Who we are


Tony Lamport has been preoccupied with economic development in Nova Scotia for the past 30 years. His career with the Provincial Government spans the growth of the Nova Scotia Mainstreet Program in the early 1980s, the evolution of Sustainable Prosperity, and the development of the Environmental Goals and Sustainability Act, which was passed into legislation in 2007. In between, he initiated policies and projects in trade, investment, creative industries, IT, and community development.  He is the author of Common Ground: A History of Voluntary Planning in Nova Scotia (2001). Tony was a member of the founding board of the ALIA Institute and has served on numerous community boards in Halifax. 

Susan Szpakowski retired in 2014 as Executive Director of the ALIA (Authentic Leadership in Action) Institute, which she helped found in 2000, and which has since merged with Naropa University. For almost 15 years, ALIA was internationally known as a convener of pioneering ideas, tools, and practitioners from the fields of social innovation, systems change, and organizational learning. More than 3,000 people from every sector and every corner of the globe traveled to Nova Scotia to take part in ALIA's innovative leadership programs. Through ALIA, Susan also helped develop community innovation programs such as Growth Starts Here in Shelburne County, and Engage Nova Scotia. Previous to ALIA, Susan was a freelance writer in Nova Scotia, specializing in curriculum projects for the provincial departments of Health and Education. She is the author of Speaking of Silence: Christians and Buddhists in Dialogue (1987) and the Little Book of Practice for Authentic Leadership in Action (2010).