System Design

Developmental Evaluation · Organizational Design

M Poitras Ethics, Law and Design for Métis Nation, Saskatchewan

The Métis Nation of Saskatchewan intended to design a judicial system grounded in Métis values, traditions, and community priorities, but there was no precedent or existing model available to replicate or adopt yet. Working alongside the design team, I embedded a developmental evaluation and learning process that helped visualize the historical and existing systems, understand the unique context of the MN-S, surface community perspectives, test ideas, and iterate the design as understanding evolved. The result was a model for a Métis judicial body, with a living pathway toward implementation and piloting that outlined key pre-requisites across legislation and early organizational design, phased activity that established structure, systems, key relationships and protocols, and an evaluation approach to guide accountability and learning as the new system emerges.

System Change

Developmental Evaluation

Diabetes Canada

Diabetes Canada’s Change the Conversation (CTC) initiative seeks to transform how Canadians understand, communicate, and act on diabetes, so people with diabetes feel more seen, valued, and supported. But diabetes-related stigma is shaped by cultural norms, fear, misinformation, and deeply held assumptions, making it difficult to know which approaches will shift beliefs and behaviours, and how change can be sustained across different settings. Working as an embedded member of the CTC Core Team as the developmental evaluator, I integrate sensemaking, evaluation and learning into the work as it unfolds, visualizing the system, supporting intervention design, tracking developments, facilitating evaluative practices, and prompting reflection that brings perspectives together and informs decision-making. This ongoing work is strengthening the team’s ability to learn from experience, adapt its strategy, and develop interventions and partnerships in response to what emerges, while building understanding of how positive change can take hold and spread across individual, organizational, and wider social levels.

System Innovation

Co-creative Partnership · Developmental Evaluation · Organizational Design

Regenerative Capital Group

Regenerative Capital Group (RCG) was established to rethink business succession by combining entrepreneurship through acquisition with regenerative development. Its ambition was to transition values-aligned leaders into established businesses and support them to steward and evolve those businesses as living systems, contributing to the long-term health of the communities and ecosystems they are embedded within. But building a new venture around this approach meant developing the fund, the team, and the operating model without an established blueprint to follow. Working alongside one of RCG’s founding partners, I provided strategic thought partnership as the venture took shape, supporting RCG to establish its organizational foundation, gain early traction in capital formation, and strengthen the team’s capacity to navigate uncertainty, recognize opportunities within tensions, and evolve the model as it develops. I also designed the application and selection framework that lead to its first cohort of values-aligned CEOs-in-Residence.

HR Process Innovation

Organizational Design · Developmental Evaluation Approach

In collaboration with Work.Shouldn't.Suck. for Opera Philadelphia 

Opera Philadelphia was seeking a Vice President of HR and Inclusion, a new leadership role intended to embed equity and inclusion into HR strategy and organizational decision-making. The challenge was not simply to find the right person, but to design a hiring process that reflected the values the successful candidate would be asked to advance, while navigating the power dynamics, uncertainty, and conventions of executive recruitment. Working alongside Tim Cynova of Work.Shouldn't.Suck., I helped reimagine the search from the ground up, beginning with conversations across the organization to understand its culture, priorities, and context. Together, we designed a responsive, values-aligned process that broadened candidate outreach, made expectations and decision-making more transparent, and created more reciprocal, supportive ways for candidates and the organization to get to know one another. The result was a successful hire, a process that brought greater care and joy to a typically stressful experience, and practices that could be integrated into Opera Philadelphia’s ongoing recruitment approach, with an onboarding plan building on the trust and rapport established during the search.