Associates

Our collaborative approach means that we work with a variety of professionals depending on the project and the client's needs including:

Emma Shea, APR, Senior Consultant, Stakeholder Communications

Emma Shea is a senior stakeholder engagement and public relations professional, with over a decade of experience and a proven track record in strategic planning, implementation and overall management of communication and engagement programs, including with Indigenous communities. Her experience has formed in various sectors including regulatory, non-profit, corporate and agency. Prior to starting her own firm, EJS Public Relations, Emma was employed for 9 years at Communica Public Affairs, western Canada’s leading stakeholder and First Nations engagement specialty consulting firm.

Over the last decade, Emma has been responsible for introducing large-scale energy and infrastructure projects into communities and developing successful relationships with potentially impacted stakeholders and First Nations on behalf of her clients. Today, Emma focuses her service offerings on supporting organizations in developing positive working relationships with the public and impacted stakeholders. She has the unique ability to identify risks and gaps in an organizations’ public relations and stakeholder engagement processes, and provides needed capacity to address those risks in a timely manner. A highly effective and organized project manager, Emma guides teams to create successful communication strategies that are tailored for each project.

Jacqueline Gijssen, Senior Consultant, Cultural Planning

As the Project Director and a founding member of the Social Purpose Real Estate Collaborative, she worked to mitigate the impacts of the real estate market on non-profits / social enterprises, assisting the sector with their real estate needs. Jacquie engaged with non-profits, social entrepreneurs, architects, developers, planners, real estate professionals and funders to preserve and create space for community.

Jacquie formally came to this work as the City of Vancouver’s Senior Planner for Cultural Spaces / Infrastructure. In that role she was responsible for land use policies, creation of a master plan for cultural spaces, the cultural infrastructure grant program, cultural facility development, and oversight of 75+ cultural spaces serving 100+ artists and cultural organization tenants.

Prior to joining the Vancouver team, Jacquie’s career was deeply imbedded in the museums of BC including the BC Museums Association, museums in Prince Rupert, Port Alberni and West Vancouver, as well the Vancouver Art Gallery and Museum of Anthropology at UBC. Her focus on increasing access to collections and cultural knowledge and working with diverse communities earned her a place on the Founding Board of Directors for the Royal BC Museum. She is the recipient of several awards for work individually and as part of collaborative teams in museums, housing, neighbourhood planning and environment.