Association Management Consultants Inc.

President - Tom Abbott, B. Comm., CGA, CAE

Tom is a professional accountant (CGA), a Certified Association Executive (CAE), an international consultant and an author, and has been involved in association management as a volunteer, a senior staff person and a consultant for over two decades. During that time he has worked with over 450 different non-profit groups. He has written articles on association management, the Complementary Governance Model, the Carver Policy Governance Model, strategic planning and effective board/committee operations.

He has spoken at Canadian and US conferences, been quoted in the Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE) magazine Association and John Carver's newsletter, and presented a nationwide series of seminars for the CSAE.

His firm's consulting clients have included international, national, provincial and local societies such as Shell Employees Federal Credit Union (US), the Assn. of Real Estate License Law Officials (US), the Western US Museums Assn., the Washington Society of Assn. Executives, the Real Estate Council of Ontario, Canadian Bar Assn. (BC Branch), the College of Dental Surgeons of BC, Tourism Vancouver, the Asia Pacific Foundation, the BC Wildlife Federation, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of BC, the BC Pharmacy Assn., the BC Wine Institute, St. John Ambulance, the Victoria Real Estate Board, the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board, Hostelling International - BC Region, the Society of Notaries Public of BC and the Society of Management Accountants of BC.

His areas of consulting include: staff recruitment, strategic planning, Board training and facilitation and policy governance implementation. His firm has also developed the comprehensive INPAC program (Improvement in Non-profit Practices and Controls) which is designed to review and evaluate all vital areas of NPO governance and management and provide an independent report on the strengths of the organization as well as areas where improvements can be effected.

Tom is the creator of the Complementary Model of Board Governance. He has been awarded the Dalton N. Murphy, CAE Award by the BC Chapter of the Canadian Society of Association Executives. The award was granted to him "in recognition of both outstanding and sustained contributions to the association community".

Senior Consultant - John Finlay, CAE

John has over 35 years of experience as a senior manager in a broad range of organizations and industries. He has served the not-for-profit sector for over 25 years and managed organizations at both the national and provincial levels. His experience as a senior manager of not-for-profits was gained in a wide variety of organizational types, in business areas as diverse as retail and construction to the arts and cultural sectors. He has worked with structural models as varied as federations, colleges, and foundations. He has served as a management consultant for both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, for seven years.

John is an effective communicator and a strong presenter with a successful track record working with a wide variety of stakeholders, all levels of government, and the media. He has proven expertise in Board Governance and Training; Strategic Planning; Governance Implementation; Advocacy and Public Relations; Development and Design of Communication Vehicles; Organizational Benchmarking; Executive Search; Succession Planning; Design and Implementation of Education and Training Programs; Project Development; Trade Show Management; and Finance and Budgeting.

He has experience and expertise as a facilitator and consensus builder working with very diverse groups. As a member of The Retail Learning Initiative at the Centre for the Study of Commercial Activity, at Ryerson Polytechnic University, John played a major role in the development, design and presentation of a variety of national training programs. He initiated the formation of the first vertical council for the hardware industry in Ontario. He was a founding member and served as a director of the Small Business Advisory Council in Ontario. In 1991, he chaired the Communications Working Group, of the National Cross Border Shopping Task Force. Since returning to BC twelve years ago he has played a major role in the development of a variety of coalitions (working with a network of other associations) in developing a model for a world-class training system for the BC construction industry. John has also worked on several initiatives in the not-for-profit sector with a number of the major British Columbia educational and training institutions.

John obtained his professional designation in association management in 1989 and has successfully completed the Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE) Effectiveness in Governance and Leadership Programs. He has also served as a volunteer Director in both the Vancouver and Toronto Chapters of the Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE).