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Public Administration

Dr. Kim Speers

Image of Professor Kim Speers

Associate teaching professor

Public Administration

Contact:
Office: HSD A354
Credentials:
PhD (Alberta), MA, MA, BA (Hons.)
Area(s) of expertise:
strategic planning and implementation, public engagement and communication, research methods, performance measurement, logic models, change management, local government, physician recruitment in municipalities, managing services in the public sector, project and program management, board governance, and policy analysis

About

Dr. Kimberly Speers is an Associate Teaching Professor in the School of Public Administration. She teaches courses on public sector governance, strategic planning and implementation, project and program management, public policy, evaluation, communication and engagement, board governance, managing service delivery, research methods, and policy analysis. In 2020, she received the Faculty of Human & Social Development Award for Teaching Excellence and Educational Leadership.

She has also taught with the national local government program at the University of Alberta, with the local government program at Capilano University, and with the evaluation certificate program at the University of Fraser Valley.

Kim completed her PhD in Political Science at the University of Alberta and has a Master of Arts in Public Administration from Carleton University, a Master of Arts in History from Queen’s University and an Honours Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Waterloo. She received a University Teaching Services Graduate Teaching Award while she was finishing her PhD.

She is currently the chair of Social Planning Cowichan where the current focus is on climate change, racism, and youth development. 
Kim is also working on two research projects with Mediate BC related to 1) project evaluation and 2) early mediation in child protection cases.  She is also working on a research project on local government physician recruitment strategies and implications in Ontario and British Columbia.
Kim serves on the Saskatchewan Board of Revisions board that is responsible for hearing property assessment appeals. Finally, she is also the Alternate (representative) for Kate Segall, Elected Representative, Area A, Cowichan Valley Regional District. In the past, Kim was the Chair of IPAC Victoria and the Secretary of the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration (CAPPA).
Kim has taken numerous professional development courses over the years and is a Prosci certified change management professional and recently took the Advanced Change Management Masterclass from the Association of Change Management Professionals.  She also took the Certified Service Manager Program from the Institute for Citizen-Centred Service.
Prior to coming to British Columbia, Kim was an Assistant Professor and the Graduate Chair in the Department of Political Studies (MA and MPA programs) at the University of Manitoba and taught in the areas of public administration, research methods, and Canadian politics.  She received an Outstanding Faculty Award in 2009 at the University of Manitoba and in 2008, she received the University of Manitoba President's Committee Community Outreach Award.
Kim was also a management consultant with KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Praxis, and IMI Strategics prior to moving to Manitoba and continues to work as a consultant on an ad hoc basis. Further, she has also worked as a government relations consultant and worked in the federal, provincial, and local public sectors. She also was the Director for Strategy and Policy with the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, Manager of Business Planning and Performance Measurement with Alberta Municipal Affairs and worked for a former Prime Minister to assist him with researching his memoirs.
She has been a frequent media commentator at the international, national, provincial, and local levels and recently became involved in partisan politics at the provincial and national levels.  She also has been a co-campaign manager for several candidates at the local and federal level since the 1990s.

Research interests

  • project and program management
  • food policy and politics
  • animal policy and politics
  • business and strategic planning in government

Publications

Evaluator, Mediate BC Project Team, Sexual Harassment in the Trades, July 2025-current.
 
Project Manager and Lead Author, Mediate BC, UVIC Student/Faculty Project on Early Mediation in Child Protection in British Columbia, March 2021 – current. 
 
Project Manager, Local Governments and Recruitment of Physicians in Ontario and BC. Working with Health Sciences student (Sydney Maylen) from Queens University, May 2025-current.
 
Speers, Kimberly and Lindquist, Evert (2023). From Vision to Results: Strategic Management, Planning, and Organizing. In The Management of Nonprofit and Charitable Organizations in Canada. 5th edition. LexisNexus Canada.
            
Project Manager and Primary Author, Pacifica Housing, UVic Student/Faculty. Project on ‘Identifying the Needs and Preferences of Pacifica Housing Residents.’ November 2021 – December 2022.
               
Speers, Kimberly. (October 13, 2021). Annamie Paul: Lessons for the Green Party after ‘worst period in my life.’ https://theconversation.com/annamie-paul-lessons-for-the-green-party-after-the-worst-period-in-my-life-169331
               
Speers, Kimberly. (October 2021). An analysis of COVID-19 political fandom…and a lament. https://www.formerbcmla.com/ootd-archive
 
Speers, Kimberly. (September 20, 2021). Canada’s status quo election: Trudeau returned with another minority, faces uncertain future. https://theconversation.com/canadas-status-quo-election-trudeau-returned-with-another-minority-faces-uncertain-future-167966
 
Speers, Kimberly. (December 2020). Coping with the elephant’s twitches, grunts, and tweets. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b2be8ace17ba336c2874887/t/5fd4fc40ab1a676c72696be3/1607793735151/OOTD+Dec+2020+ltr+size+Nov+29.pdf
Co-researcher, Assessment of 2019 Federal Election for the Green Party of Canada, May 2020-December 2020.
 
Speers, Kimberly & Corbett, Meghan. (May 2020). Literature Review for Vancouver Island Children’s Health Foundation: Children and Youth with Mental Health Issues. Victoria: Children’s Health Foundation.
 
Speers, Kimberly & Abdel-Malek, Amira. (May 2020). Literature Review for Vancouver Island Children’s Health Foundation: Children with Complex Needs. Victoria: Children’s Health Foundation.
 
