"Your innovation is our motivation!"


aei helps you to innovate and
solve your biggest challenges.

We use a scientifically research-based
Creative Problem Solving process to help municipalities, charities, non-profits, and
the broader public-sector.

Some Recent Innovation Sessions

Lead Facilitators

Dave Augustyn

B.A., P.I.A.

President, Facilitator, Presenter

Strategy, innovation, and advancement: these are the cornerstones of Dave Augustyn’s approach to life and work. Driven by his longtime passion of helping others improve their quality of life, Dave has worked with charities and communities to achieve their mission and goals for decades. Being an accredited Professional Innovation Advisor since 2015 and a professional fundraiser since 1995, he offers invaluable expertise on change management, innovation, strategy, and fundraising.


Now president of AEI, Dave served his community as the Mayor of Pelham (pop. 18,000) and as a Niagara Region Councillor (pop. 432,000) from 2006-2018 and helped raise millions in capital campaigns for the Alzheimer’s Society of Niagara and St. Jerome’s University in Waterloo. True to his nature of making a difference, he also served as Development Director to both Family & Children’s Services Niagara, the children’s aid society, and Gillian’s Place, the women’s shelter in St. Catharines.


As the Mayor of the Town of Pelham for 12-years, Dave provided strategic leadership to the Council, staff, and community. He collaborated with various community partners, including MPs, MPPs, Ministers, and fellow Mayors, to achieve community goals. Notably, he played a pivotal role in the overall development of the Meridian Community Centre – delivering the project on-time and under-budget. In addition, Dave built relationships and collaborated to secure significant Federal and Provincial funding for lasting projects. One can also look to our successes in enhancing environmental protections of the Fonthill Kame, in approving an award-winning East Fonthill Secondary Plan (+7,500 new residents), and in donating two-acres of land to Wellspring Niagara, as further examples of Dave’s collaborative and innovative leadership style.


Using innovation and change management techniques that he now shares with all AEI clients, Dave serves as a Policy Consultant with TOES Niagara on a joint, Federally-funded project with Brock University for Human Trafficking Prevention. He collaborates with various partners – including the Niagara Regional Police Service, the Tourism industry, Municipal leaders, and community partners – to develop policies and best practices to prevent human trafficking in all forms across Niagara. This consulting role demonstrates his policy focus, strong interpersonal skills, and collaborative nature.


These and other successes demonstrate his ability to build strong relationships with key subject matter experts and influencers, while clearly defining the matter at hand, understanding the various impacts and constraints – especially in community building – and creatively determining the optimal solution.


Dave holds an Honours BA (Co-operative Education) in Political Science from St. Jerome’s University (University of Waterloo) and a Professional Innovation Advisor (PIA) accreditation with Basadur Applied Innovation.


Dave also serves as a Director of Welland / Pelham Chamber of Commerce.

Jordan Mammoliti

B.A., M.I.

Associate, Facilitator, Presenter

Jordan Mammoliti has more than a decade of municipal government experience in her roles as Deputy Clerk, Assistant Secretary-Treasurer to the Committee of Adjustment, and Executive Assistant to the Mayor and Chief Administrative Officer at the Town of Pelham. Before joining the team in Pelham, Jordan worked at the Minister of Transportation at Queen’s Park and for a Member of Parliament in the Niagara Region. 

Jordan has used the Creative Problem Solving system and applied creativity for years in municipal and not-for-profit sectors. She used CPS to help groups such as Women’s Place of South Niagara, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Niagara, and Boards of South Niagara Chambers of Commerce to develop Strategic Plans and solve challenges.

Throughout this experience, Jordan worked with many municipal stakeholders and community partners. She co-facilitated the Town of Pelham 2014-2018 Community Strategic Plan and facilitated dozens of staff-lead groups from their beginning to the completion of their SMART goals. As an AEI Associate, Jordan now helps municipalities and community organizations plan strategically and solve their biggest challenges.

Jordan holds an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Brock University and has advanced her professional development with a Municipal Leadership Certificate Program (Brock University) and a Master Integrator of Simplexity Thinking accreditation with Basadur Applied Innovation

Lynn Fergusson

B.A., M.B.A.

Strategic Associate

Over the last decade, as an independent consultant and co-founding partner at B Corp Social Impact Advisors, Lynn Fergusson worked with nearly 200 charities, nonprofits, foundations and institutions, typically on strategic projects with a focus on the organization’s impact. She developed a Theory of Change, strategic plan, and/or impact measurement, using a collaborative co-creation approach that allows the organization’s expertise to come through and ensure participant engagement, leading to support for the final plan.


Lynn has been a Senior Coach/Facilitator in the McConnell Foundation’s Innoweave program, delivering coaching engagements to nonprofits across Canada in Impact & Strategic Clarity, Impact Measurement and Collective Impact. She strengthened these Innoweave offerings as a mentor to new coaches, coach Community of Practice lead, and content developer.


Housing and homelessness are areas of particular interest for Lynn, having worked with a variety of organizations and collectives in that space, including Kingston’s Ending Youth Homelessness Initiative led by United Way Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington, Youth Without Shelter, Raising the Roof, Support House, Blue Door, and The Home Depot Canada Foundation. She has worked on broader housing issues, serving as a Board Director for more than a dozen years with Habitat for Humanity Halton Mississauga Dufferin, where she currently serves as Board Chair.


Prior to helping in the nonprofit sector, Lynn held corporate leadership positions and led corporate volunteer efforts. Among other roles, she led Six Sigma Quality at GE Canada, which paved the way for using data to gain insights and make improvements in her consulting work, and to pay attention to the change management process that any good solution requires.


Lynn Fergusson holds an undergraduate degree in business from the Ivey Business School, and an MBA from York University.

Other Staff & Associates

Carol Berkhout

B.A., B.Ed.

Vice-President

Debra Pickfield

M.B.A., P.I.A.

Associate

Peter Austin

P. Eng., M.B.A., P.I.A.

Associate

Scott Daly

Cultural Associate

Aldo Perrotta

Dipl. Art, Dipl. Creative Digital Design

Design Associate

Justin Hardy

B.Math

Data Analyst