Meet our team of professional management consultants, advisors, and executive coaches.
Are you looking for expert solutions, bold strategies and innovative directions for your leadership or organization?
Shelly Berlin brings over 30 years of strategic insight and transformational leadership to Berlineaton as co-founding and managing partner.
She began her consulting career with Andersen Consulting and Price Waterhouse – global experience that led to the launch of Berlineaton in 1996. She holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Alberta, an MBA from UBC, is a Certified Management Consultant and an ICF-certified Executive Coach. In 2017, Shelly and her partner Richard Eaton were named Fellows of the Canadian Association of Management Consultants and were later honoured with CMC’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. She also holds an ESG governance designation from Competent Boards.
Throughout her career, Shelly has worked with more than 1,200 clients across government, not-for-profits, independent schools, and private sectors. She is known for her inclusive, collaborative approach and her ability to help clients execute strategy that achieves significant impact.
As Chair of the St. Michaels University School Board, now in her fourth term, she led the global Head of School search that resulted in Dr. Jeff Aitken’s appointment and co-led the development of the Floreat 2020–2030 strategic plan.
Shelly lives in Victoria with her family, including two teenagers, husband Richard Eaton, two cats, and a frog named Froakie.
Advisor, Change Maker, Leader.
Josh brings a distinguished background in leadership and innovation to Berlineaton as our Chief Executive Officer.
Josh began his journey in the Canadian Armed Forces—an early chapter that shaped his discipline and global perspective. After retiring, he earned an MBA from Royal Roads University. His nearly decade-long tenure at Deloitte and PwC further honed his expertise in digital transformation, governance design and execution, program design and corporate integration, risk and issue management, and program performance management.
Josh’s boundless energy, empathetic leadership, and unwavering focus on what matters most make him the perfect choice for carrying Berlineaton’s legacy forward.
Josh is a passionate traveler and lifelong learner. From his early days at sea to consulting across Canada, he is always ready to lend an ear and solve complex challenges.
Richard Eaton is a founding partner of Berlineaton with over 30 years’ management consulting experience, and has engaged with more than 10,000 individuals across hundreds of assignments in a wide variety of sectors. Richard holds a Master’s in Leadership and Training, is a Six Sigma Black Belt, a Fellow Certified Management Consultant, and an Associate Certified Coach. He is also certified as a Boss Whisperer, specializing in coaching abrasive leaders.
A skilled leader, Richard has successfully mentored and developed a highly effective team of Berlineaton consulting professionals who expertly reflect the Berlineaton brand. He has also supported clients with both provincial and national level projects recognized for realizing measurable impact, innovation, and service excellence. Richard is a firm believer that truly transformative results arise when visionary leaders empower front-line teams to take ownership, innovate, and drive inspiring, strategic outcomes that resonate across organizations, sectors and time.
Richard served for over 40 years in the British and Canadian armies as an Infantry Officer, with training from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Canada’s Combat Training Centre. He’s qualified as a Paratrooper with 200+ jumps, is an All Arms Commando and a Military Ski Instructor, and is a veteran of counter-insurgency operations in Northern Ireland. His honours include the Canadian Forces Decoration, with two bars, and the General Service Medal – Northern Ireland.
An avid outdoorsman, Richard particularly enjoys sea kayaking and mountaineering. Having summited peaks like Mt Kilimanjaro (19,000+ft) and Mt Rainier, his future goals include breaking the 20,000 ft mark. He is a proud father of two adolescent children and is deeply devoted to his long-time partner Shelly Berlin, as well as two spoiled Burmese housecats.
Communicator, Advocate, Tactician.
Mackenzie Edwards is a Senior Consultant with Berlineaton, passionate about working with public sector organizations to achieve better outcomes for their constituents. Mackenzie brings a strong academic and professional background, holding a BA in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, and a Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs, where he ranked among the top 10 students in his class.
Before joining Berlineaton, Mackenzie served as a Policy Analyst at the Public Health Agency of Canada. In this role, he contributed significantly to the renewal of the National Immunization Strategy, a comprehensive, Canada-wide stakeholder engagement process designed to enhance the relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency of immunization programming across jurisdictions.
Mackenzie leverages his analytical skills, facilitation expertise, and strong communication abilities to support Berlineaton’s diverse client base. He is committed to helping clients develop sustainable solutions and drive positive change in our evolving society.
While originally from New Zealand, Mackenzie has lived in BC since 2015, and moved to Victoria in February of 2024. Outside of the office, he can be found on stage as a stand-up comedian, hitting the links on the golf course, and exploring nature!
