our team
We are a team with deep, extensive experience in organizational strategy, community engagement and high-stakes facilitation.
We pride ourselves on the integrity of our practice, the techniques we implement and the impact we achieve. Engagement runs through everything we do - we lean into the hard conversations in our personal lives as much as we do in our work, always working to support ourselves and others to stretch, engage and grow, no matter the topic.
This work is very much who we ARE, not just what we do.
Experienced in both large and small-scale projects, we have worked across Canada supporting diverse conversations ranging from public utilities, environmental resources, education, organizational development, strategic planning, land use planning, health care, energy amongst many others.
Our team has worked extensively with land interest holders, residents, industry, all levels of government, community associations, special interest groups, not-for-profits and Indigenous Nations and communities.
meet Lindsay!
Our founder Lindsay Humber (she/her) is on a mission to transform the way we approach conversations that matter. Whether communicating about projects, planning for participation or facilitating group processes–Lindsay embraces the messiness of human experience to design relational community engagement processes that are people-centered.
She’s passionate about participatory decision-making, drawing on an academic background focused on understanding people and how we shape our environments to bring the best ideas to the table and drive results for our clients.
Lindsay is recognized by the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) as a certified Public Participation Professional (CP3) and currently serves on the IAP2 Canada Research Committee.
A settler of European descent, she is grateful to live, work, play and raise her children on Indigenous land in Treaty Six territory. Much of what Lindsay knows about reciprocity and how to be in relationship comes from the generosity this land has shown her.
connect with Lindsay on Instagram
our associates
The Tilia team is scalable to meet the needs of your specific project. Our freelance associates align with our values and offer as-needed support.
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Shannon Price
Shannon (she/her) is a Certified Executive Coach who uses a coaching-driven approach in all that she does. Focusing on curiosity and asking thoughtful questions is the foundation of her work with our clients. She's passionate about developing and delivering leadership training and team building sessions rooted in enriching organizational culture. Spanning diverse industries including insurance, public sector, and post-secondary education, her expertise in change management and program development bolsters her work in organizational design and culture. She is passionate about uncovering the "why" behind actions to improve processes and create connections within the humans doing the work.
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Landon Tulock
Landon (they/them/he/him) is a Registered Social Worker and researcher passionate about applying community development and engagement principles to address social issues. They believe that social change must be a community-led process that is critical, evidence-based, and centers the voices of those most marginalized. Landon has experience in public engagement, adult education, nonprofit and public service leadership, community development, community-based research, restorative justice facilitation, and crisis work. Drawing on these experiences, Landon balances engagement and project needs while practicing from a lens of anti-oppression.
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Natasha Steinback
Natasha (Nash) is a dedicated systems thinker committed to enhancing community and organizational impact across the nonprofit, private, and public sectors. She approaches her work with the belief in the power of reframing how we talk about public policy so that individuals, community organizations, businesses, and governments gain fresh perspectives and contribute to innovative ways of thinking about community challenges and how we get to vibrant communities. She has the capacity to translate and mobilize complex knowledge systems to ensure that partners connected to intersectoral, multi-jurisdictional collaborations feel heard, see their work in the process and actively commit to transformational change.
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Jaime Calayo
Jaime (he/him) has been a communications practitioner for the past decade building his expertise in visual design, public engagement, community organizing and strategic communications. His love for supporting community based initiatives ensures that community is at the heart of all the projects he pursues. Jaime believes the answers to our most complex problems lie within communities and that the best way to surface those ideas is through public engagement that inspires people to tap into their creativity.
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Kim Hyshka
Dialogue Partners owner Kim Hyshka (she/her) has been a leader in the field of civic engagement and public participation for over a decade and upholds the belief that “anything is possible with a little dialogue". In everything she does, Kim embodies gratitude and excitement. Her aptitude for organization, combined with background in performing arts, enables her to intuitively incorporate structure, process, and flow into the messiness of human differences.
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Jao Dantes
Jao (he/him) is a community engagement and cultural planning professional who supports communities and organizations facing complex social and systems challenges. He is passionate about people-centred decisions and systems change. For him, an essential component for engagement is to help communities and organizations navigate change by helping articulate and centering shared values and priorities. With an interdisciplinary background in strategic communications, graphic design, urban planning, and sustainability, Jao provides tailored creative and holistic approaches to help communities build relationships, foster trust, and process change.
what we’ve learned
We’ve worked with land interest holders, residents, industry, government, community associations, special interest groups, not-for-profits and Indigenous Nations and communities. Here’s some of what we've learned from these conversations:
Talking to people up front reduces issues.
By involving those affected early in your decision-making process, you reduce the chances of your project being delayed down the road by unexpected issues.
There is strength in diversity.
Including a variety of voices, perspectives and experiences in decision-making processes allows us to look at a problem from all sides and take wiser action.
How we gather matters.
When we gather well and with purpose, we generate better ideas and can clearly see which actions to take.
Collaboration leads to better decisions.
Collaborative relationships between organizations and communities lead to more equitable decisions that build rapport and improve outcomes.
Being in relationship is often messy.
People are complex. How we talk to each other, and the stories we each bring to those conversations, dictates how we explore ideas together and support each other to make difficult decisions.