About Us

Barnes Management Group was founded in 2006 by David Barnes and is still shaped by the experiences gained through his career in social work spanning 25 years. In the beginning of his career, David worked in child welfare as a social worker. Through his consistent engagement with families, community agencies and hospitals, David witnessed the value of collaboration and recognized the significant impact of supporting families through bringing together the necessary resources to make a difference in the lives of the children and families with whom he worked. Within three years, David became a supervisor and then a Director of Service. In this new capacity, and faced with a wide array of client needs, David increasingly brought together professionals from different sectors to combine their knowledge and develop more targeted and effective plans to support the dedicated staff working with families receiving child welfare services.

Partnerships would oftentimes arise from a lack of resources and specific knowledge needed in one sector and supplied by another. David realized that collaboration and shared decision-making practices were critical for promoting both growth and capacity building within a community and also within families. Throughout his experiences, David understood that vulnerable families facing mandated services occupied a sensitive space in our communities. It was critical to find solutions that emphasized co-creating and elevating the voices of these families to find a solution that worked for them.

Many years later, establishing a consulting firm seemed a natural course of action given David’s passion for his work. In creating Barnes Management Group, David wanted to continue bringing together professionals and industry experts from different sectors to benefit society. The company’s core values of collaboration and teamwork influence everything from its approach to leadership, to its operating structure and to how the organization engages with their clientele. In connecting so many individuals to organizations and vice versa, Barnes Management Group is able to act as not only a consulting firm but also a resource network to provide greater value to their clients.

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“We are flexible, issue-driven, and passionate. Our goal is for our clients to look forward to not only working with us on various projects but also to working with our vast network of qualified and knowledgeable associates, partners and members of our Community of Interest.”

– David Barnes

Our Philosophy

Throughout his career in social work, David gained insight into the value of connecting with people in order to better understand and resolve complex ongoing issues. Since then, David has borrowed this logic and used it to establish a consultancy that aims to help organizations flourish.

Accordingly, the Barnes Management Group philosophy emphasizes collaborating and building sustainable relationships with our client organizations to help them reach their full potential. By acting as a connector of resources and knowledge, BMG offers their clientele access to unique and diverse networks of experts to serve their needs on specific projects. BMG is continuously looking to connect with others who also believe in our philosophy and values.

We are proud to offer our experience, expertise, and commitment to working in partnership with our clients towards their goals and, by extension, to the betterment of society. Our aim is to guide our clients by suggesting and exploring new ways to solve problems, while upholding our commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Our Approach

Barnes Management Group’s Core Team, Associates, Community of Interest, and Strategic Partners form an interconnected, responsive network of diverse and experienced consultants that serve as a resource network. BMG’s experienced and independent consultants come together and form customized project teams to better meet the specific requirements of each project and serve our clients’ exact needs. This approach connects like-minded consultants, businesses, and entrepreneurs to work together and share their ideas, information, experience and expertise in a creative and collaborative environment.

Diversity and Inclusion

Equity is the central tenet of BMG’s ethos and we are proud to embrace respect, inclusion and diversity in all aspects of our work. We recognize our legal obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Code, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and other relevant legislation. We also recognize that systems create barriers to inclusion and equality that must be carefully assessed and dismantled.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is rooted in our philosophy and experience. We have seen systems, organizations, and public policy processes become stronger when they include voices from people who are often marginalized and who find themselves the recipients of public services. This requires leaders to recognize different kinds of expertise, including the personal experiences of those who receive services, as well as their loved ones. Humility, respect and hard work are our guiding principles. More importantly, there is a critical need for courageous leadership that demonstrates an authentic commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and exemplifies good practice.

We have many experiences of working with Indigenous communities and have learnt a great deal through collaborating with them. We recognize that reconciliation is a process that requires us to be cognizant of the history and impacts of colonization on Canada’s First Peoples. We are committed to working towards truth, justice, forgiveness, healing and reparation. BMG embraces the ten Principles of Reconciliation and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Our Strengths

Barnes Management Group was founded on the principle that we are more capable of effecting meaningful change if we do so with others. We believe in the value of bettering society through collective impact and this is reflected in our operating style which connects our client organizations to qualified professionals who can help them reach their goals. Our organization is supported primarily by our Core Team and is further strengthened by our various partners, with whom we continuously collaborate.

Another strength unique to BMG is that we do not employ any paid associates, so we are not limited to only consulting with people we have on salary. In this sense, BMG represents a think tank that works with our client organizations to develop different strategies to help grow their current services and shape their future structures. This is frequently achieved through retreats and professional development practices, which connect our clients and associates for the purpose of learning from each other’s experiences. In doing so, we are privileged to exchange knowledge with our clients and connect them to leaders in their respective fields who want to exercise change and strive to solve challenges.

Our Clients

We respond to the needs of our clients by collaborating with them and connecting them to our carefully assembled teams of associates in order for everyone to exchange knowledge. When our company takes on new clients, both parties benefit from gaining new insights and working together towards a solution. This system of close cooperation and ongoing support fortifies networks and builds stronger organizations for the future.

Barnes Management Group’s consultant network recognizes the importance of social responsibility and chooses to grow its individual consulting practices in environments that respect members’ autonomy while also allowing them to work with others who share their values and ambitions.