Staff
Robert Cervelli, Executive Director
Robert has been a life science tech start-up entrepreneur for over 25 years, and understands the issues related to new business creation and the health of resilient local economies. He has founded, or co-founded, biotechnology companies developing diagnostics, cancer therapy, vaccine enhancement technologies, neurological drug discovery and consumer health products. He has become particularly knowledgeable in the commercial develop of botanical extracts and natural active compounds.
Robert has been an active volunteer in community building for over 35 years. He is a co-founder and Chair of Transition Bay St. Margarets Bay, one of the first Transition Initiatives in the Maritimes. He is advising other rural Maritime communities on the process of building Transition Initiatives in order to draw out the skills, processes and projects inherent in local cultures to build resilience and adaptability to global change.
Robert has corresponded widely and tracked the international development of new tools and initiatives bringing a solid ‘projects-first’ perspective to revitalization. He has been a member of the E.F. Schumacher Society for over 25 years, has corresponded internationally and attended key international events on alternative economics. A particular area of interest is in projects implementing innovative new tools for rebuilding economic resilience at the local and regional levels. His local currency projects include the ‘Bluenotes’ (1993, coupon note issued by 10 Halifax businesses), the “Maritime Hour’ (1994-98, local currency accepted by over 300 businesses), and the ‘Carat’ (2012-present, redeemable currency issued by local Nova Scotia farmers). Robert also sits on the Board of the St Margarets Bay Stewardship Association and several green technology companies.
As an experienced botanist and horticulturalist, Robert manages a one-acre vegetable farm at his home in St. Margarets Bay. He holds a B.Sc. degree (Forestry) from Purdue University and a M.Sc. (Botany) from the University of Wisconsin.
Andy Horsnell, Senior Consultant
Andy is an independent consultant, specializing in social enterprise development. His website is www.socialenterprisesolutions.ca.
He has worked for over three decades to help community-based enterprises and their local economies to be more resilient, self-reliant, and sustainable. He got his start working in rural Nova Scotia, providing coaching and training to independent entrepreneurs. In the mid-1990s, Andy started working with local non-profit organizations, helping them to start and grow social enterprises that used a business model to directly address important community issues. Since then, He has worked with 100s of community organizations — large and small, rural and urban, for-profit and nonprofit ‒ throughout North America and abroad. As a volunteer, he currently serves as the vice-chair of the Social Enterprise Council of Canada, is a founding director of Just, Good Business (formerly the Social Enterprise Network of Nova Scotia), and served as the chair of the Centre for Local Prosperity.
When he’s not doing consulting, Andy works with his partner SJ on their sheep farm (Pheasant.Ridge.Farm on Instagram) in beautiful Kempt Shore, Nova Scotia.
Josée-Ann Cloutier, Research Associate
Josée brings over 15 years working experience in the hospitality, health and education sectors along with starting three mobile health and wellness businesses. She’s a graduate from the Management program at Dalhousie University specializing in Entrepreneurship, along with receiving a fully funded MA from Europe researching the significance of community and social well-being in retreat settings. Josée worked as an Entrepreneurship Coordinator and Educator in Montréal as well as an Environmental Educator on climate change and energy efficiency in Nova Scotia’s Acadian and French speaking communities.
Olivia Langille, Project Manager
Liv was born and raised in what she describes as the “deep dark country woods” of Pictou County (and loved it!). She is passionate about climate change and biodiversity loss mitigation, and has become increasingly interesting in how agriculture and food systems impact and are impacted by these phenomena.
Ethan Neville, Filmmaker
Ethan Neville is a film maker and multimedia artist living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He has worked as a professional cinematographer and editor since 2001. He is currently working on a long-form multimedia art experiment : Stone Soup Unlimited, the Stone of Kindness project. This social art work is based on a hunch that humanity has the tools to evolve out of ignorance and aggression. These tools are social in nature, with the practice of Kindness, Conversation and Celebration we may attend to our collective ecological, social and scientific imbalance.
Karalee Clerk (MA), Managing Editor
Karalee is comfortable and happy in a busy writing environment, driven to unearth compelling, interesting and radical ways to transform the ordinary or unexpected into the words that best appeal to a target audience.
She has over 25 years’ experience in copywriting, marketing, branding and communications spanning a host of industries and organizations including non-profits, universities as well as corporate businesses, in both freelance and contract capacities. Professional accomplishments include an award-winning national advertising campaign for the University of Waterloo, working with former Governor General David Johnston, and a radical conference combining workplace with academics and research, working with world-renowned author, Malcolm Gladwell.
