Consultants

Matt Allen is the Chief Innovation Officer with the Professional Golfers’ Association of Canada, overseeing coach education, player development, all special projects coming out of the national office as well as the key contact for the PGA of Canada’s nine zones and other key industry stakeholders both nationally and internationally.

Matt is the Chair of the PGA of Canada’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force and consults with several National, Provincial, and Club sport organizations on EDI, change management, organizational development, and more.

Matt brings both organizational, practical, and academic perspectives into his work as an active coach at the University and International level along with having 10+ years in the national sport organization industry and a currently pursuing a Masters in Executive Leadership.

He sits on a number of sport development committees including the Softball Ontario Coaching Committee, a National Executive Committee member with the Coaching Association of Canada, Golf Canada Sport Development Committee, Co-Chair for You Can Play Canada-East and is the Past-President of the Ontario Intercollegiate Women’s Fastpitch and founding member of the Canadian Collegiate Softball Association.

Matt can be reached at matt@pgaofcanada.com

INclusion INcorporated is intentional about listening, learning and connecting with the LGBTQI2S community, and brings extensive background around LGBTQI2S in sport.  Our team features individuals who identify as trans, gay, two-spirit, and queer, and who bring this lived experience and expertise to the work that we undertake and a lens with which we support organizations in their journeys. 

INclusion INcorporated is a JEDI (justice, equity, diversity and inclusion) consulting firm which supports leaders and their organizations on their inclusion journeys towards cultures of belonging.  Focused on customized solutions that will allow organizations to implement sustainable inclusion strategies, through training, action plans and tools. INclusion INcorporated is a full service diversity and inclusion consultancy and works with organizations to meet them where they are at, and develop their approach and support each phase of their journey. Based in Victoria, BC and working with clients across the country, we bring a network of expertise and lived experiences to our approach. With over 40 years of combined experience in this field delivering training and education services, we know this subject matter well and have a national reputation for our engaging, dynamic and supportive delivery. 

INclusion INcorporated’s mission is: To challenge, inspire and provide opportunities for leaders to create spaces and places where belonging is the normative value. With a vision that each person belongs and has the opportunity to thrive in the spaces, places and ways they choose. 

INclusion INcorporated launched the #BridgesofBelonging conversations with diverse leaders in May 2020 to showcase vulnerable discussions and facilitate rehumanizing approaches.

INclusion INcorporated can be reached at info@inclusionincorporated.com learn more at www.inclusionincorporated.com

Laura McPhie (she/her/kwe) is a member of Pikwakanagan First Nation and of mixed Indigenous and settler descent. She speaks from lived experience of being a Two-Spirit/Queer urban Indigenous person who is a trauma survivor and neuro-divergent.

Laura spent 15 years as a competitive swim coach and a few years as a triathlon, competitive lifesaving, and ultimate frisbee coach. Throughout that time, she has also been a active athlete in club and recreation sport, often balancing and struggling with her identities in the sport context.

Laura’s education includes two Masters that focused on Sport Administration and Sexual Diversity Studies from Ohio University and University of Toronto. Currently, she uses her lived experience as a queer, Indigenous, trauma survivor to design interactive trainings, education frameworks, and DEI policy advice for organizations.

Laura’s DEI work spans industries, helping support the advancement of DEI knowledge of workplaces within finance, sport, culture, and education institutions. Despite her work spanning many industries, her passion is in creating safe sport space that focuses on developing programming outcomes that include mental health and life-skill growth in participants and coaches.

Laura believes strongly that we are each on a learning path and our roles are to help those on the path around us. Reach out to Laura for conversations about 2-Spirit and LGBTQT in sport, including Indigeneity, creating Safe/Brave sport spaces, and promoting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in sport.

Lauran can be reached at lamcphie@gmail.com

TransFocus Consulting Inc., Kai Scott, President: Since starting in 2016, TransFocus delivers solutions to issues of gender diversity for people and systems in sport and other sectors.

This includes providing education and advice on a range of topics, including:

• interpersonal interactions,
• gender categories on registration forms,
• washroom and change room issues, and
• policy revisions and development.

With both lived experiences across the gender spectrum as well as professional expertise, TransFocus adeptly unlocks hidden gender assumptions that undermine wellbeing and participation among players, staff, and volunteers. These efforts result in greater support and inclusion of gender diversity. TransFocus has worked with viaSport BC as well as various provincial and national sports organizations across Canada.

For more information on services, contact kai@transfocus.ca or please refer to TransFocus website: www.transfocus.ca.

Prism Consulting Services, was formed by Stephanie Shostak, a Transgender Advocate, in 2017 and is located in Edmonton.

Prism can assist you:

· in the development, implementation & successful roll-out of &/or review and update your Diversity & Inclusion Policies that reinforces your commitment to providing equality & fairness to all your staff & eliminates discrimination in the workplace;

·  by bringing in the appropriate people together in constructive ways with good information and lived LBGTQI2S+ sports experience, to create authentic visions & strategies for addressing shared concerns while Engaging your stakeholders through the process of compromise & honest, respectful dialogue; &

·  by establishing policies that govern the way you collect, use & disclose information while mitigating risk & ensuring that you meet legislative privacy goals; with completing Privacy Impact Assessments; & in Breach Investigations.

For more information email: president@prismconsultingservices.com

David Thibodeau (he/him) is an advocate for 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion in sport. David has been a youth swim coach for 10 years, and masters swim coach for 3 years, and a swimmer for 12 years. He competed at Canada Games for Team New Brunswick in 2013. In his advocacy efforts, David has spoken at Egale’s OUTShine Conference in 2019 on the strength of diversity in gym classes and sports, he is the author of Coach New Brunswick’s Guide for Working with LGBTQ+ Athletes, and is a You Can Play Ambassador. David was selected as a Young Sport Maker for Global Sports Week 2020 in Paris, where he advocated for inclusion of LGBTQ peoples in sport to the global sports industry. He holds a Masters in Public Policy and Administration from Carleton University.

In a consulting capacity, David is happy to help with the development, review and implementation of policies, codes of conducts, procedures, programs and guides to help make clubs and organisations a more inclusive space for everyone.

David can be reached at David.Thibodeau@unb.ca

You Can Play is dedicated to changing the culture of locker rooms and sports venues for athletes, coaches, staff and fans by focusing on an athlete’s contribution to a team or sport instead of sexual orientation, gender identity or other discriminatory factors.

You Can Play works at all level of sport to encourage acceptance and develop advocacy. Specific educational programs are available for athletes, coaches, media, front office staffs and fans. You Can Play also works to provide sensitive crisis communications consulting, meaningful team/league community inclusion for LGBTQI2S+ athletes and fans, and programs for corporate partners working in sports.

For more information contact david@YouCanPlayProject.org or visit www.YouCanPlayProject.org.