STAKEHOLDER RESEARCH ASSOCIATES - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Managing Partner / Toronto, Canada

Katharine is a communications and engagement specialist with experience developing strategic communications programs and stakeholder engagement initiatives for companies, governments and non-governmental organizations from the international to the community level. She is a leading contributor to the sustainability reporting community in North America, as a report strategist and writer (Visa, Clarke, CVS Health, Kraft International, Kimberly-Clark, Hess, Chevron, Café Bom Dia, Kinross Gold, Loblaw, OLG), judge in the North America Ceres/ACCA annual reporting awards, and presenter and guest lecturer at conferences and universities. Katharine is also expert in stakeholder dialogue and communications, using tools designed to ensure comprehensive program support from a broad range of stakeholders, including materiality analysis for sustainability reporters. She edited and co-wrote From Words to Action: The Stakeholder Engagement Manual Volume 1: The Guide to Practitioners' Perspectives on Stakeholder Engagement, which includes engagement perspectives from more than 60 international thought leaders in business, labor and civil society. Practitioners' Perspectives and its companion publication The Practitioner's Handbook on Stakeholder Engagement were published by Stakeholder Research Associates, UNEP and AccountAbility. Katharine has more than 20 years experience as a journalist and holds an Honours BA from the University of Guelph and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, York University, with a specialty in Business and Sustainability. She is an active promoter of the folk music community in Ontario, serving as President of the Board of Directors of Folk Music Ontario (formerly the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals) and as a founder, and inaugural Chair of the Board of Shelter Valley Folk Festival.