I created this site in 2020 as a place to share ideas and perspectives shaped by a long career in public policy, strategic planning, communications, association management, government, and politics.

When I launched it, I did not fully appreciate how constraining to self-expression it could be to work within Ottawa’s mainstream policy and institutional ecosystem.

Writing carefully, moderating tone and always colouring within the lines may be necessary, even appropriate, but over time it is also limiting.  That is why this site did not become the safe place for unvarnished expression I had hoped it would be.

As I write this, I’m in a different place, I’ve left full-time association management and have moved to a different stage of my professional life: One where I can choose, who I work with, what projects I lend my time to and the causes I advocate for.

And with that, I’m reclaiming my own voice — the ability to write and think freely, without the need for perpetual moderation and compromise.  This site now reflects that intention more clearly.

I still expect to post the occasional quick take on breaking news, but the emphasis will remain on more considered opinion and longer-form analysis, written honestly and in my own voice.

While the news cycle will shape some of what appears here, my focus will increasingly be on a smaller number of issues of particular concern to me: governance and leadership, mental health and wellbeing in institutional settings, public policy and democratic practice, and the human consequences of how we design and manage our institutions.

And from time to time, I may still share thoughts on a book or two that have little — or nothing at all — to do with public policy.

This site is, at its core, a place to think out loud — freely, honestly, and for me, in a reclaimed voice.

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I look forward to the conversation!