AGORA Management Associates

PARTNERSHIP CONSULTING
Strategic guidelines and partnering toolkits for federal government clients including Team Canada Inc, Veterans Affairs Canada, Parks Canada Agency, Library of Parliament, PWGSC and Canadian Heritage.

Other clients: Natural Resources Canada; Shelburne Municipality (Nova Scotia); Nunavut department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth.

Co-founder of PartnerNet, a federal government community of partnership and sponsorship practitioners; and coordination of its program of lunch-time meetings for its first five years.

TESTIMONIALS
“When Team Canada Inc first came to you for assistance in bringing some order to our growing partnership and sponsorship program, I must admit I was skeptical. But the guidelines that you developed for us allowed TCI to work in a systematic and responsible manner, not make it up on a case by case basis. This reduced risk and increased trust because our decisions had a consistent, transparent and reasonable foundation. The agreements template also proved to be a very useful tool.”
Michael Calvert, former Director, Team Canada Inc (Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada)

“We hosted your partnership workshop for our rural Nova Scotia community and had a wonderful experience. The material was relevant to business and community groups and participants were able to immediately apply the principles presented. Many thanks for facilitating it via Skype and sharing such a clear and practical approach to partnerships!”
Emily Tipton, P.Eng., Sustainable Development Coordinator/Municipal Engineer, Municipality of the District of Shelburne

PARTNERSHIP TRAINING
Two-day public workshops on “Productive Partnering,” diverse participants

Two-day in-house partnership workshop for Global Business Opportunities (federal government)

One-day PD workshop for Real Property Institute of Canada

Half-day public workshop on “Legal Elements of Collaborative Agreements”

Two seminars for the Performance and Planning Exchange; chair of two partnership conferences for the International Research Institute

Other training and education: Design and management of government-wide RIM (recorded information management) courses, and instructor in English and French, for National Archives of Canada; information management awareness sessions for deputy ministers, Government of Bermuda; four-day international course on the role of federal government information-rich institutions, for heads of archives from 12 countries, for National Archives of Canada; design and facilitation of adult education discussion series for Thomas More Institute (Montreal)

TESTIMONIALS
"You bring a wealth of knowledge and concrete experience and encourage participants to share views and to learn from each other - very valuable."
Laurie Harris, Manager, Regional Communications, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

"Systematic approach to partnering - I liked the insights, I have already begun using the jargon."
René Voyer, Research Program Manager, Radio Broadcast Systems and Transmission, Communications Research Centre, Industry Canada

"Using examples from participants and their respective organizations to illustrate points was very effective. The experience and background of both presenters helped further illustrate and cement partnership concepts."
Heidi Bartman, A/Manager, Multiculturalism Partnership and Engagement Unit, Citizenship and Immigration Canada

COMMUNICATIONS AND LANGUAGE SERVICES
Stakeholder communications planning and operations for CPIC Renewal (RCMP), Citizenship Registration (Secretary of State Department), National Archives of Canada; comprising information sheets to books, speeches, video scripts and production management, posters

Managing editor of information management quarterlies for technical and non-technical managers, for National Archives of Canada and Treasury Board Secretariat

Journalism: editor-in-chief of college newspaper, arts reporter, book reviewer

Editing and translation services for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Canadian Apprenticeship Forum, African Jesuits AIDS Network, Canadian Human Rights Commission; translation of a major French philosophy text; (The Rule of Metaphor, Paul Ricoeur); translation/editing of two books centred on AIDS in Africa

TESTIMONIALS
“Bob, this is outstanding. Your dedication shows in every page.”
John Callaghan, Steering Committee Chair for the Catholic Health Care Leadership Development Project and the "Forming Health Care Leaders" guide (July 2009)

“Your effective planning and management of external stakeholder communications provided an essential element in the renewal of the Canadian Police Information Centre system at the RCMP, because of the incredible complexity of that endeavour. You also helped us to look calm and coherent in the midst of chaos!”
Ray Power, Managing Partner, FMP/Flaman Management Partners (Team Leader, Management of Change, at the CPIC Renewal Project, RCMP, National Police Services)

