St. George’s School

Uniting Voices Through Community Consultation for Strategic Planning

St. George’s School, a leading independent boys’ school in Vancouver, engaged Berlineaton to lead external consultations for its internally driven strategic planning process. By gathering valuable insights from students, parents, faculty, staff, and alumni, the school ensured that its vision was directly aligned with the needs and aspirations of its community. This collaborative approach laid the foundation for a bold and impactful strategic plan. Read on to explore how our partnership helped shape a clear, future-focused direction for St. George’s School.

Key Team Members
Shelly Berlin
Mackenzie Farrell
Cathryn Chase

A Profound Experience

The consultation process at St. George’s School was a critical part of shaping the school’s strategic direction. Under the leadership of a new Head of School, the school made a deliberate effort to gather input from its entire community, including students, parents, faculty, staff, and alumni. This inclusive approach ensured that the strategic priorities were reflective of the community’s diverse perspectives and aspirations. By engaging in meaningful conversations and fostering collaboration, the process empowered St. George’s to craft a plan that truly represented the voices of its vibrant community.

Practical Solutions

Our team worked closely with St. George’s to design and implement a consultation process that was both comprehensive and focused. We identified key consultation objectives and developed thoughtful questions to guide discussions during in-person and virtual sessions. Over five days, we engaged a wide range of stakeholders, ensuring a rich and diverse collection of insights. The result was a comprehensive report that provided the school with clear, actionable recommendations. This practical and data-driven approach gave St. George’s the clarity and confidence needed to move forward with their strategic planning efforts.

Bolder Futures

The insights gained from the consultation process were instrumental in the development of St. George’s School’s new strategic plan, Ready and Relevant. By integrating the voices of its community, the school ensured its plan reflected the shared aspirations and priorities of students, parents, staff, and alumni. This collaborative approach reinforced the school’s position as a leader in boys’ education and set a bold direction for the future. With a renewed focus on developing young men of character, the plan will guide St. George’s as it continues to empower its students to succeed and contribute meaningfully to the world.

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  • The emphasis on Strategic Management was important to us, since we didn't want a plan that sat on the shelf after several months of strategic thinking. I found that Berlineaton didn't come to our organization with a preconception of what our strategic plan would look like, but they made an authentic effort to understand the people in our community and be in tune with its ethos, its goals and its people. They gained trust and confidence and continue to work with us on the implementation of our tactical plan.

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  • Your efforts in guiding the robust planning process that has resulted in UCC’s Strategic Directions were quite simply extraordinary; your partnership was integral to any success achieved. Thank you. I hope you are as proud of the final product as we are.

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    Upper Canada College

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    Shelly Berlin

    BA, MBA, FCMC, ACC
    Strategist, Confidante, Entrepreneur.

    Shelly is a co-founding partner of Berlineaton and has over 25 years’ experience in management consulting in strategy, process improvement and leader development.  

    She’s worked extensively with public and private sector organizations, and she is a professional facilitator, expert in the design, development, and execution of strategy. She is a certified executive coach and a Fellow of the Canadian Association of Management Consultants. 

    Shelly’s passion is to help leaders and their organizations achieve extraordinary success through bold thinking, courageous risk taking and disciplined action planning. Dark chocolate helps too.

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    Mackenzie Farrell

    BSC, MMgmt, CMC
    Collaborator, Community Builder, Go-Getter.

    Mackenzie is a Senior Consultant at Berlineaton, known for her experience in strategy development and execution. She brings an innate sense of curiosity, meticulous attention to detail, and a strong interpersonal focus to all aspects of her work. She works across all practice areas to support leaders in creating stronger, more effective organizations.

    Mackenzie specializes in working with independent schools, helping them to navigate unique challenges and build stronger, more sustainable institutions. She has worked with over 20 schools across Canada.

    With a deep-seated passion in helping organizations foster visionary futures for themselves, Mackenzie excels in guiding organizations through an engagement and people-centric approach on growth and improvement. Her strategic insights and commitment ensure that her clients achieve sustainable success.

    Outside of the office, she can be found taking advantage of all the world-class access to nature that the West Coast of Canada has to offer, including her favourite past times, skiing, surfing, and hiking with her husband and dog Molson.

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    Cathryn Chase

    BA, MMgmt, CMC
    Interpreter, Pathfinder, Wordsmith.

    Cathryn is a Senior Consultant with Berlineaton. She approaches all her work with curiosity, dedication and an analytical eye.

    As a Senior Consultant, Cathryn leads and supports projects across all of Berlineaton’s practice areas with a particular focus on public sector work. She is skilled at deriving insights from data, and helping clients translate complex information into usable and effective solutions. She loves applying her skills, experience, and penchant for problem solving to help empower her clients and create sustainable business solutions.

    Cathryn holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from UBC, as well as a Master’s of Management from UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She also has a Lean Six-Sigma Yellow Belt, and is working towards becoming a Certified Management Consultant.

    Outside the office, you can find her spending time with her partner, Sander and retired sled dog, Clyde, swimming with the Victoria Masters Swim Club, and enjoying the outdoors with friends and family.