The old maps
no longer work.

We are living through a period of deep, disorienting transition. Careers, institutions, economies, and identities are all shifting at once. Many organizations are responding by accelerating what they already know, when what's needed is a fundamentally different approach.

I help leaders and organizations make sense of what's changing, plan a path through it, and move forward with more clarity, intention, and humanity.

For civic leaders, mission-driven organizations, and teams navigating complexity in a world that keeps rewriting the rules.

Start a conversation → See how I work
Elli McDine
Elli McDine Facilitator · Speaker · Researcher · Strategist
Elli McDine speaking at Calgary Public Library
About Elli · she/her · Edmonton

A decade of leading transformation inside complex organizations. Now doing it independently.

I'm a researcher, strategist, facilitator, and educator with over ten years of experience helping organizations understand what's shifting around them, plan a path through it, and build the conditions for people to lead through uncertainty with clarity and courage.

Most recently I've been Executive Director of the Alberta 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce, Director of Member Journey Transformation at AMA, and Director of Strategic Initiatives at NAIT, where I led enterprise research programs, institution-wide transformation initiatives, and strategic planning processes across complex, multi-stakeholder environments.

I teach Intrapreneurship and Innovation at NAIT's JR Shaw School of Business, and co-directed Coming Home, a documentary series on gender transition and queer joy. I'm also a founding member of Queer Joy YEG, a community organizer, and a public speaker on transition, creativity, and human-centred change.

As a trans woman and a parent, I've experienced transition not as a framework but as a lived reality. That shapes everything about how I approach this work. I don't believe transformation is primarily technical. I believe it is fundamentally human.

Public Speaking Research & Foresight Strategic Facilitation Educator Documentary Filmmaker Community Builder
The defining skill of this century may well be learning how to navigate transition with intention rather than just surviving it.
The next economy will likely be shaped by creativity, identity, community, and human agency, not technology alone.
Equity is not a separate workstream. It is what makes systems work for everyone.

We are in an age of transition.

The problem isn't the pace of change.
It's that we're using yesterday's tools to navigate it.

How I work

Transformation is not just organizational. It's personal, cultural, and systemic.

Most change efforts fail because they treat human beings as variables to manage rather than as the source of every transformation that actually works. I help organizations move differently by starting with sensemaking, grounding strategy in human reality, and building the conditions for people to genuinely thrive through what comes next.

01

Research & Sensemaking

What is actually happening here?

Most organizations have more data than they can interpret. I help you understand what it means: what's shifting beneath the surface, what's emerging, and what it's asking of you before it becomes a crisis.

  • Qualitative and quantitative research
  • Surveys and stakeholder engagement
  • Sector foresight and trend analysis
  • Organizational sensemaking and insight translation
This is for you if

your organization is making decisions based on instinct or outdated information, and you need a clearer picture of what's actually shifting and why.

02

Transition Design

A path that people actually want to walk.

Transition fails when it's imposed rather than co-created. I help organizations design change that is honest about complexity, grounded in human experience, and built for the world as it actually is, not the one in the old strategic plan.

  • Strategic planning and roadmapping
  • Change process design and facilitation
  • Culture mapping and organizational alignment
  • Equity-centred frameworks for complex change
This is for you if

you know change is needed but every attempt so far has stalled, lost people, or failed to stick, and you're ready to try a fundamentally different approach.

03

Workshops & Speaking

Learning that shifts how people think.

I design and deliver experiences that change the conversation in a room, from keynotes on the age of transition to deep workshops on sensemaking, creativity, and leading through complexity. My work is always research-based, experience-driven, and jargon-free.

  • Keynotes on transition, sensemaking, and human-centred futures
  • Workshop design and facilitation for teams navigating complexity
  • Facilitated strategic conversations, retreats, and leadership offsites
  • Interactive team experiences that shift how people think and work together
This is for you if

you need to move a room, whether that's a conference audience, a leadership team, or an organization that needs to think differently about what's coming.

Media

Storytelling is part of how I work.

Alongside the consulting and facilitation work, I use media as a way to explore ideas, build community, and communicate complex things in human terms. Below are two examples. You can also follow along on Instagram at @elli.mcdine.

Documentary · Telus Storyhive

Coming Home

A documentary about queer and trans joy, told through Elli's experience navigating gender transition in her mid-30s. Through personal reflections and conversations with family, friends, and community, Coming Home explores how fear keeps us small, the joy authenticity brings, and the power of rediscovering your voice.

Interested in organizing a screening or event? Get in touch.

Webinar · Business Link

Building Inclusive Business: Supporting Alberta's 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurs

A webinar in partnership with Business Link on the unique challenges faced by Alberta's 2SLGBTQI+ business community, the supports available, and how allyship leads to stronger, more resilient businesses.

Ready to navigate transition differently?

Let's build something that actually works.

If you're leading an organization through complex change and the traditional approaches haven't delivered, that's not a failure of effort. It may be a signal that a different kind of thinking is needed. I'd like to explore what that looks like with you.

Start a conversation → Make an introduction
Get in touch

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I live and work in amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton, Alberta), on Treaty 6 territory, the traditional lands of the Cree, Nakoda, Dene, and Blackfoot peoples, and the homeland of the Métis Nation of Alberta. These lands were never ceded, and the communities who have called this place home for generations continue to navigate the ongoing effects of colonization. I am committed to ongoing learning about what it means to do this work responsibly and in right relationship with Indigenous communities.