At last year’s Asset Management Council Symposium held in Australia, government participants were asked to share what, from any number of issues, is their greatest asset management challenge. By a wide margin, the answer was culture. In her keynote address, Diane Kalen-Sukra explores how both organizational and community culture can act as an impediment to good governance, asset management, and sustainable service delivery. She provides a roadmap, grounded in the rich Western democratic historical tradition, for the type of cultural renewal needed to support vibrant and resilient local democracies – places where “asset management is everybody’s business”.

 

Diane Kalen–Sukra MA, CMC is an author, speaker, sustainable community builder and consultant to local governments and community leaders as founder of her firm Kalen Consulting.

Over the past 25 years, her passion for building healthy communities has taken her across the country in leadership roles from CBC television producer, national union representative, entrepreneur, community organizer to local government management official in BC municipalities.

During her time as CAO of a small rural community she led her team to winning the coveted national FCM Sustainable Communities Award in Asset Management among many other prestigious awards. An innovative sustainable community planning process and document she spearheaded was distinguished as the first of its kind to enshrine human assets – employees, contractor and volunteers – as vital to sustainable service delivery.

Diane is a graduate of University of Toronto’s political science and philosophy program and hold’s a Masters degree in political science from York University.

She writes a monthly column called Civic Academy for national magazine Municipal World and is the author of the soon to be published book, Save Your City: How Toxic Culture Kills Community and What to Do About It (www.SaveYourCity.ca)