Innovator, leader, trendsetter are just a few of the adjectives used to describe Sari and her approach to community and sustainability planning and community engagement. While planning and public health have traditionally been viewed as distinct disciplines, Sari recognizes the common ground between these fields – their complementary objectives for achieving, healthy, strong and sustainable communities.
Sari received a Bachelor’s of Arts from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning from Queen´s University, where she focused on Human Services planning. She began her planning career in the public sector in 2001, first as an intern with York Region Human Services, then as a contract policy planner for Peel Region, and a land use planner for the York Region District School Board. Sari moved to the private sector in 2004 serving as a planner at Hardy Stevenson and Associates Limited, and then joining Dillon Consulting Limited in 2007, where she was an Associate until 2014.
Sari´s broad-based experience has given her the opportunity to reflect upon the role of planning in promoting healthy communities. She is a strong advocate of applying a social and health equity lens to support planning decisions.
Adapted from an article in Spotlight on Planning from the Ontario Professional Planners Institute, 2016.
Sari is now an independent consultant at Liem Strategic Integration Inc. and is pursuing her Master of Business Administration through the Bradford School of Management in England, specializing in Enterprise, Innovation, and the Circular Economy.