Staff
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Senior
Partner
Don Ference is President of Ference Weicker
& Company, with primary responsibility for marketing and brand
development. Under his
leadership, Ference Weicker & Company has developed from a small
management consulting firm to one of the leading independent
management consulting firms in
Western Canada
. For
his efforts, Don Ference was awarded the "Entrepreneur of the Year"
Award by the
Institute
of
Certified Management
Consultants
of BC.
Don
has a Masters of Business Administration degree and is a
Professional Engineer.
He is also a Certified Management Consultant and is past
President of the
Institute
of
Management
Consultants
of BC,
which was established to ensure and maintain a high degree of
professionalism in the industry. Don Ference has over 30
years of consulting experience. Prior to establishing the
firm in 1979, Don Ference was a Senior Consultant with Ernst &
Young in
Vancouver
. In his practice, Don has
specialized in the area of feasibility studies, development of
alternative service delivery models, government divestitures,
business process improvement, financial analysis, business
valuations, market research, and business
planning.
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Senior Partner
Ted Weicker, a Senior Partner of Ference Weicker & Company, maintains primary responsibility for implementation of the wide range of assignments undertaken by the firm. He oversees the development of detailed work plans, implementation of research programs, and preparation of project reports. He is also responsible for staffing, including the evaluation and development of the professional consulting staff.
Since graduating very near the top of his MBA class from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in the early 1980s, Ted Weicker has established a prominent career as one of the leading management consultants in Canada across a variety of practice areas. More specifically, he has established himself as a leading authority in the area of program evaluation, where he has led evaluations of a broad range of programs including social, economic development, arts, cultural, energy, health, and crime reduction programs for federal, provincial, regional and local government clients as well as utilities and non-profit organizations.
In the area of small business development, he has undertaken extensive research projects that directly impacted on the design and delivery of leading small business development programs and initiatives at all levels of government. He designed and developed a number of ground breaking software products, including the award-winning Interactive Business Planner, the Small Business Checkup, and the Interactive Exporter. He has been involved in the sale of these products to organizations in the United States and Europe.
He is a leader in the area of science & technology, where he has conducted cluster studies and prepared industry development strategies as well as marketing and strategic plans for high tech companies. He has worked across a wide variety of sectors including fuel cells, life sciences, biotechnology, functional foods, alternative energies, environmental technologies, ICT, new media and oceans as well as in more traditional sectors including tourism, agri-food, wood products, education, healthcare, manufacturing and distribution. He has prepared regional economic development, labour market development strategies and investment attraction strategies as well as strategic plans for industry associations and development organizations.
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Principal
Fataneh Zarinpoush (BA, MA, PhD) is a Principal with Ference Weicker & Company. She is an educational psychologist with over fifteen years’ research and evaluation experience in a wide variety of topics. She has led many national and provincial evaluation projects, managed qualitative and quantitative research projects, and coordinated large-scale national surveys. Prior to joining Ference Weicker, Fataneh has had extensive research, evaluation, and consulting experience through working with a wide variety of community-based organizations, businesses and governments. This includes her experience as a research manager at R.A. Malatest & Associates, a senior research associate at Imagine Canada, a research associate at the Institute for Work & Health, a research analyst at Brock University, and a research associate at the University of Toronto.
Fataneh is the author of a variety of information resources and training materials including tip sheets, frameworks and guides. A significant achievement of her publications is the development of the "Project Evaluation Guide for Nonprofit Organizations." This guide is referred to as "an excellent primer for developing an evaluation for a project - including the choice of technique and how to deliver your analysis" (http://www.smithmartinpartnership.com/evaluation.html). Most of her publications are available in English and French and are accessible here.
Dr. Zarinpoush also held a series of evaluation workshops across Canada. She is a past board member of the Canadian Evaluation Society, Ontario Chapter. She obtained her PhD from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
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Principal
Bryan
Kingsfield is a Principal with Ference Weicker & Company and the
Manager of our
Victoria
office. He has a Masters
of Public Administration (First Class) Degree from the
University
of
Victoria
and is
one of the best-known members of the economic development community
in BC.