Speers, Kimberly & Gale, Star. (May 2020). Literature Review for Vancouver Island Children’s Health Foundation: Early Childhood Development. Victoria: Children’s Health Foundation.
 
Speers, Kimberly. (2018). The Not-So Invisible Private Service: Consultants and Public Policy in Canada. Policy Analysis in Canada. L. Dobuzinskis, M. Howlett, eds. London: Policy Press.  Part of International Library of Policy Analysis.
 
Speers, Kimberly. (2007). The Invisible Private Service: Consultants and Public Policy in Canada. Policy Analysis in Canada: The State of the Art. L. Dobuzinskis, M. Howlett, D. Laycock, eds. Toronto: Oxford University Press: pp. 399-421.
 
Speers, Kimberly. (2006). For Better or for Worse? How Political Consultants are Changing Elections in the United States [review of the book]. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 39: pp. 446-448.
 
Speers, Kimberly. (2005). Performance Measurement: Truth and Propaganda. Revue Governance, 1: pp. 58-76.
 
Speers, Kimberly. (2001). The Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada, 1967-1970: Liberal Feminism and Its Radical Implications. Framing Our Past: Canadian Women’s History in the Twentieth Century. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, pp. 250-256.
 

Conferences

·         June 2023, Moderator and Organizer, “Local Government Accountability, Transparency, and Integrity.” IPAC Victoria in partnership with IPAC Vancouver and the Local Governance Hub 
·         June 2023, Organizer, “Current and Future Challenges and Opportunities in Local Governments in BC,” IPAC Victoria in partnership with IPAC Vancouver and the Local Governance Hub 
·         April 2023, Moderator and Organizer, “Visual Facilitation.” IPAC Victoria
·         February 2023, Panelist, “Wine, Parks Airports, and More: Policy Success in BC and Canada?” IPAC Victoria.
·         June 2022, Moderator, “Are you Prepared for Career Success? An IPAC Panel for New Professionals.” IPAC Victoria
·         November 2021, Presenter, “Advice About Grad School.” Department of Political Science, University of Victoria
·         October 2021, Presenter, “Comments about the 2021 Federal Election,” Centre of Global Studies, University of Victoria
·         August 2021, Presenter, UVic Let’s Talk about Teaching Annual Conference. Title of Presentation: Supporting Graduate Students Online: Orientation, 24/7 Resources, and Capstone Projects/Theses
·         June 2021, Presenter, Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration Annual Conference. Title of Paper: The Wild West of Strategic Planning in BC Local Governments
·         2020, Webinar Speaker, “COVID-19: Trust in Government and Political Fandom.” School of Public Administration, University of Victoria COVID-19 Webinar Series.
·         2019, Guest Speaker, “Electoral Reform in Canada.” Fall Webinar Series, School of Public Administration, University of Victoria 
·         Main organizer, cohost, and co-chat moderator. “Exploring Ideas and Practices Webinar Series.”  Seventeen webinars. School of Public Administration, University of Victoria. (2019-2021)
·         2018, Presenter, Electoral Reform in British Columbia, School of Public Administration
·         2017 (March), Interviewer, Mock Interviews with PhD Job Candidate, Teaching and Learning Centre
·         2016, Panelist, “Implications of a Trump Presidency on Canada,” International Engagement Week, Student Affairs, University of Victoria
·         2016, Workshop speaker, “Creating and sustaining a dynamic and inclusive online experience for students: Teaching and capstone projects/theses,” Let’s Talk About Teaching 2016, University of Victoria
·         2016, Guest speaker, “Office politics: a public sector perspective.”  Legislative Internship Program, Government of British Columbia.
·         2013, Guest speaker, “Consultants and Government Policy Capability: what we know, don’t know, and what we need to know and why,” School of Public Administration Public Policy and Governance Dialogue Series
·         2009, Presenter, “Thinking about Leadership in the 21st Century,” IPAC Speakers’ Series, Winnipeg, Manitoba
·         2009, Presenter, “Measuring Terrorism, Teenage Pregnancy, Food Safety, and Democracy in Government,” University of Manitoba High School Days, Winnipeg, Manitoba 
·         2009, Presenter, “Thinking Strategically: Issue Management in the Department of Agriculture,” Government of Manitoba

Courses taught

  • ADMN 411: Public Sector Project Management
  • ADMN 422: Ethical Public Management
  • ADMN 477: Strategic Planning and Implementation
  • ADMN 502A: Research Design: Critical Appraisal of Information
  • ADMN 504: Public Sector Governance
  • ADMN 550: Strategic Communication and Engagement
  • ADMN 577: Strategic Planning and Implementation
  • ADMN 580: Qualitative Evaluation Methods
  • ICDG 305: Indigenous Research Methods and Project Management
  • POLI 321: Introduction to Research Methods in Politics
  • POLI 339: The Empirical Analysis of Politics
  • POLI 351: Public Policy and Analysis
  • POLI 361: Parties and Press Groups in Canada
  • POLI 364: Canadian Public Policy
  • POLI 365: BC Political Economy
  • POLI 433: Seminal Issues in Politics: Politics of Food
  • ADMN Managing service delivery
  • ADMN 582 Performance Measurement for Performance Improvement and Accountability, 
  • ADMN 556 Public Policy
  • Directed readings: social media, board governance
  • CD 512 Program and Project Design, Management and Evaluation
  • CD 510 Leadership, Management and Governance within Organizations