Meet the Team

Bridge Building Group is a community of engagement specialists, facilitators, graphic recorders and planners who help people have meaningful conversations and gatherings. Want to join the community? Keep scrolling and get in touch!

Core Team

  • CO-FOUNDER, PROFESSIONAL FACILITATOR

    Jane Porter is a Certified Professional Facilitator (Integral® and IAF Certified™) with over 15 years of experience (national and international) as a convener and consultant bringing a depth of process skills and content knowledge. She has worked at the forefront of key sustainability issues of our time and has led strategy development, program design and national stakeholder initiatives on topics related to climate change, sustainable natural resource management and startups for sustainability.  She is a co-founder of Impact Hub Ottawa, and a Board Member of the Parkdale Food Centre.

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  • CO-FOUNDER, PROFESSIONAL FACILITATOR

    Melissa Hammell is a Certified Integral Facilitator® and community connector who is passionate about addressing intricate global challenges one cup of tea at a time. Being from a mixed family with strong Anishinabe roots, Melissa carries the responsibility of bringing different worldviews together through deep listening and relationship building. In her role as a consultant she has led reconciliation initiatives and community conversations across Canada. Melissa holds a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication from the University of Waterloo and an Integral Facilitator® certificate from Ten Directions. She is on the Board of Directors for both the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health, and the Ottawa Riverkeeper.

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  • ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGER

    Fernanda Corrêa is a multifaceted professional who brings a creative and strategic lens to every project she is part of. With a strong background in business strategy, digital marketing, and project management, she excels at transforming complex challenges into actionable solutions. Known for her strong organizational skills, collaborative mindset, and customer-focused approach, she thrives in dynamic environments and consistently delivers results with clarity, creativity, and purpose.

  • DIRECTOR OF INCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT & VISUAL STORYTELLING

    Holding experience in a multitude of disciplines, Jessica’s expertise is naturally drawn to that of graphic facilitation, facilitation, reporting and project organization with a passion for inclusive community engagement for socially & ecologically conscientious design. Her approach to all project solutions is that of careful listening - rooted in the belief that the path forward is found in open, balanced conversation. Born and raised in Ottawa, with a mix of settler and Anishinabe heritage, Jessica fully believes in the importance of open, truthful storytelling and story-sharing for intercultural collaboration and bridge-building. View Portfolio.

  • DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

    Vanessa is a dynamic leader with over two decades of global experience across healthcare, tech, and nonprofit sectors. Known for driving collaboration, leading teams through complex challenges, and executing strategic initiatives, she brings a unique blend of clarity, adaptability, and operational expertise to the Bridge Building Group team. Passionate about turning ambiguity into action, Vanessa is a trusted force of change, connecting people, ideas, and purpose to deliver meaningful impact. In her extended leadership efforts, Vanessa serves as Network President of Lean In Ottawa and as an Executive Member of PushPULL Ottawa Dance Company.

Advisory Team

Collaborators

  • ENGAGEMENT LEAD

    Jennifer is an educator and facilitator who creates spaces for belonging and connection, believing in the magic that happens when people gather. She designs and hosts experiences that spark curiosity, foster connection, and make room for both play and purpose, often beyond the four walls of classrooms and boardrooms.

    Her deepest passion is reimagining education, not just what we learn, but how we come together to wonder, question, and create meaning. She works with educators and communities to design learning environments that are participatory, emergent, and alive with possibility.

    Beyond education, Jennifer also designs gatherings that stretch into planning, play, and collective visioning. For her, gathering is more than an activity, it is how we understand one another, uncover new possibilities, and practice being human together.

  • ADVISOR, STRATEGY & DEVELOPMENT

    Katie is a strategist and facilitator with over 12 years of experience working across sectors building entrepreneurial and equitable approaches to social impact. She is passionate in the belief that business can be a force for good and that a more just, equitable and sustainable future is possible. She has led and supported clients in a variety of projects from conducting internal equity assessments, delivering tailored training, and supporting co-creative processes to design more equitable products, programs and teams. Of mixed settler and Anishinabe heritage, Katie has worked across Canada and the globe. She previously served as member of the Social Innovation Advisory Council to the Government of Canada and is currently Treasurer at Water Rangers, a social enterprise empowering communities in protecting waterways.

  • PEOPLE & CULTURE ADVISOR

    Barb Sweazey is a Certified Professional Facilitator with more than 25 years of consulting experience in organizational effectiveness, sustainability, and natural resource management. A former Partner at Stratos Inc., she is recognized as a creative and energetic leader who helps organizations strengthen culture, collaboration, and performance. 

    Barb brings extensive expertise in designing and facilitating workshops, strategic planning processes, and multi-interest dialogues—often in complex contexts where perspectives differ or conflict. She is especially skilled at creating inclusive processes that enable groups to clarify priorities, solve problems, and make decisions that lead to sustainable results.

    At Bridge Building Group (BBG), Barb serves as a People and Culture advisor to the leadership team, drawing on her experience as Director of Organizational Effectiveness and Chair of Management Committee at Stratos. She also joins BBG project teams as a consulting associate to support meaningful client engagements and dialogue. 

    She holds a Bachelor of Environmental and Resource Studies from the University of Waterloo, with a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies.

  • Jennifer Davis is a sustainability consultant and facilitator with over 20 years of experience advising public, private, and Indigenous clients on strategy, governance, and systems change. She has worked at the forefront of issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, reconciliation, and the transition to a low carbon economy, bringing clarity and momentum to complex collaborations.

    Her practice also explores emerging frontiers, including organizational readiness for artificial intelligence, psychedelic safety and mental health innovation, and the design of inclusive innovation ecosystems.

    Jennifer serves on the Board of Directors for CAIN (Canada’s Accelerator and Incubator Network) and holds an MBA from the University of Ottawa, a Bachelor of Environmental Science from the University of Guelph, and certification as a Change Management Practitioner.

  • FINANCE ADVISOR

    Jan O’Donnell is a virtual CFO and Integral Master Coach™ with more than 25 years' experience supporting organizations of all sizes and stages as a trusted advisor and senior financial management roles. Her work and volunteer contributions are inspired by the importance of building sustainable social purpose organizations while also serving the brilliant people that drive innovation in our world. 

    She is recognized as a trusted collaborative partner who combines her skills as an Integral Master Coach™ together with her strategic finance expertise to support financially robust and resilient operations that can scale and empower program delivery. As an Integral Master Coach™, her work focuses on entrepreneurial and community focused individuals who recognize that change is needed in some part of their work or personal lives and seek a trusted partner to navigate their journey of stepping into their own power.

  • Amanda is a facilitator for social change and a community development leader who believes we can transform our communities to be places of deep belonging, rooted in justice, where everyone thrives for generations. Amanda’s practice draws on participatory methods, playful, and creative tools to create spaces of deep connection and possibility amongst diverse groups of people. 

    Amanda has more than 15 years of professional experience across government, academia, and the nonprofit sector, including over a decade of working directly with communities to deepen their engagement and support their efforts for social change. She is the co-founder of the Ottawa Facilitation Community of Practice, and sits on the Mechanicsville Community Association board.

Are you a bridge builder?

We are always looking for other talented facilitators, convenors and bridge builders to join this community.

If what you are reading here resonates deeply, let’s connect.

Let's connect.