Mackenzie is an Engagement Lead and Independent School Practice Lead 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.
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.
Learner, Thinker, Helper
Aubry Williams is an analyst at Berlineaton and is intrigued by how organizations function. He applies his rigorous analytical skills to help businesses, governments, and non-profits translate complex challenges into practical, efficient solutions and deliver greater value to the communities they serve.
Aubry holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Engineering Chemistry from Queen’s University, as well as a Master of Science from the UBC Department of Chemistry where he designed, built, and tested electrochemical reactors to decarbonize industrial processes. His technical background gives him a rational, process-based approach to problem-solving. During his masters, Aubry honed his communication skills by working with diverse teams to deliver high quality analysis, manuscripts, and presentations. Aubry contributed to 8 papers that were published in academic journals and wrote a thesis titled Stable electrochemical production of cement precursors.
Aubry applies his research experience to a wide range of fields to give clients a holistic view of the systems and processes that affect them. He enjoys engaging with people and learning about their views and experiences with the aim of providing the most comprehensive possible analysis and best outcomes.
Aubry grew up in Victoria and is very grateful to live on the west coast, where he enjoys backpacking, jogging, skiing, and reading voraciously.
Exuberant, Generous, Approachable.
Tina Alto brings more than 30 years of strategic and tactical leadership in the not-for-profit education sector, with a career devoted to mentoring and coaching aspiring leaders.
For 27 years, she served as Executive Director of Institutional Advancement at Balmoral Hall School in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where she led successful capital campaigns, oversaw major campus renovations, and strengthened the school’s foundation with a disciplined focus on endowment growth and long-term sustainability. Her leadership helped grow philanthropy, drive day and international admissions, enhance marketing and communications, strengthen boarding operations, develop elite prep hockey programs, and foster deep community connections.
Tina has also contributed extensively to sector governance and standards through service on numerous Manitoba boards, including AFP, CGAP, and Leave a Legacy Manitoba, as well as national bodies such as Independent School Advancement Professionals (ISAP), the CAIS Boarding School Collective Steering Committee, and the CAIS Evaluation Council. As a CAIS Peer Review Facilitator, she partners with organizations across Canada to strengthen leadership capacity, board governance, and overall institutional performance.
Tina divides her time between Manitoba and British Columbia and happily seizes every opportunity to be outdoors, on land or at sea, or enjoying special moments with family (both human and furry) and friends.
David Anderson brings more than 40 years of distinguished leadership with the Canadian Armed Forces to Berlineaton. Over the course of his career, he held multiple command roles in operational theatres, represented the Canadian Armed Forces at the Pentagon as Liaison Officer between the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Canadian Chief of Defense Staff, and led the Digital Transformation of the Canadian Armed Forces.
As a member of our consulting team, David is a key contributor to our growing Defence and Security Practice, helping strategize and deliver impactful solutions for our clients.
A highly respected certified executive coach, Ingrid specializes in leadership and executive development, career exploration and transition.
Ingrid co-founded the highly popular Inside Public Sector Leadership: Practical Wisdom, an innovative, online mentorship program designed to explore the unwritten protocols, rules and subtleties that today’s public service leaders need to succeed in the Westminster model of government.
Ingrid’s presence is calm, practical, insightful, kind, graceful and gently irreverent. She is a yogi of executive coaching.
In 2020, Berlineaton and Ingrid Bergmann and Associates formed a strategic alliance with a commitment to work together to better serve our mutual clients.
As an executive coach, Danae partners with leaders to grow their impact, maximize their team’s effectiveness and create positive organizational cultures. She works with clients to courageously wade into any depth of leadership work, no matter how challenging, to achieve results.
Danae brings over 25 years of experience in leadership development, coaching and values-based culture change. Coming to us from her firm, Thinking Partners Inc., Danae has been an associate with Berlineaton for over 10 years.
Having served in a senior leadership role herself with a large organization, she has a deep understanding of and compassion for leaders wherever they are at and partners with them to create the impact they envision.
She coaches the whole person, recognizing the essential role of overall wellbeing and self-care. Outside the office, she can be found hiking, biking or paddle boarding to connect with nature and community whenever possible.
Listener. Creator. Fixer.
Mary is a seasoned international executive and consultant, CPA, lawyer, and mediator with proven ability and passion to successfully lead positive change and deliver results; she specializes in creating sustainable operational and financial growth. She has over 35 years of varied leadership, management, and business & financial consulting experience including successful turnarounds in Canada and the US in a variety of industries.
