Lisa Hardess

Lisa is a Partner with MNP’s Consulting Services team in Toronto. She helps First Nations governments, organizations, and communities, along with their partners, find solutions to the challenges they face, while working with them to build local capacity. She helps clients develop a results-oriented plan that reflects their knowledge and needs, incorporates leading practices, and builds on their existing strengths to create the changes they want to see in their communities.

Lisa combines strong technical, regulatory, and community-based knowledge in planning, education, and sustainability along with excellent communication skills to create unique value for her clients. She brings close to two decades of progressively responsible experience in Indigenous, public, and private sector consulting to her role.

Lisa facilitates and develops community, strategic, operational, and action plans for First Nation Band Offices, First Nation regional and national organizations, educational authorities, and for organizations in both the not-for-profit and private sectors. Her work focuses on comprehensive community planning, governance, climate change adaptation, land and water use planning, environmental assessment, evaluation, community engagement and consultation, and executive training. She also provides leadership coaching to private sector companies, social services organizations, First Nation governments, and First Nation education departments and authorities.

Lisa earned a Bachelor of Education (BEd) from Queen’s University, an Honours Bachelor of Science (BSc) from Trent University, and a Master of Science (MSc) in planning and development from the University of Guelph, She is an Ontario-certified teacher, a certified trauma and resilience specialist in education, and certified in The Fundamentals of the First Nations principles of ownership, control, access, and possession — OCAP. She is a former Registered Professional Planner, and a past co-chair of the Indigenous Planning Community of the Canadian Institute of Planners.