Creative writing credits cover features, columns and report writing for print, web and magazines—monthly and weekly columns in the Chronicle Herald, essays in The Globe and Mail’s, a CBC radio Outfront segment, a Global TV documentary featuring Edna Staebler, a popular blog—as well as magazine development & execution and publishing experience. She has edited multiple magazines and has taught copywriting, advertising and business writing at colleges and universities for more than a decade. She is also a creative director, overseeing the integration of word and visuals by guiding and collaborating with photographers, illustrators and graphic designers.
Karalee holds degrees from Dalhousie University of King’s College (MA Creative Nonfiction) and the University of Waterloo (BA Rhetoric and Professional Writing). If you’re ever looking for her, check out one of Nova Scotia’s rocky seaside shorelines or a forest trail.
Melissa Fillmore, Project Management / Design
Melissa is an implementer at heart and thrives on making ideas become a reality. She is an innovative problem solver and a clear thinker. Over the years she has developed her skill set in administration, program development, small business management and graphic design through varied opportunities in multiple countries. In addition to private sector endeavours in the United States, Melissa volunteered for five years in Africa, helping to establish an orphanage in Mozambique, and later assisting in the development and coordination of an agricultural and business adult education program in South Africa. Currently, as owner of Past to Present Photos, Melissa utilizes her graphic design, interpersonal, and organizational skills by assisting individuals in the curation of their personal histories through their photo collections.
Andrea Vandenboer, Project Manager / Filmmaker
Andrea has what you want in a project or event coordinator, a videographer, and an award-winning filmmaker – a background of international travel, music, theatre and digital arts that have led her and her company The Visual Blueprint Productions (and Theme Room Films co-partner) to become a visual story-telling force to be reckoned with. Her quick sense of humour, clarity and fiercely compassionate nature will find you wanting to see your event come to life under her skilful guidance or your own story told through the lens of her camera.
Andrea has produced, directed, edited, coordinated and filmed for documentaries, live events, promotional videos, fiction, animation, and numerous research projects. Her independent films often result in screenings at local and global venues with official selections for International Film Festivals and featured at educational institutions, conferences and events. The Centre for Local Prosperity documentary Climate Change and the Human Prospect produced and directed by Andrea earned her a Women in Film and Television Atlantic Best Director nomination at the 2019 Screen Nova Scotia Awards.
Andrea also has a history of creating memorable conferences, events, festivals, focus group planning and workshop coordination. She has experience in the supervision and training of others, including, teachers’ aide for video editing, set etiquette and film production roles in schools, and the planning and coordination of scheduled educational programs and program development with Women in Film and Television Atlantic.
Andrea is a proud member of Canadian Cinema Editors (CCE), Atlantic Filmmakers Co-operative (AFCOOP), Women in Film & Television Atlantic (WIFT-AT), and the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC).
Research Associates
Michael Shuman, Expert Consultant
Michael is an economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, and one of the world’s leading experts on community economics and local investment (michaelhshuman.com). Shuman has authored or coauthored eight books. His latest book is entitled The Local Economy Solution: How Innovative, Self-Financing “Pollinator” Enterprises Can Grow Jobs and Prosperity.
Michael has also written Local Dollars, Local Sense: How To Move Your Money From Wall Street to Main Street & Achieve Real Prosperity highlights a broad range of local tools for funding enterprise. He’s a founding board member of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). He is also an adjunct instructor in community economic development for Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.
Larry Berglund (SCMP, MBA, FSCMA), Expert Consultant
Larry’s supply chain experience includes leadership positions in the forest industry, public health care, municipal government, university operations, academia, and consulting services. As a consultant he drafts procurement policies, templates, develops strategies, conducts audits and implements best practices.
He facilitates online and classroom workshops on buying, business ethics, circular economy, contract management, inventory management, leadership, risk management, social procurement, operations management, supplier performance evaluations, competitive bidding, performance metrics, and supply chain strategies. He also provides onsite supply chain operational reviews.
Larry is an academic coach for supply chain courses in the Athabasca University Leadership & Management Development program, including environmental responsibility. He was invited to Hong Kong and Singapore to present to leading companies in the fast moving, consumer goods sector. In 2017, 2018 and 2019 Larry presented on advanced supply chain training to the United Nations staff in Brindisi, Italy. He is a procurement advisor and trainer for the Coastal Communities Social Procurement Initiative. Larry also facilitates training workshops for the Procurement School. In 2020, he presented to the World Bank in Washington, DC on social procurement strategies.
Larry has written many articles on a variety of supply chain subjects for business publications. His latest e-book, is Plan It for Our Planet: Social Procurement Practices, Policies, Principles and Plans for the Supply Chain.
