About John & Julie

John established his organizational development consulting practice in the summer of 2018 after 31 years in municipal government. His consulting work includes labour relations support, leadership training, designing and implementing human resources programs (performance planning, policies and procedures, engagement activities), department reviews, strategic planning, and coaching. John is an instructor in the public administration division at Capilano University and is a frequent presenter at Municipal Administration Training Institute (MATI) and the Local Government Management Association’s (LGMA) events. He is also an Insights Discovery Licensed Practitioner.

He is a proud member of the small, but mighty group of municipal chief administrative officers whose background and training was in human resources. His passion is in helping individuals, teams, and organizations to grow and improve.

John’s professional career started in a Winnipeg slaughterhouse as a human resources generalist. His working conditions improved greatly when he joined the city of New Westminster where he began his years in municipal service.

John left the city of New Westminster to become the director human resources at the city of Maple Ridge where he enjoyed 17 productive years. The last eight of those years were in the role of deputy chief administrative officer. In September 2012 John joined the city of Port Coquitlam as its chief administrative officer.

John has a BCOM from UBC, specializing in Industrial Relations, and an MBA from SFU where he wrote his provocatively titled thesis “Does Size Matter: An Analysis of the Rationale for Municipal Amalgamation in Canada.”

John is often seen walking the parks and trails of Port Coquitlam attempting to get his two Golden Retrievers to walk nicely on their leashes.

Julie Case has over 20 years in the compensation field. During her career, Julie has worked with a variety of private and public sector clients to develop compensation structures, implement job evaluation plans, conduct custom compensation market surveys, advise on general salary administration, conduct market pricing, and develop compensation philosophies.

Julie’s work involves developing and implementing compensation strategies for a variety of employee groups including: executive, management, and professional, technical, and unionized staff.

Over the course of her career, Julie gained considerable compensation expertise in the public and private sectors. She specializes in defining strategic compensation philosophies that align to the business goals of the organization. Julie handles compensation projects from the strategic planning stage through to the collection and analysis of compensation data and finally to the recommendations and implementation stages. Julie has designed job evaluation plans for use in exempt and union environments. She has facilitated many job evaluation committees.

Julie has considerable experience working with municipalities in British Columbia. She has worked with some of the largest cities in the province as well as some of the smallest! Once upon a time, Julie worked for a municipal government: she spent four years working in the chief administrative officer’s office at the city of Maple Ridge, BC. This role included facilitating business planning sessions, defining corporate performance measures, and leading performance improvement reviews.

Julie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Simon Fraser University with a major in economics and a minor in biology. She also holds a Master of Arts degree in leadership and training from Royal Roads University. She is currently a member of WorldatWork.

Julie worked for Watson Wyatt Worldwide in Vancouver as a compensation consultant where she was hired by senior consultant Tim Dillon. Tim opened his own firm in 2006 and Julie worked as an associate of Case Dillon & Associates (formerly Tim Dillon & Associates) from 2006 until the end of 2017 when Tim Dillon passed away. Julie continued to work with all her same clients and associates as an independent consultant until 2021 when she incorporated her consulting business with her partner John Leeburn and formed Drive Organizational Development.

When not working, Julie enjoys travelling, gardening, and lounging on the couch between her two Golden Retrievers. Julie has a passion for pet therapy which began more than 20 years ago when she began volunteering with BC Pets and Friends. Since 2017, Julie has served on the board of directors of Pets and Friends: initially as vice president and currently as president. Pets and Friends is a registered charity that provides and promotes the healing comfort and companionship of animals through pet therapy visits.