Why choose CTC for your training?

  • Our two-trainer model gives participants exposure to more experience
  • Pre-course assessments allow trainers to customize material and maximize the experience for our participants
  • Each participant qualifies for one hour of post-training coaching (per course) from one of the trainers
  • You may qualify for various available discounts. Individual discounts can be found on the registration form. Please contact us for group discounts.

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Experience and Leadership

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Our Trainers

  • Our trainers are active public participation practitioners with experience in the corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors
  • All of our trainers have been licensed by IAP2 and have delivered the IAP2 Foundations program to over a thousand participants from coast to coast
  • 2 of our trainers are IAP2 Canada Certified Public Participation Professionals (CP3)
  • Our experience is recognized by our peers and we have been elected to leadership roles at the interational (IAP2.org), national (IAP2Canada.ca) and regional (IAP2WildRose.org) levels of IAP2

What participants say about our trainers...

The training tandem system really helps keep my attention instead of hearing just one voice. The regular group work as well as the mixing and matching of groups keeps things fresh and allows for a lot of different perspectives. 

~June 2019

The course was extremely beneficial and relevant to the work I do every single day - I left feeling confident and able to articulate the value and importance of P2, and have a number of projects I will be able to use what I've learned on, right away!

~June 2019

Having multiple facilitators, each with relatively short presentations worked well. This kept things interesting and engaging. I really liked the balance of facilitator-led group work and individual work. Really great program!!

~April 2019

I took the Planning module through a different provider, which just had one trainer leading the session. During the Techniques module, I found having two trainers to be quite effective at breaking up the flow a bit and changing up the energy of the room every so often.

~April 2019

I loved that each day worked with the tools we were being taught - setting expectations/reporting back, using techniques for the group work and icebreakers. It made the day enjoyable and a real-life experience when we didn't even know we were working with a technique. Nice job!

~April 2019

I found the caliber of trainers to be of a very high quality.  I liked that they all had their different styles which kept you engaged and they all complimented each other well.

~March 2019

I've been raving about the course to my colleagues. The trainers were excellent instructors, and they did a great job of breaking down a large amount of complex information into digestible pieces. The balance of theory and practice worked very well for me. I also found the real-life examples provided by both trainers, and other participants to be very useful and interesting.

~November 2018

The trainers worked well with each other and with the group. The experience of the trainers made the conversation rich and informative. Practical application of learning helped solidify theory. Our group allowed for very open and applicable dialogue. Health services reorganization example was excellent and relevant. 

~September 2018

The instructors were fantastic and were able to share real-time scenarios from their experience that helped foster discussion and understanding among participants. 

~June 2018

Having two trainers worked well in this training. I enjoyed having the content broken up by the trainers, I felt like I was able to stay focused with this approach.

~June 2018

Both presenters were very personable, highly knowledgeable, communicated clearly, and were authentic in their advocacy for good P2. I liked having two trainers, so that there was variety in pace, speaking style, etc. Both trainers encouraged participation from members of the group.

~March 2018

Loved the openness to both impart knowledge and draw on the experience in the room – with humour, integrity and sustained high energy over 5 days. Appreciating the trainers have extensive knowledge and insights, they were great at encouraging us to 'unpack' ideas, explore our group work examples by 'considering' other elements.

~March 2018

I loved the dynamic between all the trainers. They were all very well prepared and did a great job of keeping the course moving and entertaining. The book was a nice compliment to the teachings, but didn't fully drive the course. It is obvious the trainers love what they do, and that translates into how well they teach the material.

~June 2017

The trainers are an excellent

teaching team and I enjoyed and learned so much from them. I look forward to more training from them in the future and will recommend them to everyone who would be interested in the IAP2 training.

~February 2017

I cannot stress enough how much the energy, attention and enthusiasm of the trainers positively influenced this course. 5 full days, is a long time to spend talking about P2 but the trainer's interest in participant comments/questions and the attention that the trainers paid to one another while taking turns teaching, was contagious. 

