About US

Colette Squires and Associates is an independent BC-based firm specializing in organizational development and conflict resolution/conflict prevention services. Colette established her private practice in 2010 with many years of experience and offers a range of services as a mediator and consultant to individuals and organizations. To ensure client needs are fully met, she partners with a variety of skilled colleagues as the scope of the work demands.

Colette’s formal training includes:

• M.A. in Criminal Justice
• Certificate in Conflict Resolution specializing in Mediation and Third Party Interventions (Justice Institute of BC)
• Certificate in Leadership and Conflict Resolution (Justice Institute of BC)
• Conflict Coaching (Justice Institute of BC)
• CUES Real Estate Governance Program (Rotman School of Management Executive Programs, University of Toronto)
• Indigenous Canada (University of Alberta)
• Victim Offender Mediation (Fraser Region Community Justice Initiatives)
• Real Justice and Community Justice Forums (RCMP)
• Grief and Loss (Center for Loss and Life Transition, Colorado)

An experienced practitioner, instructor, public speaker, published writer, and researcher, Colette’s work is diverse. She is a faculty member at the Center for Conflict Resolution at the Justice Institute of BC and has been a researcher at the University of the Fraser Valley Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice. She teaches Criminology and Justice for the Sociology Dept at Trinity Western University. She is a member of Family Mediation Canada and the Canadian Criminal Justice Association.

Colette is the author of From Passion to Proof: the Power of Program Evaluation as well as a variety of training manuals and scholarly papers.  In 2018 she co-authored The Essentials of Leadership in Government: Understanding the Basics (available on Amazon) and a variety of her research papers are now published in academic journals.

With a long history of volunteerism, Colette gives back to her community in a variety of ways. In 2015 she was appointed by the BC government to the Real Estate Council of BC, and in 2020 she became the Public Advisor to the Board of Directors for the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. Previously, she served for 6 years on a Citizen Advisory Committee for Correctional Service Canada. In 2021 she was appointed by the BC government to the Abbotsford Police Board, and in 2022 she was honoured to receive the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Award for service to community, recognizing 20 years of involvement locally and provincially.

A seasoned teacher of both adults and youth, Colette has extensive experience facilitating groups, delivering training, and has assisted with the development of a variety of new projects and initiatives for organizations in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Washington State.

In a former role as the Executive Director of Abbotsford Restorative Justice and Advocacy Association, Colette led the organization from its infancy in 2003 to a thriving organization¬—designing and delivering Victim Offender Mediation services for police and adult crown referrals, school-based initiatives in Restorative Action, and an innovative mentoring program for at-risk youth. In 2010 she was named a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International for her achievements in Restorative Justice.

Colette and her team now work with other organizations, providing training, mediation services, and program design and evaluation measures, building healthy communication and organizational practices. She has a special interest in encouraging excellence in individual and organizational leadership, and coaching clients to reach their personal best.

Previous and current clients include all levels of government, police, fire services, victim services, various school districts, universities, private business, not-for-profits, faith communities, Indigenous and charitable groups.

MEET COLETTE For the past 20 years the focus of my work has been people. People in crisis, people in conflict, people needing help and information, people wanting to grow, people wanting to tackle tough issues in a good way. This fascinating journey resonates with my desire to be part of what makes our world a better and more caring place, a place where we can have good conversations about difficult things and meet each other—despite whatever differences we may have—at a place of mutual respect. I am fascinated by what triggers healing and positive change. That inspires me as a mediator, as I support all parties to find common ground and to build mutually satisfactory agreements that make sense to them. It inspires me when I design a new evidence-informed program that will change lives for the better, and when I evaluate programs to ensure they really accomplish the positive change they set out to achieve. It motivates me towards innovation and creativity when encouraging organizational development. It challenges me to produce excellent training programs and workshops to educate and inspire growth.  So often positive change includes healing and personal transformation, hence my mantra “Explore...  Change... Grow.” I am also fascinated by what it takes to be a good leader. Leading people well is a sophisticated task, requiring soft and hard skills and the ability to be feedback informed.  It takes a combination of good judgment, excellent people skills, subject expertise, ongoing learning, and a strong inner compass for ethical decision-making.  People are people and we don’t always get this right. It has been my privilege to assist several organizations with decision-making, with advisory support for a variety of challenging situations.   I am also fascinated by leadership in the board room, political leadership in drafting good legislation, leadership in government where designing well-crafted policy is a must. Excellence in government and our public service is foundational for healthy nationhood. So what does this mean for you?  We are here to help, whether it’s for mediation or facilitated dialogue in your workplace, organizational development, assistance with family conflict, help with encouraging excellence in leadership, or for briefing notes and white papers on political issues.  My team has delivered training in a wide variety of settings, and we custom design what people need.

Give us a call, and let’s talk!

Together we can help you reach your goals.