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Alan R. Vigoda has focused on excellence in capacity building, organizational development, communications and project management for twenty-five years.  He has planned, designed, managed and delivered projects, programs and services for public, private and non-government organizations and has lived and worked in fifteen countries on five continents.

Working with primarily non-profit and public sector groups in British Columbia, across Canada and around the world, Al is dedicated to providing creative, disciplined service to his clients and partners.  Twenty-five years immersion in development methodology, advanced technical capability in a variety of media and development processes and experience in a range of geographic, cultural and business contexts sets him apart.

Recently, Al has focused his international work on capacity building initiatives in Ethiopia and Ukraine.  Domestically, he has supported organizational development, training and communications efforts for and with small non-profits in Toronto and Vancouver.  An increasing proportion of his work, both domestically and internationally, is related to Information and Communication Technology. 

Current Activities

In late 2009, Al completed an exciting and challenging engagement as Director of Vibrant Surrey, a multi-sectoral collaborative dedicated to reducing poverty in Surrey, British Columbia.

Prior to joining this exciting initiative, Al was working with civil society organizations in two regions of Ukraine to help build their capacity to effectively participate in regional strategic planning.  He was also supporting the Public Engagement and Training of Trainers components of a project aimed at increasing ethics and transparency in Ethiopian governance.

Al has also completed the production of a self-directed learning package for staff working with Residents’ Councils in long-term care homes.  The package includes print, multi-media and web-based peer-support components and was funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health for the Ontario Association of Residents’ Councils.

As part of the celebrations for an Ontario-based non-profit organization’s 25^th Anniversary, Al designed and managed the production of a souvenir book and related point-of-contact displays.  He also developed strategic and branding plans for member and public communications for the same organization and developed public information packages for two others. 

Al designed and implemented Information Technology upgrade programs for non-government organizations in Ontario and British Columbia.  He continues to support the Information Technology infrastructure of organizations in BC, most recently by developing secure, encrypted e-commerce site to support an organization’s fundraising activities.

Selected Past Activities

Al acted as Director of Communications for Nunavut Tunngavik, the Inuit land claims organization in Nunavut.  He was responsible for strategic and implementation planning, development and maintenance of departmental systems and work flow, advising political and administrative leadership on issues management and media relations, management of a staff of seven and programming and management of a $1.5 million annual budget.

Surrey Memorial Hospital is a major municipal health care facility in BC’s Lower Mainland.  Invited to conduct a short-term assignment to restructure the hospital’s education department, Al ended up working on a variety of organizational and professional development initiatives over the following  two years.  As well as developing and implementing the Master Education Plan for the facility, moving the institution toward a needs-based learning organization, he led a Leadership and Team Development Program, created and led a harassment prevention program and led the communication and education component of the hospital’s preparation for accreditation. 

Beginning with a two-year assignment in Papua New Guinea, Al has spent significant time in developing countries and emerging economies.  Al began working in Ethiopia over a decade ago, providing communication strategy and implementation planning for a major rural water supply initiative, funded by the government of Finland.  He was invited to return a few years later to design a disengagement and sustainability strategy for the program.  More recently, Al assessed internal training capacity in support of a massive, World Bank funded public sector capacity building project, PSCAP, returning the following year to help implement the capacity strengthening plan he developed.  He is currently supporting the Public Engagement and Training of Trainers components of a project aimed at increasing ethics and transparency in Ethiopian governance.

Working in The Gambia, Al completed assignments for several agencies and programs, developing the Information, Education, Communication strategy for the UNDP-led Strategy for Poverty Alleviation, the implementation plan for the Gambia National Population Policy (funded by UNFPA) and, most importantly, managing the World Bank funded Technical Assistance Package to the Information, Education and Communication Unit for the Women in Development Project.

