Work — Four Leadership Engagements | Romain Williams
Romain Williams CO-FOUNDER + EXEC. DIRECTOR, IIBD · CEO, ARTEFACT91
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Work

Four engagements, recorded the same way.

Each engagement below shows a different part of how I approach decisions, audiences, strategy and movement — recorded against the same four questions, so you can compare them down a column.

01 · The decision on the table 02 · Who had to move 03 · What I said 04 · What changed
IIBD logo beside its decision-path diagram: data, rules, systems, outcomes, corrected 01 Public decisions IIBD — research made public without losing its substance 13 working papers in · 3 flagship public reports · 2023–present
Co-founder + Executive Director · 2023–present · Institutional positioning · Research translation · Publications · Public engagement

The challenge. Questions about data systems, algorithms and public decisions become technical very quickly. Yet the consequences land on people who need to understand how decisions are made, what evidence is used and where accountability sits.

What I led. At IIBD, communications isn’t the promotional layer added after research — it’s part of making the work publicly accountable. I lead organizational positioning, public narrative, research translation, publications and the language that makes complex institutional questions understandable without stripping out their substance.

13
Working papers in the Community Wealth Infrastructure series
3
Flagship public reports and zines since 2024

Method. Counted from IIBD’s publications record.

01 · The decision on the tableWhether an institute could publish for a public audience without conceding the argument.
02 · Who had to movePublic readers, and the institutions whose decisions the research examines.
03 · What I saidPublication architecture built so the argument survives translation.
04 · What changedA 13-paper series, and an institution that exists where one did not.

“Institutions are built through choices.”

Members of The Enchanté Network laughing as they join hands in a high-five at a network gathering 02 Engagement The Enchanté Network — a national network that had to speak with one voice 500K stakeholders reached annually · 28% year-over-year increase in · 2023–2025
Communications + engagement strategy · via Artefact91 · 2023–2025 · National 2SLGBTQI+ network · Member communications · Bilingual

The challenge. A national 2SLGBTQI+ membership network needed stronger communications across a distributed membership, clearer narrative consistency and a more intentional approach to digital engagement.

What I led. I led communications and social strategy across the network — content planning, audience insight, member communications, narrative development and performance analysis — plus visual and narrative guidance so multilingual communications stayed consistent and accessible.

500K
Stakeholders reached annually
28%
Year-over-year increase in engagement

Method. Reach is annual touchpoints across the network’s owned channels, not unique people. Engagement compares the same channel set year over year.

01 · The decision on the tableWhether a distributed national membership could hold one voice without flattening the members who carried it.
02 · Who had to moveMember organizations across the country, in French and English, neither treated as a translation.
03 · What I saidOne narrative, built to survive being spoken by people who did not write it.
04 · What changed500,000 reached; engagement up 28% across the same channels.
Hill Days 2025 · Forward Together / Ensemble vers l’avant

Two days on Parliament Hill, co-organized with Pride at Work Canada, built around one legislative ask — modernize the Employment Equity Act — under a bilingual banner eight organizations could stand behind.

35+ MP + Senator meetings 8 coalition organizations 12 delegates 1 legislative ask
Full campaign case study on Artefact91 ↗

“Scale creates an alignment problem before it creates a communications problem.”

Beyond Data Magazine: Numbers may fade, but stories endure 03 Editorial Beyond Data Magazine — technical subject matter people actually read 100K+ readers across 15 · 35% increase in social · 2024–2025
Chief Story Architect · via Artefact91 · 2024–2025 · Editorial strategy · Audience growth · Team leadership · Partnerships

The challenge. A digital publication working across data, society and public issues needed to turn technical subject matter into editorial work people would actually read, share and return to.

What I led. I directed narrative strategy and editorial production — editorial direction, team coordination, content systems, partnerships and audience strategy — including sponsored-content partnerships that expanded reach without weakening editorial clarity.

100K+
Readers across 15 countries
35%
Increase in social sharing

Method. Publication analytics over twelve months. Sharing compares like-for-like periods before and after the editorial changes.

01 · The decision on the tableWhether evidence-heavy material could hold a general readership without being thinned.
02 · Who had to moveReaders outside the field, and contributors used to writing for people inside it.
03 · What I saidFrame the work by human consequence, not by methodology.
04 · What changedReadership past 100,000 across 15 countries; sharing up 35%.

“Evidence doesn’t create influence simply because it exists.”

40+ assignmentsCross-regional
consulting
Canada · Caribbean · Latin America
04 Advisory Cross-regional practice — one approach, three regions, no translation tell 40+ consulting assignments delivered · 1M+ viewers reached by · 2021–2022
Independent consultant · 2021–2022 · NGOs · Social enterprises · Canada · Caribbean · Latin America

The challenge. Organizations working across different markets needed communications that could travel without assuming every audience read language, platforms or institutional context the same way.

What I led. Across project-based assignments I supported organizations with digital fundraising, campaign optimization, multilingual materials, partnership communications and capacity building.

40+
Consulting assignments delivered
1M+
Viewers reached by campaign materials

Method. Contracted, delivered engagements — each contract counts once. Viewers aggregated from campaign and channel reporting.

01 · The decision on the tableWhether one method could operate across three regions without reading as imported.
02 · Who had to moveLocal audiences and funders who recognize translated material instantly.
03 · What I saidLocally framed from the start, not localized afterwards.
04 · What changed40+ assignments delivered; over one million people reached.

“Good strategy knows what should stay constant and what must adapt.”

Also — websites & microsites directed

Positioning I directed all the way to a live site.

Digital is a delivery system, not a strategy by itself — but the strategy has to survive contact with a real navigation, a real audience and a second language.

The Enchanté Network Membership network · Bilingual enchantenetwork.ca → Black Queer Canada Microsite · Français / English blackqueercanada.org → Nonprofit Exponential Website strategy · Sector platform nonprofitexponential.ca → IIBD Research institute · Publications inclusivityinstitute.ca → Common Practice Advisory firm · Brand & site commonpracticeadvisory.com →
Romain Williams standing in an interior setting in a maroon ensemble with a white shirt and printed scarf
Romain Williams

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