of 29 years.

While at Deloitte, Richard worked with his clients’ senior leadership teams to facilitate the development of their business, customer and product strategies and to plan the implementation transformational change.

After leaving Deloitte, Richard worked for Aequitas Innovations for two years on an online platform to facilitate the capital formation process for private companies. He is currently an Executive in Residence at the Ted Rogers School of Management where he coaches MBA students and an Advisor at the DMZ at Ryerson (a tech business incubator). In his spare time, Richard enjoys travel and he is an avid student of British history.

LinkedIn

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Jennifer O’Donnell

Jennifer is a highly skilled senior professional with a diverse range of experience managing complex projects and relationship management. Her passion lies in guiding her clients through strategic planning and delivering flawless event operations.

Jennifer’s 20+ year career spans leadership roles at Wunderman, Institute of Corporate Directors, and ExperiencePoint. As the founder and managing director of CURA Communications, Jennifer has created exceptional, highly curated audience engagements for her vast client base of leading international firms. She prides herself on finding creative solutions to help organizations achieve their goals and maximize their return on investment – all wrapped in a seamless experience with wow-factor.

LinkedIn

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Lisa Davison Design

LDD is an intimate design studio with a passion for outstanding brand development and design with a reputation for trusted client relationships. LDD’s clients have included Options for Homes, Ron White Shoes, Oxford Properties, NBA Canada, QuadReal, NewWall, Bolt Foundation and the Toronto Region Board of Trade. Their powerful work bridges the gap between strategy and design, establishing visually compelling connections and design solutions. The LDD team is  creative, responsive and fast – delivering top tier work with a down-to-earth approach rarely encountered in boutique brand and design firms.

Website: https://www.lddstudio.ca/

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Coveted Co.

Coveted Co. is a Toronto-based boutique PR & Marketing firm representing a range of luxury fashion, beauty, wellness, travel, lifestyle, retail, hospitality and culinary brands. They shape stories through earned media, social engagement, strategic partnerships and experiential marketing.

With an interdisciplinary approach to brand building, Coveted Co provides creative communications and coveted connections. Co-founders Jessica Tan and Jacqueline Darling have experience working with globally leading top brands including the PGA, the E! Network, Johnson & Johnson brands, Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee, Toronto International Film Festival, Google, Concord, NHLPA, Hockey Canada, Montreal Canadiens, Metro and Nordstrom.

Website: https://covetedco.ca/

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Jodie Bates

Jodie is a seasoned marketing communication strategist with 20+ years’ experience developing consumer-driven brand campaigns and marketing programs that deliver growth. Leveraging her expertise in brand-building, integrated communication planning and campaign development, she has worked across telco, non-profit, government, alcohol and gaming. Her experience working client-side has led to collaborations with Canada’s top media and creative agencies, developing award winning national campaigns. She has also built partnerships with high-profile organizations like MLSE, TIFF, Corus and Universal Music. Her passion is inspired by translating business challenges into engaged consumer brand experiences fueled by creative solutions.

LinkedIn

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Nancy Watt

Nancy delivers powerfully creative and memorable training sessions that harness humor and uses the currency of comedy as a learning modality. A Second City Conservatory graduate, she also holds a B.A. in Psychology/Sociology, Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology, an Applied Improv Practitioner, and is a graduate of Cornell’s Executive Program in Diversity & Inclusion. Nancy’s unique facilitation tactics build connection and community and have given her a reputable voice in the world of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She is rated in the top five Leadership Workshops at Microsoft’s INSPIRE global conference, Communication Specialist for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and an international speaker, facilitator and improviser.

Her speaking engagements and workshops have been delivered extensively throughout the technology sector as well as legal, engineering, healthcare, and corporate. She’s delivered to academic institutions including Harvard University, Princeton, MIT, Rutgers, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Caltech, University of Chicago, University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, and McMaster University.

Nancy’s clients include Law societies, medical societies, AAAS, NetApp, Insight, Microsoft’s New England Research & Development (NERD), American Society of Civil Engineers, Engineers Without Borders, Deep Foundation Institute, GeoProfessional Business Association, Women in Technology, Women in Cloud, Women in Science & Engineering, Society of Women Engineers, and many others.

Website: https://nancywattcomm.com/

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Skye Brain

Skye is a channel agnostic marketer who bridges disciplines and departments with thought-leadership, consultation, collaboration, and fun. She has worked with teams across North America, and stakeholders across the world, on campaigns and programs for iconic global brands, lifestyle products, government agencies, CPG, and retail. A creative thinker with business acumen, Skye balances possibility and pragmatism, sparking, shaping, and shepherding the strategies, ideas, content, and experiences that create behaviour change and drive growth. After leading the client service team at one of Canada’s largest independent marketing agencies she is now applying her skill and experience to further the ambitions of arts & culture, entertainment, and social impact organizations.

LinkedIn