About Us – Municipal Experts

Paul Salvatore, CLGM

Founder, CEO

Paul's background in economic development and government service represents over 25 years of service to government at the Local Government, Provincial and Federal Government levels and now brings that experience to serving clients from across Canada.

He is acutely aware of the processes and barriers that the average person can face when dealing with all orders of government and he has always been committed to making it as easy as possible to make great things happen.

He is fiercely motivated to provide top level customer service while making sure that no matter how complicated, information that concerns everyday people can be provided in an easy to understand format.

When he's not thinking about new ideas and partnerships that will enhance almost any organization, he spends his time in the saddle - cycling, or enjoying the outdoors camping, cross-country skiing and learning to fly-fish with great friends and family.

Contact Paul here

Marta Bristow, MA

Partner and Chief Creative Officer

Marta recently joined Municipal Experts in the role of Partner and Chief Creative Officer to support the communities that we serve in economic development and other areas of our municipal service practice. Marta has more than 20 years of experience in strategic communications, Indigenous and public engagement, policy research and analysis, project management, and strategic planning. Marta recently completed her Master of Arts degree in Environmental Education and Communication, with a focus on engaging individuals in climate and sustainability issues through dialogue.

Prior to joining Municipal Experts, Marta was a Manager at Deloitte, as part of their Nation Building Advisory practice. While at Deloitte, she provided advice and support on economic development and community engagement projects for First Nations, government and corporate clients.

She has a long history of corporate communications and research leadership that also includes The Conference Board of Canada, Calgary Airport Authority (YYC), Golder Associates, (now WSP) and others.

In addition to her role as Municipal Experts CCO, she's additionally responsible for communications projects in all sectors through our affiliated organization Morning Bird Communications. She's looking forward to serving Municipal Experts through her impeccable attention to detail and ultra-high quality results. Contact Marta here.

Elan Buan, B.Comm

Senior Associate, Economic Development, Quantitative Research and Analysis

Elan is an experienced group facilitator and researcher. She is adept at uncovering highly valuable strategic information through research and statistical analysis and can manage large amounts of data to distill essential findings in a powerful ways.

Elan is passionate about helping communities with their economic development efforts. She continuously seeks and monitors best practices for economic development, rural communities, labour force development and attraction, and industries pertinent to Western Canada. Follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn as she shares her findings.

Elan earned her Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Saskatchewan, specializing in marketing and human resource management/organizational behaviour. She also has experience in the transportation and financial services sectors.

Elan has an intimate knowledge of Alberta’s communities and their economic activities. She has built these insights from numerous projects across Alberta and captures her insights in an economic development intelligence tracking system.

She is highly skilled in:

•Gathering, aggregating, and analyzing large amounts of data
•Astute interviewing skills.
•Broad knowledge of economic development principles and practices based on extensive experience with urban and rural clients.

And she is ready to use her powers of data analysis to clearly show you how things connect from the details to the big picture.

Contact Elan Here.

Lindsay Rubeniuk

Associate, Rural Workforce Development

After spending 25 years as a Rural Developer Lindsay has become an expert in immigration and workforce devlelopment. While it is a complex subject and unlike settlement it involves an array of laws & policies that can make it complicated. She achieved her Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) designation in 2016, opening the doors to various pathways to attract workers and international students to study, work and live in Prairie communities. This was proven in 2024 when she assisted the Parkland Ukraine Family Fund to bring over 200 immigrants to the community of Dauphin, Manitoba in less than two years.

Lindsay also recognizes that apprenticeship is an important segment of workforce development. Apprenticeships are uniquely able to establish higher youth retention, labour force attraction, entrepreneurship and other long-term benefits. She has over 15 years of experience working with the apprenticeship system and has implemented apprenticeship strategies in various rural development initiatives.

Lindsay is a "silent" partner in a grain farm that is run by husband, Chris, based in Manitoba. She is a mom to two of the most amazing people on the planet! Having raised her family in a small town, lived her life on the prairies and volunteered tremendously in her region, this Prairie Girl understands municipal economic development.

Lindsay is a graduate from the University of Winnipeg. She is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant, holds her Economic Developers Certification of Canada and is a member of the Career Professionals of Canada. As you can tell she loves being a Canadian.

Contact Lyndsay Here.

Laura Pasacreta, MA, CAHP

Lead, Heritage Planning

Laura has over 20 years’ experience in heritage conservation and management and cultural resource management including First
Nations, Historic archaeology and has worked in dozens of communities across western Canada.

Laura has led multidisciplinary teams in a broad range of complex heritage projects for private and public clients. She formally opened and ran the Prairie Branch of Donald Luxton & Associates in Calgary for over eight years until Spring 2018. She also has decades of experience in the field of technical conservation planning, culminating in the most relevant
combination of skills, services, and creative ingenuity to meet the needs of spaces and
places. Laura is a member of the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals.

If you need help putting together a Municipal Heritage Inventory, or support for the development of your Municipal Heritage designation program and great Heritage Planning Expertise, contact us to learn more.

Lulu Frescita, GG (Good Girl)

Lead, Animal Satisfaction Services

When we needed extra support for the evaluation of dogparks and other social and recreational opportunities we looked to Lulu Frescita to give us the inside track on what makes the most sense for our 4 legged friends. She has 7 years of experience in the canine service sector and she loves to do good things, even if it's just "sitting nice" or "shaking a paw."

Her influence is one of enthusiasm, particularly when there's the prospect of a "treat" after the delivery of an impressive round of retrieving. She's been known to take a lead on animal control, but only in the sense of scaring away squirrels and birds that pose a threat to general well being.

She's also very eager to spend many hours in a day, sleeping - preferably on your bed, or following you diligently to the kitchen in the hopes that sloppy food preparation will garner an unexpected reward.

We're proud to have her as our mascot and canine inspiration as we hope to introduce our clients to her when we meet them in their home communities. Contact us to learn more

Our Mission

Make Government Projects Efficient, Effective and Outstanding.

Our Vision

To be a catalyst for positive local results that make a difference to the organizations that we serve.

Our Values

Energy, Enthusiasm, Collaboration, Dedication, Relationships, Innovation and Solution Seeking.

Is that Even Possible? YES!

Municipal work can be complicated, time consuming but also very rewarding. Your organization has a long list of activities that you want to put into action. You also want to be the community that is thriving even when times may be a little tougher out there.

At Municipal Experts we have the background and support services to harness your vision of a better municipality even if you aren't quite sure how to make it happen.

Whether you need support for grant applications, the creation of thorough plans that are easy to understand, or you just want to see a little more success at every level of the organization. Our aim is to ensure that you are in the best position to advance the goals of your municipality.

Our team has decades of experience working with all orders of government and we will put our skills and knowledge to your advantage.