“I wanted to thank you very much for the time and trouble you went to in preparing the partnership presentation for the International Federation of Library Associations conference. It's excellent and somehow or other, I think you captured "me" in there too.”
William Young, Parliamentary Librarian

EVALUATION AND SURVEYS
Policy studies and organizational surveys of evaluation practice: government-wide (Government of Canada), department of Canadian Heritage, Human Resources Development Canada

Program evaluations (lead or participant): Arts Presentation Canada (Canadian Heritage), Privacy Best Practices and Regional Partnership Program (Canadian Institutes of Health Research), the National Capital Commission, Health Canada, Canadian Blood Services, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, RCMP, Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board and Ontario Summer Jobs Service (Ontario Ministry of Trade, Colleges and Universities), Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HRSDC)

Evaluation framework: Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control (a national multi-stakeholder consultation forum)

Surveys (organizational climate, employee attitudes, 360-degree feedback, plus evaluation and research-oriented topics): Some four dozen surveys since 1996 for federal government departments and agencies (19 surveys), provincial government institutions (10), provincial and national associations (9) and private companies (8).

Our sister firm, Fair Surveys Inc, co-directed by Robert Czerny and Dr. Gerald Halpern, provides the internet platform for our web-based survey projects.

TESTIMONIALS
“Robert, your handling of our 360-degree feedback exercise for all 64 executives, managers and supervisors -- despite the complexity and the potential for resistance – went without a hitch. Your questionnaire also helped us to reinforce our recently formulated management competencies. The managers who took up the offer of coaching sessions found you very supportive and helpful.”
Scott MacInnes, Chief Human Resources Officer, Hotel Dieu Hospital, Kingston, Ontario

"Your grasp of the key characteristics of partnership helped us to refine our questions and to provide well-founded analysis that the client greatly appreciated. Further, your handling of key informant interviews of lead officials of the provinces and territories worked out great; I especially liked your well-written summaries and interpretation, they integrated smoothly into the overall report."
Dr. Celine Pinsent, Goss Gilroy Inc., Project Leader for the evaluation of the Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HRSDC, Government of Canada)

“Our operational review and evaluation was singularly successful. It took in many topics and could have become hopelessly bogged down were it not for how you organized the inquiry themes, developed unambiguous questions for our investigators, and managed the masses of information. This enabled us to conduct the analysis in a systematic and clear-eyed fashion. In the final stage, the logic, the evidence, and the fine presentation after your editing all led to a highly unusual result -- about 95% of the management recommendations were acted upon within a year.”
Patrick Cummins, Review Team Leader, RCMP

MANAGEMENT CONSULTING AND ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICS
Performance measurement framework for R&D, Atomic Energy Control Board

Human resources management strategic plans for International Development Research Centre, Labour Canada, National Research Council

Strategic options for Chief Management Renewal Services, Department of National Defence

Strategic plan, Bermuda Archives

Commercial distribution study for Royal Canadian Mint

Organizational performance review and planning, Canadian Public Arts Funders Network

Planning and facilitation of management and team retreats for National Capital Commission, Citizenship and Immigration, National Defence, Canada Revenue Agency

Review and redesign of ‘help desk’ services for Public Service Commission, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Evaluation and next steps plan for the “Dialogue on Values Initiative,” National Capital Commission

Values and ethics code for federal government partnership and sponsorship practitioners (sponsored by Public Works and Government Services Canada)

Current member of the Research Ethics Board, National Research council of Canada (Robert Czerny)

Current member of the Board of Directors of the Ethics Practitioners Association of Canada (Robert Czerny)

TESTIMONIALS
“On behalf of the Directors let me thank you for taking the time to facilitate the excellent session last week. Looking over the notes, I believe that this strategic planning session has given us focus, stimulated thought, and will save us time and effort and contribute to our success in the long run. I hope we will continue to be able to draw on your skill and advice as we move forward.”
Alan Bowker, President, Friends of the Concert Hall, Ottawa