Bryan
’s
primary focus is economic development, investment attraction, and
feasibility studies. Ference Weicker & Company recruited
Bryan
from the
Government of BC, where he served as a Director with the Science
Council of BC and, prior to that, in a variety of economic
development portfolios.
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Senior Consultant
Omar has a Masters of Business Administration in Marketing and International Business from Simon Fraser University. Prior to joining Ference Weicker & Company, Omar worked in various research positions for Vancouver Economic Development Commission; BC Ministry of Competition, Science and Enterprise; and Pivotal Corporation. In addition, Omar worked as a Strategic Planner at J Walter Thompson. With Ference Weicker & Company, Omar has worked in the areas of program evaluation and economic development. He has worked across a wide variety of sectors and industries including high technology, life sciences, hydrogen and fuel cells, tourism, arts and culture, forestry, value-added wood products, agri-food, oil and gas, and construction as well as communities and bodies including Aboriginals, immigrants, children in care, youth at risk, economic development and investment promotion agencies, and industry associations. |
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Senior Consultant
Slavica has MA in Social Science with specialization in Immigration and Settlement Studies from University of Ryerson, Toronto. Slavica brings to the company international experience and knowledge of the non-profit sector. Prior to joining Ference Weicker & Co, Slavica conducted a review of the educational pilot project for adult learners for Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities in Toronto. She specializes in government policy, and program evaluation & analysis in the areas of immigration, settlement and education. |
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Business Development Consultant
Jessica holds a Masters degree in Economics from the University of Toronto and a Bachelors degree with honours in Economics from Simon Fraser University specializing in econometric analysis and economic development. Prior to joining Ference Weicker & Company, Jessica was a Consultant with Prism Economics & Analysis in Toronto where she helped develop and design a forecast model and labour market tracking system which has been accepted and validated by key stakeholders across Canada. Jessica was involved in a variety of projects focusing on labour market analysis, human resource management, industrial relations, policy analysis, demographics, technology, regulation, and training and certification issues. Jessica has conducted quantitative and qualitative analysis including feasibility, cost-benefit, socio-economic and econometric analysis; and social research including telephone interviews, focus groups, and facilitated meetings. Since joining Ference Weicker & Company, Jessica has been extensively involved in proposal writing and program evaluations for clients such as BC Hydro, Department of Justice Canada, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, BC Ministry of Small Business Technology and Economic Development, Western Economic Diversification Canada, Auditor General of BC, Asia Pacific Gateway, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Aboriginal Human Resources Council, BC Ministry of Attorney General, BC Chicken Marketing Board, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Health Canada and the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General.
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Consultant
Eyyub Hajiyev has Master of Social Science degree from Columbia University in New York and MBA degree from Azerbaijan State Oil Academy. Eyyub brings to Ference, Weicker & Company an extensive, international and diversified work experience that he has earned in business administration and social studies. He has been involved in a wide range of research, evaluation, and consulting projects through organizations such as Oxfam-GB, United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), World Vision, Ethics Research Centre and Canadian Outcomes Research Institute. At UNDP, as an international expert, he led groundbreaking regional Corporate Social Responsibility study involving five Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro & Serbia). The study investigated the existing CSR situation in Western Balkans and developed recommendations for regional CSR engagement. Eyyub was a key research analyst in developing the Ethics Research Centre’s National Workplace Ethics Survey- 2007, which was the national benchmark on organizational ethics and the most rigorous evaluation of trends in workplace ethics in the USA. At Canadian Outcomes Research Institute (CORI), Eyyub was supporting numerous social service providers, community organizations, and funders to build capacity to evaluate socio-economic programs and services. Prior moving to Canada Eyyub led Oxfam-GB’s program and policy initiatives in Azerbaijan and worked for United Nations Programme on Youth in New York City. Eyyub’s interests are evaluations and research in social, economic, development, and health care related programs and services. He specializes in strategic development, needs assessment, policy and program design and development, and outcome and impact assessment.
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Consultant
Antoinette Semenya holds a Ph.D in Social Psychology from the University of Western Ontario where she received training in social science research methodology and analysis, and her research focused on issues of multiculturalism, Canadian identity and immigration. Prior to joining Ference Weicker & Company she worked at the BC Cancer Agency as a Sociobehavioural Research Scientist focusing on the psychosocial aspects of cancer and the evaluation of psychosocial programming for cancer patients. Antoinette was previously a Researcher with the Centre for Intergroup Relations and Social Justice at Simon Fraser University and an instructor in their Department of Psychology. Since joining Ference Weicker, Antoinette has worked on projects ranging from the evaluation of the BC Settlement Workers in Schools program, the Ministry of Children and Family Development's Case Practice Audit program, the implementation of the federal Foreign Credential Recognition program in BC, to the organizational review of the College for Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of British Columbia. |
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Consultant
Graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science, Lacy holds a Master of Science degree in Management and specializes in strategic management, econometric analysis, and corporate finance. Prior to joining Ference Weicker, Lacy worked at the customer development team at American Express Canada, where she helped develop industry intelligence in the Canadian pharma and agriculture industries, constructed B2B platforms for multiple merchants, and prepared research reports. Since joining Ference Weicker & Company, Lacy has been involved in a number of socio-economic impact assessments and agricultural branding projects.
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Consultant
Prior to joining Ference Weicker, Rachana was the Manager of the Research and Analysis at the Vancouver Economic Development Commission where she conducted economic competitiveness analyses for the City of Vancouver focusing on the City’s business climate and regional innovation systems. Rachana’s expertise in research particularly in the technology innovation sector was built up by her experience as the former Research Manager at Leading Edge British Columbia and her former position as a VP Research and Content at Geomarkets in San Francisco. She has a PhD in International Business from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Business Administration degree in Marketing from the University of Windsor, Ontario.
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Consultant
Colette Kime was recruited by Ference Weicker & Company out of the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba. On the Deans List all four years and a recipient of numerous scholarships, Colette graduated with Honours and a double major in marketing and small entrepreneurship management. Colette’s focus since she joined the firm over three years ago has been on program evaluation, however she has worked on topics as diverse as unclaimed property, quality improvement in psychiatric care, prevention programs related to the exploitation of youth, timber supply area socio-economic analyses, healthcare in support of First Nations and Inuit, and employment programming for persons with disabilities.
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Consultant
A Bachelor of Commerce graduate from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, Jasmina brings to Ference Weicker her integrated marketing communications skill and marketing research experience. Prior to joining Ference Weicker, she worked as an administrative assistant at a management services company where she was in charge of database maintenance and filing system, liaison with realtors, and customer services. With Ference Weicker, Jasmina has been involved with various Aboriginal evaluation studies and a major project on youth gang prevention.
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Researcher
Moona holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with First Class Honours from Simon Fraser University with a specialization in Management Information Systems and Management & Technology. In addition to being a recipient of the Deans List award and several undergraduate scholarships, she also completed an honours degree in Sustainability completed at the Segal Graduate School of Business. Prior to joining Ference Weicker & Co. Moona held an assistant teaching position at SFU teaching courses in Business/Systems Process Analysis and Project Management. Her past work experiences involved managing databases, conducting market research on the self-entrepreneurship industry in BC, and the compilation of business proposals for various stakeholders. At Ference Weicker, Moona is responsible for setting up the project management process including the reporting of projects, resource scheduling, and producing management reports. In addition, she also does data analysis and maintains databases.
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Researcher
Sharon Hope has over 30 years experience in research and holds a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia . Sharon has specializes in market research and has worked with Ference Weicker & Company on a wide range of assignments during the past five years including market studies, program evaluations, marketing studies, and industry surveys. Prior to her consulting career, Sharon worked for the Research Branch of the BC Ministry of Forests for 14 years. |
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Researcher
Lesley is a researcher with Ference Weicker & Company. She has a Bachelors degree in Psychology from the University of British Columbia and is currently working on obtaining her Masters degree in Measurement, Program Evaluation and Research Methodology from UBC. Lesley is excited to apply what she is learning to the research work she is doing at Ference Weicker. Prior to joining the company, she worked with Coast Mental Health as a mental health worker.
