Lizette has hand selected a highly skilled, seasoned team of engagement and communications professionals with expertise in an array of disciplines from strategic communications to community relations to stakeholder engagement. Lizette provides strong leadership and direction to the team on all communications initiatives undertaken to ensure clients achieve the successful outcomes they are seeking.
Lizette Parsons Bell
Founder / President and Lead Strategist
With more than 23 years of experience, Lizette is an award-winning communications leader with a record of successes in building and strengthening relationships with a range of stakeholders. Driven by a desire to help people, Lizette has led teams in building and implementing successful public consultation strategies for numerous multi-billion dollar projects throughout Canada, the USA, Australia and Mexico.
With a reputation for delivering winning communications strategies, she has demonstrated innovative approaches to complex situations. Lizette's clients appreciate her ability to synthesize complex issues into easily understood opportunities with measurable results.
As part of senior executive teams, Lizette has been able to make a full and innovative contribution on a range of strategic management issues, including government relations and the development and implementation of media relations plans. She has acted as spokesperson for a number of high profile and contentious projects and delivered innovative and successful stakeholder engagement initiatives.
Lizette holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Victoria, a Certificate in Community Relations and External Communications from Simon Fraser University, a Certificate of Completion from Harvard Business School in Negotiating with an Angry Public and has undertaken numerous media relations and spokesperson training courses. Lizette is also the 2011 recipient of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Gold Quill Award of Merit and a member of the IABC.
Stephanie Snider
Stakeholder Engagement Specialist
Stephanie enjoys the personal interaction her career in communications affords. Engagement calls for sincerity, resourcefulness and an openness to listen. This has been Stephanie’s approach to her practice, specializing in stakeholder engagement and strategic communications. The most rewarding moments of her career were the successes achieved for business, resident, community and Aboriginal stakeholders as part of her community engagement activities.
Since 2011, Stephanie has delved into the complex environment of Canada’s energy sector. Pipeline and marine safety, oil spill response, environmental impacts – and legacies – have been of acute interest with stakeholders she was responsible for. Emergency response training, authoring regulatory submissions, and proactive protest management are just some of the areas of growth and development her time with this sector has provided.
Her aptitude for tough issues flourished between 2003 – 2010 as a result of her work with the 2010 Bid Corporation and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC). Stephanie was part of a proactive effort to build relationships with the media and local stakeholders to communicate the impacts and opportunities of the Games. She delivered strategic communication plans, public information sessions, stakeholder presentations, Aboriginal engagement events and media outreach for Games issues such as transportation, carbon management, environmental assessments, housing/ homelessness, civil liberties, and employment and training opportunities.
Having worked for municipalities and now often consulting on civic issues, Stephanie still maintains a strong appreciation for local government matters. She has been an employee of the District of West Vancouver, the City of Richmond and the City of Vancouver.
A resident of North Vancouver with her husband and two children, Stephanie also volunteers her time in her community. Between October 2010 and July of 2016 she was Vice President of the Board of Directors for a non-profit employment and training organization, Tradeworks Training Society, located in Vancouver’s downtown eastside (www.tradeworks.bc.ca).
When she took her MBA at the UBC Sauder School of Business in 2005, she focused on the study of corporate social responsibility (CSR). In April of 2015 she upgraded her skills with a KPMG sponsored course "The Accountability Project," bolstering her knowledge of ISO standards for stakeholder engagement and other public accountability and engagement principles. Sustainability and triple-bottom-line thinking is a theme throughout her work as a means of risk mitigation, reputation management and building brand integrity for her clients.
Sheran Bathurst
Project Manager
As a trusted associate of Umbrella Strategies, Sheran has been involved in a variety of leading edge community and business initiatives for both public and private sectors. She brings strategic focus and project management skills to the development and implementation of programs and special projects.
Sheran keeps us organized – from keeping a close watch on budgets, to ensuring team members have the tools they need to get their jobs done, to managing schedules, to specializing in bringing all the pieces together to help projects run smoothly. With demonstrated leadership, facilitation, human resource management and team-building skills, Sheran’s experience spans many sectors including major industry, government, community development, sport, health and wellness.
Sheran’s previous experience with the Vancouver Island Health Authority and the United Way, designing and implementing programs and setting strategic goals for these distinct programs in large multi-facetted organizations has honed her collaborative approach and ability to get results in complicated organizational structures.
Working on controversial projects such as the Trans Mountain Expansion Project and the HST Public Forums, Sheran understands the need to respond and adjust project priorities, deadlines, budgets and deliverables as the situation demands. Taking the fine art of juggling multiple priorities to a new level, Sheran ensures the team works together smoothly to meet her clients’ goals. Additionally, Sheran has extensive experience developing, facilitating, and conducting brainstorming sessions including open houses, public forums, informational workshops, educational workshops, and strategic planning sessions. And her research and writing expertise in strategic and operational plans, project reports and summaries, executive briefs, briefing notes, presentations, internal reporting and stakeholder consultation tracking make her an invaluable team member.
When she is not working, Sheran is a dedicated mother of two and healthy lifestyle enthusiast with activities that include running, skiing, snowboarding, waterskiing, wakeboarding, mountain biking, hiking, and training.