Case Studies

Case Study 1: YMCA

Lisa was responsible for the development of a new YMCA community initiative for families in the downtown area of Vancouver. Developing the initiative from scratch she undertook community research and community consultation, which formed the basis of a comprehensive community needs audit. This audit provided the organization (the YMCA) with an accurate assessment of community need and gave an indication of where resources should be allocated to have maximum impact. Effective community liaison and engagement built strong relationships with stakeholders and the local community. Some of the results included the development of attractive programming based on need and feedback and an increased use of YMCA facilities and programming.

Case Study 2: Community of Squamish

In order for the community of Squamish to gain the Safe Community award and reduce preventable injuries, community members needed to set injury prevention priorities. As leader of the Safe Communities designation process, Lisa drew people together to coordinate planning meetings and built consensus. This meant taking the leadership table through the steps needed and leading a large validation event for eighty participants from the community. This produced credible priorities based on the consultation process, quantitative and qualitative data. Squamish became the 60th Safe Community in Canada.

Case Study 3: Royal Borough of Greenwich

Throughout her career, Lisa has undertaken consultation processes with communities to develop comprehensive plans.  Working for the Royal Borough of Greenwich (London, UK) she consulted local communities to provide findings for strategic plans to improve and redevelop housing and community facilities.

Case Study 4: Western Heritage

Partnership work between Lisa Paterson Consulting and Western Heritage. Both consulting firms offer unique services in community engagement; both wanted to outline collaborative services available. “Lisa designed process maps, which show how this approach can help companies enhance community relationships. These process maps outline Western Heritage’s Cultural Landscape Approach in conjunction with Lisa’s specialist services in Community Development and Engagement. The diagrams make the community engagement process easy to understand. The diagrams are used with representatives from both business and the community. The work Lisa did for us has allowed us to map out our joint process of working with a community, demonstrate the key role of community engagement as well as showing how our services contribute to gaining a Social Licence to Operate”.

Jim Finnigan
President, Western Heritage

Case Study 5: BC Centre for Employment Excellence

The BC Centre for Employment Excellence is a “what works” innovation hub for the employment services sector in BC. It is a division of the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation, a national non-profit social policy research organization. Their online resources aim to provide the best available information and research for those assisting unemployment job seekers in BC.  “Lisa supported the work of the Centre by researching, identifying and summarizing resources.  Using current Canadian and international resources Lisa provided well-written summaries that were easy to understand. She was able to identify current practices and trends”.

Susanna Lui Gurr
Managing Director, BCCEE