About Change Group

A specialized practice at the intersection of governance, assets, and public value

Who we are

 

Change Group Limited is an Ottawa-based consulting practice advising executive teams responsible for public and non‑profit real property, asset, and infrastructure portfolios. The practice has evolved through direct experience with how public systems actually operate—from early work in social purpose real estate to a decade focused on the organizational conditions that determine whether asset and infrastructure decisions move forward or stall.

Change Group is led by Katharine Cornfield, whose career spans senior political and public service roles, non‑profit leadership, and management consulting—experience grounded in how institutions make decisions that hold under pressure and deliver outcomes over time.

How we’ve shifted

 

From capability to public value

For years, Change Group has been focused on organizational capability -governance, operating models, and resource alignment - because without these foundations, strategy remains ambition. This work remains core.

But experience in public asset contexts made the next step clear: capability only matters if it translates into decisions. The real test is whether institutions can act in ways that sustain value and shape beneficial outcomes over time.

What we see

 

Decision-making is a system

Across jurisdictions, institutions often invest heavily in analysis, data, and process - yet decisions still stall. These are not individual performance problems; they are system design problems based on how authority is structured, how decisions flow, and how trade-offs are framed.

When decision architecture is unclear or misaligned, organizations default to status quo approaches.

How we work

 

Anchored in experience

Change Group’s value is pattern recognition - grounded in real-world experience with high-stakes real property, infrastructure, and social purpose decision-making.

The work focuses on how decisions are actually made: clarifying governance, strengthening decision pathways, and resolving the conditions that cause decisions to stall.

 
 

Change Group’s PACE lens

PACE™ is the lens we use to assess how organizations translate their mandate into decisions and outcomes through public assets and infrastructure.

  • PURPOSE

    Clarify the mandate, public value, and role of assets and infrastructure in delivering outcomes— and connect decisions to long-term stewardship and public trust.

  • ALIGNMENT

    Understand how mandates, accountabilities, and leadership forums fit together—from enterprise governance to portfolio and investment decision‑making.

  • CAPABILITY

    Know whether your operating model, workforce, integrated resource management systems, and functional design can deliver—across assets, facilities, and projects.

  • ENGAGEMENT

    Evaluates executive and horizontal awareness, stakeholder relationships, narrative coherence, and readiness for change—so decisions are understood and acted on.

Meet Katharine

Katharine Cornfield is Owner and President of Change Group Limited, where she advises senior leaders on high‑consequence decisions at the intersection of governance, organizational capability, and public asset management.

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