about
Good work starts with paying attention.
Blue Bark & Co. is built around curiosity and collaboration.
We believe the people closest to a community often know more than we give them credit for. We ask questions, look for patterns, bring different perspectives together, and turn what we learn into programs, strategies, and ideas that can work in the real world.
How we approach the work
We tend to see puzzles, not problems.
When something isn’t working, we want to understand why. Who isn’t participating? What’s getting in the way? What’s already been tried? What resources, relationships, or opportunities are sitting just outside the frame?
Blue Bark & Co. starts with curiosity. We listen, ask questions, look for patterns, and bring together different perspectives. Sometimes the answer is improving what already exists. Sometimes it means creating something entirely new.
Research · Program Design · Community Development · Facilitation
the people behind blue bark & co.
Small by design.
Blue Bark & Co. is led by Jess Spooner, with Mike contributing research, writing, analysis, and another perspective when a project benefits from it. We keep things small and flexible, and bring in additional expertise when the work calls for it.
Founder & lead
Jess spooner
Much of my career has been spent creating things that didn't exist yet.
I’m Jess Spooner, founder of Blue Bark & Co. My work has taken me through community development, sport and recreation, tourism, sustainability, research, education, and organizational leadership. Across all of it, I keep coming back to the same kind of work: seeing an opportunity and figuring out how to make something from it.
I’ve created programs from scratch, built partnerships around new ideas, developed community initiatives, redesigned programs that needed a different approach, and created roles and businesses when the work I wanted to do didn’t yet have a home.
What interests me most is the space between “this is what we have” and “what could this become?” I like bringing together people, research, resources, and ideas to move something from possibility into practice.
I hold a Master’s in Community Development from Acadia University, and bring experience in research, program development, facilitation, teaching, organizational leadership, and community-based work.
research & thought partner
Mike barrow
Making sense of a lot of information is often where the interesting work begins.
Mike brings a background in academia, research, and teaching, along with a deep curiosity about people, ideas, and how things connect. He has a particular knack for taking large amounts of information, finding the threads that matter, and distilling them into something clear and useful.
At Blue Bark, Mike contributes research, analysis, writing, and another perspective to projects that benefit from it. He’s especially at home digging into complex material, asking thoughtful questions, and helping make sense of what we’re learning.
Experience
Our experience doesn't fit neatly into one box.
research & insight
Community-based reserach
Program evaluation
Public engagement
Research translation
Programs & Strategy
Program design
Strategic planning
Participation & engagement
Community development
Leadership & Facilitation
Team leadership
Partnership development
Workshops & training
Organizational capacity
Writing & Learning
Published research
Post-secondary teaching
Knowledge sharing
Storytelling
research & practice
Research, practice, and a lot of learning by doing.
My work is grounded in both research and practice. I hold a Master’s in Community Development from Acadia University, where my research explored barriers to participation in women’s hiking communities.
I’ve also taught at the post-secondary level and contributed published work on community-based outdoor programming. Much of what I know has come from doing the work itself: building programs, working alongside communities, leading teams, developing partnerships, and figuring out what works through experience.
I’m especially interested in the point where research becomes useful: when an insight changes a program, opens an opportunity, or helps an organization make a better decision.
Master of Community Development, Acadia University · Published Author · Post-Secondary Educator
have something you're working through?
Good ideas don't have to start fully formed.
If you have a question, an opportunity, or something that isn’t quite working yet, let’s talk about what it could become.