about
Good work starts with paying attention.
Blue Bark & Co. is built around curiosity and collaboration.
We believe meaningful change is built with communities, not for them. We ask questions, look for patterns, bring different perspectives together, and turn what we learn into programs, strategies, and ideas that can work in the real world.
How we approach the work
We tend to see puzzles, not problems.
When something isn’t working, we want to understand why. Who isn’t participating? What’s getting in the way? What’s already been tried? What resources, relationships, or opportunities are sitting just outside the frame?
Blue Bark & Co. starts with curiosity. We listen, ask questions, look for patterns, and bring together different perspectives. Sometimes the answer is improving what already exists. Sometimes it means creating something entirely new.
Research · Program Design · Community Development · Facilitation
the people behind blue bark & co.
Small by design.
Blue Bark & Co. is led by Jess Spooner, with Mike contributing research, writing, analysis, and another perspective when a project benefits from it. We keep things small and flexible, and bring in additional expertise when the work calls for it.
Founder & lead
Jess spooner
I've spent much of my career building what didn't exist yet.
My work has taken me through community development, sport and recreation, tourism, sustainability, education, and organizational leadership. The settings have changed, but the work I’m drawn to hasn’t: noticing where something could be better and figuring out how to make it happen.
I’ve built programs from scratch, redesigned ones that weren’t working, brought partners together around new ideas, led teams and community initiatives, and turned research into practice. I’m especially interested in the gaps: who isn’t participating, what’s getting in the way, and what might be possible with a different approach.
I like the space between “this is what we have” and “what could this become?” That curiosity, and the work of turning possibility into something practical, is at the heart of Blue Bark & Co.
from the archives
before blue bark & co., there was women hike wild.
In 2016, I started Women Hike Wild in Ontario to make backpacking more accessible to women who didn’t necessarily have the gear, experience, or people to go with.
I designed and led small-group, all-inclusive trips throughout Ontario’s provincial parks, providing the gear, planning routes and meals, coordinating logistics, and teaching skills along the way.
It grew to include day hikes, paid community hike leaders, and trips combining backpacking with yoga, coaching, and forest bathing. By the final season, backpacking trips were selling out.
The lesson that stayed with me: participation isn’t always about convincing people to join. Sometimes it’s about understanding what’s standing in the way and designing a better way in.
research & thought partner
Mike barrow
Making sense of a lot of information is often where the interesting work begins.
Mike brings a background in academia, research, and teaching, along with a deep curiosity about people, ideas, and how things connect. He has a particular knack for taking large amounts of information, finding the threads that matter, and distilling them into something clear and useful.
At Blue Bark and Co., Mike contributes research, analysis, writing, and another perspective to projects that benefit from it. He’s especially at home digging into complex material, asking thoughtful questions, and helping make sense of what we’re learning.
Experience
Our experience doesn't fit neatly into one box.
research & insight
Community-based research
Program evaluation
Public engagement
Research translation
Programs & Strategy
Program design
Strategic planning
Participation & engagement
Community development
Leadership & Facilitation
Team leadership
Partnership development
Workshops & training
Organizational capacity
Writing & Learning
Published research
Post-secondary teaching
Knowledge sharing
Storytelling
research & practice
Research, practice, and a lot of learning by doing.
My work is grounded in both research and practice. I hold a Master’s in Community Development from Acadia University, where my research explored barriers to participation in women’s hiking communities.
I’ve also taught at the post-secondary level and contributed published work on community-based outdoor programming. Much of what I know has come from doing the work itself: building programs, working alongside communities, leading teams, developing partnerships, and figuring out what works through experience.
I’m especially interested in the point where research becomes useful: when an insight changes a program, opens an opportunity, or helps an organization make a better decision.
Master of Community Development, Acadia University · Published Author · Post-Secondary Educator
have something you're working through?
Good ideas don't have to start fully formed.
If you have a question, an opportunity, or something that isn’t quite working yet, let’s talk about what it could become.