Who We Are

Mark is a certified analytics and insights professional (CAIP) with over 15 years of research experience. In 2017 he won the Canadian research industry’s 2017 Emerging Leader award. Mark is a well known leader in the Canadian research community and has experience across the country working on projects in many sectors.

Mark brings incredibly unique experience and perspectives to the table, which make him a valuable member of any project team looking to make better, evidence-based decisions about their policies, products, operations, and strategy.

Mark began his career working for two of Canada’s leading research firms, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Edmonton, Alberta. From 2017 to 2022, Mark was the Manager of Corporate Research for the City Edmonton. In this role, he revolutionized how the City developed and completed market research. As part of a newly conceived Engagement Branch, his team of researchers were responsible for all centralized research services for clients across the $3 billion city organization and undertook hundreds of studies annually ranging from small omnibus surveys to large multi-year, multi-stakeholder projects. This work included the development and management of one of the first and most successful citizen insight panels created by a North American municipality, the Edmonton Insight Community.

Mark has worked for both government and the private sector, but has always been driven by an entrepreneurial spirit. He thrives on helping business owners and organizational leaders innovate and succeed. And where he puts his time and money proves this. As an early investor in one of Alberta’s first craft breweries, he knows the ups and downs of starting a new venture and has continued to provide marketing support and guidance to the brewery for over 12 years. Also, as a farm kid, Mark began to understand at an early age the challenges of Canadian farmers, including how to generate revenue and market products.

Born and raised on Prince Edward Island, Mark now calls Alberta home. He never misses a chance to see a live concert or sporting event and occasionally enjoys a round of golf and a little mountain biking. Most of his free time is spent with his wife, two daughters and boston terrier exploring the beautiful province of Alberta and Atlantic Canada whenever possible.

Focus Areas:

• Customer Acquisition and Marketing
• Government
• Agriculture
• Food and Hospitality

Cory has over 20 years of professional experience in the government, engagement, and management consulting fields. He has a passion for helping leaders think critically about how they make decisions, including how best to include insights provided by employees, stakeholders, and customers. His view is that often there can be a disconnect between data gathering, information generation, insight application, and decision criteria, which can lead organizations astray when it comes to decision making. He believes strongly in the skills, experience, and intuition of managers, but also believes they should be supported by a healthy dose of evidence and analysis, which can spur innovation and boost effectiveness.

Most recently, he was the Director of Public Engagement for the City of Edmonton. During his time with the City, he led the Council Initiative on Public Engagement, which produced the City’s Public Engagement Policy adopted by City Council in 2017. This work resulted in the City of Edmonton being awarded the 2018 International Organization of the Year Award by the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2). Cory also led the creation of a new Public Engagement section within the City’s Communication and Engagement Department, building it from an office of one when he started in 2012 to a team of over 20 professionals.

Prior to working with the City of Edmonton, Cory was a Senior Manager in the Advisory Services group of Grant Thornton LLP, providing a variety of management consulting services to a range of government and private sector clients. He also previously worked as a Senior Consultant for a boutique public engagement firm, with the Government of Alberta, and with the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Cory holds a Bachelor of Arts in History, a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science, and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA).

He is a life-long Edmontonian and although he loves to travel as much as he can, he has grown to appreciate the unique qualities and opportunities that Edmonton has to offer … which does not include the winter weather. He enjoys completing the New York Times crossword puzzle daily, listening to podcasts about history, walking his gerberian shepsky Luna (that’s a dog), and spending time with his wife, daughter, and son.