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Ian is an experienced organizational and personal development consultant and facilitator with an extensive background in business, government and labour. and has worked in Southeast Asia, Africa and throughout North America. He started his career as a Staff Representative for the United Steelworkers of America where he was engaged in a variety of social justice campaigns. He was responsible for providing research, training and negotiation skills for the Steelworkers’ Ontario region. He provided essential reports for Chain Bargaining Committees in the steel and nickel industries and was responsible for costing services at the bargaining table for large and small local unions. Ian also developed numerous policy papers on major issues such quality of working life initiatives, technological change and was a co-author of the Health and Safety Manual for employees covered under the Canada Labour Code.

Ian then moved west and took a position with the BC Ferry Corporation's planning group and was eventually appointed Manager of Planning Services and Secretary to the Corporate Management Council. During this period, he developed his facilitation skills and began to utilize and evolve the Creative Planning Dialogue method. He facilitated over 100 planning and teambuilding workshops for various departments within the organization.

Using his evolving skills set, Ian developed and facilitated the strategic direction for the Corporation's public consultation initiatives. He trained managers and was responsible for facilitating over 12 advisory committees in different coastal communities. He also developed a 'second tier' advisory group composed of representatives of all the Corporation’s major stakeholder groups. As part of a cross-functional team, he assisted this group in developing responses to major policy issues affecting all communities.

In 1975, Ian attended Queen's University at Kingston Ontario, graduating in 1979 with an Honours Bachelor of Commerce. During the 1990s, he complemented his business training with an intensive multi-year diploma program in humanistic psychology and counseling completed in 1999 at The Haven Institute on Gabriola Island, British Columbia. In 2000, he also attained his Masters in Therapeutic Counseling through the Open International University for Complimentary Medicine based in Sri Lanka.

In the nineties, Ian made his decision to start his own consulting firm, IC Possibilities Inc., specializing in facilitation, teambuilding, conflict resolution, strategic planning and public consultation. He entered this fulltime in 1999 and continues to help people develop themselves at work and meet the challenge of working creatively and effectively with others. He offers the right combination of understanding and meeting organizational requirements, balancing the needs and priorities of multiple stakeholders, and deftly navigating the group dynamics that are an integral part of any human initiative. He loves people and brings his compassion for his own frailties and those of others to every situation. He is often heard to say, "Well, yet another opportunity to learn and grow. Thanks, I think."

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