Relational
I take time to understand the people, relationships and context surrounding the work. This helps create a process grounded in the realities of those involved rather than imposing a generic model.
I help people work through complexity together.
I am an independent engagement, education and strategy consultant based in Montréal and working across Canada.
I design and facilitate participatory processes that help organizations bring people together, strengthen important relationships and develop practical ways forward.
Who I am
My name is Noah Chalifoux. I am a facilitator, engagement specialist, learning designer, writer and strategist with a decade of experience supporting collaborative work around complex social, organizational and systems issues.
I am a settler of mixed French, Irish and Scottish ancestry living on the unceded territory of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal, QC). I hold a degree in Human Geography from Queen’s University, where my studies focused on community engagement, Indigenous-settler relations and how space structures inequities in Canada. I am currently completing a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership at McGill University, exploring how we can better support professionals and organizations in conducting community engagement that contributes to greater social impact. I am a PMI-certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and hold a Certificate in Public Participation from IAP2 Canada.
My work has brought me into collaboration with governments, healthcare organizations, nonprofits, Indigenous organizations and communities, social impact organizations, private-sector firms interested in their social impact, community-based organizations and people with diverse lived and living experience, including homelessness, addiction, mental health and sex work. Across these settings, I have supported people to navigate difficult conversations, develop shared direction, build meaningful learning experiences, design strategies and policies, and translate complex information into practical tools.
I am most interested in work that centres relationships: where people need to understand one another, make decisions together and establish a stronger foundation for ongoing collaboration.
Relationships are our most critical infrastructure.
We have all encountered the shining framework, plan or other deliverable that cost countless hours to produce and that sits on a shelf collecting dust. As we conduct our work, we email them to each other hoping they might finally be used.
The deliverable brings us the comfort that we have accomplished something. But does it mean we have really done our job?
Deliverables have their place. But they cannot move things forward without people who understand the work and have relationships strong enough to carry it.
This is why I approach engagement as more than information gathering. A good process should help people contribute meaningfully, understand different perspectives and develop the relationships and skills required to continue working together beyond the life of a contract or project.
The final output matters. So do the investments you have made in everyone involved along the way.
How I work
Participatory
The people closest to an issue carry essential knowledge about it. I create thoughtful and accessible opportunities for staff, communities, partners and clients to influence the work and contribute to decisions that affect them.
Practical
Complexity should not become an excuse for inaction. I help groups identify what they understand, where tensions remain and what practical steps can happen next. This means constant attention to what people need to enact change in their practice, rather than perfecting strategies or frameworks that collect dust.
Adaptive
Engagement rarely unfolds exactly as planned. I design clear processes while remaining responsive to what participants share, what relationships need and what the work requires.
Strengths-based
A project should strengthen people’s ability to continue the work and build on what is already working. I work to affirm strengths and collaborate on paths forward that support improved relationships, buy-in and organizational health. Depending on the context, this may include shared language, stronger relationships, clearer roles, new skills or practical tools that support implementation.
What I bring
Clients work with me when they need someone who can:
- Design a thoughtful engagement or collaborative process
- Facilitate important or complex conversations
- Help different perspectives find shared direction
- Translate engagement findings, data and research into clear recommendations
- Support collaborative strategy or policy development
- Design curriculum and participatory learning experiences
- Turn complex ideas into accessible reports, guides and tools aimed at practical application
- Bring structure to an unclear question without predetermining the answer
I bring facilitation, engagement design, strategic thinking, learning design and knowledge translation together into one practice.
Partnership and solidarity
At the core of my practice is the belief that work should be led by the people most impacted by an issue. I have had the honour of working alongside diverse partners, including community organizers, Indigenous Nations, communities and organizations, peer-led organizations, youth, people of diverse abilities and people from diverse professional backgrounds. I have learned so much from working in solidarity with people who have walked a different path from my own.
My commitments are to:
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01
Be mindful of where I come from, the limits of what I know and invite collaboration for work beyond what I can meaningfully understand.
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02
Listen, learn and grow in relationships of solidarity. This includes affirming difference honestly, addressing power dynamics openly and accepting feedback with humility and gratitude.
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03
Carry relationships beyond the life of projects. The most meaningful part of the work we do is the relationships we generate through doing it together. I commit to finding ways to remain present in those relationships beyond project closure.
Experience
View selected work- Engagement, public participation and community planning
- Strategy, policy, partnership and organizational development
- Community safety, overdose response, health equity and healthcare
- Indigenous cultural safety, reconciliation and community accountability
- 2SLGBTQIA+ health, workplace safety and inclusion
- Curriculum design, knowledge translation and implementation
Looking for a thoughtful partner in complex work?
If your organization needs to bring people together, strengthen important relationships or find a practical way forward, I would be happy to learn more.
Discuss a project