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Researcher
Caitlin Cooper is a researcher with Ference Weicker & Company Ltd. She has three university degrees including a Master of Public Policy from Simon Fraser University, a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Political Science from the University of New Brunswick and a Bachelor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Leadership Studies, Renaissance College, University of New Brunswick. With Ference Weicker & Company, she has participated in a series of program evaluations of the Atlantic Integrated Commercial Fishery Program (DFO), the Pacific Integrated Commercial Fishery Program (DFO), the Building Opportunities with Business Program for Western Economic Diversification, the Racism Free Workplace Strategy for Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, and the WCI, ISAP and HOST Programs for Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Prior to joining Ference Weicker & Company, she was a member of the Strategic Planning and Policy Team for TransLink (South Coast BC Transportation Authority) and the Canadian Coast Guard in Atlantic Canada. |
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Researcher
Beth Garner is a researcher with Ference Weicker & Company Ltd. She specializes in national and regional economic development issues, as well as financing mechanisms for development and trade. She has completed extensive surveys, interviews, market research and regulatory analysis, evaluating government programs in Mexico, Europe, Eastern Caribbean, Asia, and Atlantic Canada. Prior to working at Ference Weicker, Ms. Garner worked for an Ottawa-based consulting firm which provided advice to government-owned financing agencies from around the world in the area of program and policy evaluation. Ms. Garner also completed a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)-sponsored internship at the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Tunisia, contributing to the launch of an initiative to promote UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa for cultural and eco-tourism. Ms. Garner has a Master of Arts degree in Economics from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Economics from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.
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Senior Associate
Robert brings to Ference Weicker & Company over 25 years of program evaluation experience. He was previously employed as a program evaluation manager in the Canada Revenue Agency. Since retiring from the federal public service in 2003, he has undertaken numerous program evaluation assignments for a number of different federal government departments and/or institutions. Robert is fluently bilingual (i.e. highest Government of Canada bilingualism level, Exempt (E), in reading, writing and comprehension). Holding a Masters in Education, specialized in measurement and experimentation, Robert has taught Research Methodology and Quantitative Methods at the University of Ottawa. He has been an Associate with Ference Weicker & Company since November 2009. |
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Associate
With a PhD in Educational Studies, Catherine has a background in applied economics and adult education and extensive research experience in both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, including ethnographic research, open-ended interviewing, multiple regression analysis, survey design, and follow-up and impact studies. She is also the Program Director of the Research & Evaluation Unit at Simon Fraser University where she utilizes her expertise to help provide research and program evaluation services to clients across the university and within the corporate and public sectors. Catherine is currently involved in a national evaluation on relevance and effectiveness of communicable disease control cluster at Ference Weicker.
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Associate
Doug Boyce contributes high level marketing
expertise to our consulting assignments, assisting in the
development of detailed promotional strategies and serving as a
creative director for specific projects. Earlier in his career,
Doug served as the Associate Director, Sponsorships & Events for
Bell
Canada
, the Director of
Marketing for Radiant Communications, and the Director of Marketing
& Communications for the Knowledge Network. Doug holds a Masters of
Business Administration degree from
Dalhousie
University
and
a Bachelor of Arts degree
(Psychology) from Queen’s University. |
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Associate
Courtney brings over 10 years of Marketing and Project Management experience to Ference Weicker & Co. In his role as part of the Company b Marketing Group, he is also a marketing analyst for Jack Saladow and Associates where he is responsible for coordinating the Canadian office activities and projects as well as participates in the facilitation of the strategic business and marketing direction of the company and clients. At Ference Weicker & Co, Courtney has been involved in various immigration related projects. |
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