~June 2017

Meet Our Trainers

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Gay Robinson, APR, CP3

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead. A poster with these words hangs in my office and sums up what I love about P2 – people coming together, rolling up their sleeves and making a difference. It is also what I love about training. Each class is a small group of thoughtful, committed people coming together to learn how they can make a difference in the way their organizations engage others in decision-making. And each class is an opportunity for me to learn from these passionate individuals. For this I am grateful.


 Throughout her career Gay has been drawn to working with clients who realize the benefits of involving stakeholders in decision-making. After a successful career in government, not-for-profit, education and the private sector she began consulting. Gay has provided strategic council, and designed and implemented engagement programs for a wide range of clients including municipal government, regulators, corporations, school boards and industry associations. A number of her projects have been cited as “raising the bar” for engagement practices. Gay is a Certified Public Participation Professional (CP3) and an active member of IAP2.  She is currently Co-Chair for the 2020 North America conference in Banff, an assessor for the IAP2 Canada Certification Program and serves on the board of the IAP2 Wild Rose Chapter 

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Gale Simpson

Early in my consulting practice I decided to focus on public engagement because I was fascinated by the possibilities of bringing communities and organizations together to make better decisions. I desperately wanted to learn from others doing this work and that’s how I found IAP2. I took the IAP2 Planning Course and I knew almost immediately that I would love to be able to bring this information to others. In 2005 when IAP2 opened the door to new trainers – I applied and I’m so glad I did! Training both the Foundations and the Outrage courses remains a highlight of my work to this day! 


After a successful career in public relations with the Alberta government and a major Alberta corporation, Gale turned to consulting. Very early in her practice, she got her first taste of public participation and realized that’s where she would focus her work.  Gale has developed and managed a wide variety of programs for clients in transportation, planning, education, health, housing, and waste management. Gale is particularly interested in why conflict develops in public engagement and how practitioners can deal with those situations that are now becoming the “norm.”  She is licensed to teach other courses on this subject. 

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Jan Bloomfield

As an active member of IAP2 Wild Rose in the early 2000’s, I like others felt strongly that we needed to have some Canadian trainers. Consequently, when the first Train the Trainer Academy was held in Alberta, I applied. I have since had the privilege of meeting many P2 practitioners (both new and experienced) in our classes who are interested in learning how to better plan and coordinate authentic public engagement practices and processes. It is very energizing, not only to share my P2 experiences, but also to learn from the challenges and successes of all participants. 


Jan set up her consulting practice Strategy Plus in Edmonton in 1997, after 24 years with the Governments of Alberta and Canada. Focusing on facilitating strategic planning and designing and coordinating public participation processes, Jan has worked  with clients in such areas as tourism, parks, community planning, economic development, environment, education, and transportation.

  

Since joining IAP2 in 1999, Jan has served in executive roles on the Boards of IAP2 Wild Rose Chapter (2002-12) and IAP2 Canada (2012-17), and as a Canadian representative on the Federation Board (2014-17). She has enjoyed training the IAP2 Foundations Program across Canada since 2005. 

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Lara Tierney, CP3

Lara completed the IAP2 Foundations courses in 2008 and found the courses to be transformative. When the opportunity presented itself to become a trainer, she quickly took up the challenge. She became a licensed trainer in 2014 and in 2019 became a  Certified Public Participation Professional (CP3) . She loves sharing best practices and experiences of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to public participation. She loves meeting people from a diversity of backgrounds and coming together to continue to make the practice stronger. One of her favourite quotes is by Rumi “When setting out on a journey, do not seek advice from those that have never left home.”


Lara has been working in the field of public participation for the last 14 years. Her experience is both from the municipal (The City of Calgary) and consulting perspectives. She enjoys working on projects in diverse fields including community development, land use planning, transportation, open spaces, law and the arts. She completed her certificate in positive psychology and puts those principles into her practice where possible. Outside of public participation, Lara is passionate about yoga.