About
PolicyLink researchers have several decades of combined experience in the public and private sectors – working for and with government, labour organizations, non-profits, academia, and businesses.
Diana Gibson, MA
Diana is a social scientist, writer, researcher, and educator with over twenty years of experience. She has worked nationally and internationally on economic and public policy issues ranging from energy to health care and trade. She has authored and co-authored many publications, including a best-selling book on health care financing. She is a Research Advisor for both the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the University of Alberta’s Parkland Institute. She is also a social entrepreneur, having founded and launched a number of successful non-profit, cooperative and business ventures, including PolicyLink and the Firelight Group.
Diana also has extensive expertise in socioeconomic impact assessments and community studies related to various hydro-electric dams, oilsands projects, oil and gas and coal developments.
Ally Thompson, MSc
Ally has a master’s in resource management and environmental studies. She is passionate about sustainability, environmental policy, and conserving Canada’s unique natural spaces. She has worked nationally and internationally on wildlife resource management, environmental policy and environmental economics. She has published numerous reports on topics including fracking, alternative and sustainable development, green jobs, green municipal financing options, and budgeting in resource-rich economies. She is based in Iqualuit in the Northwest Territories. Most recently her work as a Wildlife Biologist in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region with the Wildlife Management Advisory Council (NWT) has focused on species at risk legislation and wildlife management issues, including caribou, polar bear and muskox management. She sits on the NWT species at Risk Committee.
David Thompson, LLB, LLM, MSc
David Thompson has over 20 years of experience in organizational development, project management, fiscal policy, and environmental and energy issues. He has worked for governments (including Indigenous governments), university research institutes, non-profit organizations, businesses, labour organizations and others.
David has led projects relating to law reform, provincial budgets, land use planning, Indigenous traditional knowledge and use, impact and benefit agreements, organizational governance, strategic planning and business planning. He has authored numerous articles and book chapters, co-authored a book on the tobacco industry, and is a co-founder of PolicyLink and the Firelight Group.
Greg Flanagan, BA, MES, MA
Greg Flanagan is a public finance economist and was a teacher, researcher, and administrator, most recently at the University of Lethbridge (retired) for over twenty-five years. He holds degrees in economics and policy studies from University of Calgary, York University, and the University of British Columbia.