Mary was most recently on assignment in Saudi Arabia as an organizational efficiency consultant to a mining company. Mary started her career in audit (Richter, EY) and later consulted with Price Waterhouse in education, natural resources, and tourism. Mary was VP Finance at Vancouver Community College for seven years before spending two decades in the Engineering & Consulting, technology, and natural resources industries in CEO/CFO roles.
Mary has a Bachelor of Commerce (McGill), Diploma Public Accountancy (McGill), Juris Doctorate with an Environmental Law Certificate and Masters of Law in Alternative Dispute Resolution (Arizona State University). She has authored two books on key performance metrics within the legal industry.
Mary is an Associate of Berlineaton’s.
Policy Focussed, Strategic Thinker, Collaborator.
Kathy is a Strategic Advisor with Berlineaton. Kathy has over twenty-five years experience in senior leadership positions managing complex projects, programs, and policy initiatives in the public and private sectors. She has extensive experience in achieving, negotiating, and developing partnerships through consensus building and conflict management amongst a wide range of groups in complex and changing environments.
Kathy believes that critical to the success of any project is the engagement of its people. Kathy’s approach is not only to adopt project management principles, but also to continue to foster a learning organization that incorporates systems thinking, a shared vision, and team learning so that organizations build for the future and see the big picture, not just what immediately lies ahead.
Kathy is an avid reader of historical non-fiction. She also enjoys refinishing vintage furniture and cross country skiing in the winter.
Transformer, Problem-Solver and Collaborator
Neilane is a Senior Advisor with Berlineaton. She brings more than 23 years of senior public sector leadership experience, including serving as a Deputy Minister for the Government of British Columbia for nearly 7 years. Throughout her career, Neilane has led complex projects and organizational transformation initiatives, worked collaboratively with Indigenous governments and communities, and provided strategic advice on significant public policy and operational issues. Her experience spans strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, organizational design, public policy, leadership development, and change management.
Known for her transparent, balanced, and people-focused leadership style, Neilane has built high-performing organizations by fostering strong relationships, navigating complex environments, and helping leaders achieve consensus on challenging issues. She is committed to supporting organizations in developing practical strategies, building organizational capacity, and delivering meaningful outcomes for the communities they serve.
Neilane holds a BA from the University of Calgary and an LLB from the University of Victoria. Outside of her consulting work, she is a national and international Masters powerlifting athlete and proudly represented Team Canada in 2023.
A highly regarded former public servant, Bert’s consulting practice over the past seven years has focused on executive mentorship, resolving conflict and strengthening teams.
Bert’s career with the Government of BC included four Assistant and Associate Deputy Minister appointments. In recognition of his Public Service career achievements, Bert was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Exemplary Service Medal.
The central tenet of Bert’s leadership in organizational restructuring and employee engagement is his belief that people desire relationships built on a foundation of trust and mutual respect.
Using his trademark humour and ability to build trust, cooperation and performance, Bert supports leaders to focus on strengths, address blind spots and build highly engaged workplaces.
Teacher, Change Architect, Innovator
Steve Wakeham is a seasoned business transformation and change management leader with over 20 years of experience supporting digital transformations from a people perspective.
Steve has played key roles at EY, Deloitte and PwC. He has led business transformation, organizational design, change management and training programs across North America and global transformations enabled by enterprise cloud technologies including Oracle, SAP & Salesforce. His expertise in process design, operating models, change management, and training has empowered clients to progress seamlessly through their cloud journey, delivering meaningful results and ensuring sustained success.
Steve holds a Master of Education from McGill University. He has several recognized professional certifications, including PROSCI change management, Project Management Professional (PMP) from PMI and a certified Scrum Master (PSM I).
Dr. Paul Westlund is the Founder and CEO of C.E.C. Innovations, a Calgary based firm specializing in advanced analytical technologies including latent data AI logic applications. With a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from McGill University, Dr. Westlund has conducted significant research in data-driven problem solving, with his work published in leading scientific journals.
Dr. Westlund has applied his expertise to AI programs for national security applications, with active projects across six continents. Through the strategic alignment with Berlineaton, he and C.E.C. bring their unique combination of technological innovation and AI-driven solutions to support Berlineaton’s growing Defence and Security Practice, helping deliver sophisticated, data-informed solutions for complex challenges.
Dr. Westlund approaches each client as a trusted consultant, mindful of their processes and focused on providing streamlined solutions to address their individual challenges. C.E.C.’s proprietary technology, subject matter expertise, and access to innovative analysis tools provide clients with high-resolution data, actionable insights, and concrete results. By integrating latent data AI logic into these processes, C.E.C. enables clients to uncover hidden patterns, anticipate emerging issues, and act with precision.
