Valerie Stam

Valerie Stam is a white settler of Dutch descent living, working, and playing on the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people, also known as Ottawa. She has over twenty years experience in community development, civic engagement, research and public policy. Most recently as the Executive Director of the City for All Women Initiative (CAWI), a grassroots organization working at the intersection of municipal affairs, civic engagement, and gender equity in Ottawa, Canada, Valerie led advocacy campaigns for inclusive and equitable municipal policies and practices. During this time, CAWI received the Layton Social Justice Award. Over a period of nearly six years, she also led the organization through tremendous growth and change: most notably, transitioning to a distributed leadership model and adopting the 4-day work week. 

 

Valerie is passionate about working in, and with, community. She is keen to ensure organizations adequately and accurately represent and amplify their members and constituents’ needs and values. As a consultant, she is particularly invested in supporting mission-driven organizations through large-scale change management processes so as to better reflect their values through policy, practice, governance and organizational design. 

​

Her consulting and work experience spans five continents. Valerie has applied her expertise in GBA+, EDI, participatory learning and design, mapping, strategic planning, evaluation, and arts-based inquiry to local and international settings. Her consulting services include organizational change management, governance, policy design and review, and learning design and facilitation. With a PhD in Sociology from Carleton University, Valerie brings an eye for detail and a passion for community-engaged research. She is also a skilled facilitator and educator, particularly in strategic planning and qualitative research. Valerie also holds an MA in Conflict Studies from Saint Paul University and a BA in International Development from McGill University. With this background, Valerie brings expertise on conflict transformation, equity, and social justice to her practice. Past clients include embassies, municipalities, nonprofits, healthcare institutions, and organic farmers.

​

Valerie has a proven track record of generating innovation, leading high achieving teams, transforming vision into reality, and building networks and partnerships through collaboration. She has worked with renowned institutions such as Ottawa Community Housing, the International Development Research Centre, Community Health Centres, the Parliamentary Centre, and other Canadian and international organizations. She is a thought leader and published author in her field, with strong expertise in gender equity, social entrepreneurship, diversity and inclusion, and social determinants of health. 

 

A lover of languages, Valerie is fluently bilingual (English/French), has a working knowledge of Dutch and Spanish, and dabbles in Wolof, Hindi and Russian. In her free time, you can find her paddling on the water, playing cello with The Endpins cello ensemble, or writing fiction.