From its origin in early 1984 through its development and implementation, Al was involved with the Asia-Pacific Project for Broadcasting in Development.  An initiative developed by Ryerson University’s Ryerson International, and funded by a consortium led by Canadian International Development Agency, the Project supported the creation of locally-oriented Development Broadcasting Units in radio and television stations in India, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.  Al was part of the teams that developed the original proposal, organized and conducted a feasibility and design study and created the final Implementation Package.  Once funding was secured, he moved to Malaysia for four years, working out of the regional partner’s Kuala Lumpur headquarters as Operations Manager for the Project.  In the final year of the Project, he led the international team of writers and producers who created the Project’s legacy Training Package, a multi-media compendium of lessons learned and processes developed and tested. 

Al has also provided media and education policy and planning expertise to a number of feasibility and monitoring assignments in South Asia and Southern Africa.

Aboriginal Communities

Al has worked extensively with aboriginal communities and organizations.  He led the implementation of a human resource development strategy for Esketmc First Nation in British Columbia, involving processes for community input and involvement, a community skills inventory, an analysis of needs and possibilities, development of a funding strategy and proposals development.  Working with Atii Training, he designed the first management training program for Inuit to be delivered by the Northern Television Network, developing content outlines, delivery and interaction mechanisms, budgets and proposals.  Al was lead consultant in the development of a management training program for community and First Nations administrators in Yukon, and also for a management and small business training program for the Mackenzie Delta.

Al has also worked with First Nations in Ontario and Quebec to provide Media Utilization Assessments and with the Inuit land claims organization Nunavut Tunngavik, to develop systems and skills within its communications department.

Training Programs

Al has developed nearly fifty training programs and packages to be delivered on-line, through television and radio broadcast, in the classroom and by a mix of technologies and methods.  Key packages include: a Leadership Skills Workshop developed for a social service delivery organization; End-User Coaching Kits and Job Aids for a software company; Team Building, Problem Solving, Decision-Making, Conflict Resolution skills development programs for a major municipal hospital; An institution-wide Harassment Prevention program for that same hospital; a management training program for Inuit, broadcast interactively to classrooms across Nunavut; an internationally acclaimed multi-media  training kit (seven books, four videotapes) for broadcasters involved in local level broadcasting; the audio component of a retirement planning self-learning program; project-related programs on a wide range of technical, managerial and soft-skills issues.

Media Production

Al has developed and produced marketing, public education and collateral material for a wide range of organizations in Canada and internationally. 

Produced Multimedia / Multi-Image / Web programming (web sites, electronic fora, CDs, slide/tape presentations) for: AMMSA; Dyad Projects; EASES; International Council for Adult Education; North Solomons Provincial Government; Nunavut Tunngavik; Ontario Gerontology Association; Ontario Association of Residents’ Councils; Participatory Research Group; Success Strategies; Surrey Memorial Hospital; United Steelworkers of America; Vibrant Surrey.

Produced Video programming (industrial, broadcast and webcast) for: Asia-Pacific Project for Broadcasting in Development; Canadian International Development Agency; CUSO; Government of Papua New Guinea; North Solomons Provincial Government; Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.; Ontario Association of Residents’ Councils; Ontario Institute for Studies in Education; Participatory Research Group. Sirosis Studios; Surrey Memorial Hospital;

Produced Audio Programming (broadcast, cassette, CD) for: CKMS; CKRY; Hume Publishing; National Broadcasting Commission, PNG; North Solomons Provincial Government; Ontario Rural Learning Association; Rattling Wireless.

Produced Print Materials (annual and activity reports, books, manuals, pamphlets, brochures, posters) for: AMSSA; Asia-Pacific Project for Broadcasting in Development; Business Links; Creo Ltd.; EASES; Esketemc First Nation; E.T. Jackson and Associates Ltd.; Food and Agriculture Organization; Government of The Gambia; Hume Publishing Company; International Council for Adult Education; National Broadcasting Commission of Papua New Guinea; North American Participatory Research Network; North Solomons Provincial Government; Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.; Milne Bay Provincial Government; Ontario Association of Residents’ Councils; Ontario Gerontology Association Rural Water Supply and Environmental Programme; Peace Arch Community Services; Surrey Memorial Hospital; United Steelworkers of America; Vibrant Surrey; Volunteer Vancouver.