About Us

HR Consulting and Advisory, About Us

Brown Consulting Group provides both consultative and on-site Human Resources services to help client companies of all sizes effectively manage their human resources.

Our Philosophy

Innovative Solutions

When it comes to HR needs, we know that no two organizations are alike and that there are no textbook solutions. We believe that a tailored approach is your best solution. To deliver this effectively, the Brown Consulting Group team takes a holistic approach to understand your unique business and specific HR needs to find a customized and innovation solution.

Our Firm

Practical Advice

Brown Consulting Group provides HR consulting, outsourcing and training to help organizations of all sizes manage their most valuable resource—people.

Established in 1999, our team of HR professionals and trainers has the experience to provide effective and practical advice to meet your HR needs. We can help whether you need assistance in developing your new HR function or require support in a specific area within an already-established HR department.

With our experience, Brown Consulting Group is at the forefront of trends and best practice. We can provide advice on how best to re-engage your employees to improve productivity or help you understand how changing labour laws affect your business.

Our Experience

Real Results

We have experience working in a variety of industries—both in the for profit and not-for-profit sectors. Our diverse experience allows us to bring best practices to you, enabling your organization to see real results. Working with both smaller, entrepreneurial companies and large multi-nationals, Brown Consulting Group’s industry experience includes:

Architects
Construction
Design
Education / Schools
Energy / Environmental
Engineering
Financial Services / Banking
Food Service
Health Services
Hotels
Insurance
Manufacturing / Distribution
Marketing / PR / Media / Publishing
Mining
NFP (Charities, Associations, NGOs,
Religious Organizations)
Professional Services
Public Sector
Real Estate / Property Management
Retail / Wholesale
Technology / IT
Transportation

 

Our Team

Lynn Brown - Founder / Senior Consultant

Lynn Brown possesses over 30 years in the field of human resources. A seasoned generalist, she has a breadth of experience in all facets of human resources. Lynn’s particular expertise is in the areas of organizational effectiveness/process improvement, job evaluation, pay equity compensation and benefits, policy development, legislative compliance and employee relations. She has had solid experience in both the corporate and consulting environments with start-ups and reorganizations.

Lynn developed the HRDiagnostic™, a comprehensive tool to help organizations maximize their human resources. It provides a full assessment of an organization’s HR programs, processes and practices. Proprietary to Brown Consulting Group, HRDiagnostic™, identifies which areas are working well and those that could be further enhanced.

Lynn is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) and a member of the Canadian Association of Management Consultants (CAMC), a Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) and a member of the Human Resources Professional Association. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Employment Relations. She is also a McQuaig System Certified Interpreter and sits on the CMAC’s Certification Committee. Lynn has written a variety of human resource-related articles for publications such as Workspan, HR Professional, TLOMA Today, The Canadian Chemical News, CSAE (Canadian Society of Association Executives) Forum and Metro. She is frequently cited in national media, including the Globe and Mail/workopolis.com, Toronto Star, Profit magazine and other business and human resources publications.

Prior to her consulting career, Lynn held several senior human resource positions in corporate environments, with a particular focus on professional services. In this regard, she developed national recruitment campaigns, aligned HR to business needs through effective strategic planning, and managed the HR aspects of a merger of two national professional firms.

As the Founder of Brown Consulting Group, Lynn currently provides consultative services to a wide variety of clients ranging from smaller entrepreneurial companies to large multinationals. Her industry focus covers not-for-profit, financial services, professional services, insurance, manufacturing, media and entertainment, construction, transportation and high-tech. Lynn also provides coaching and training in the areas of human resources and management skills.

Please contact Lynn at (416) 694-6101 x 111 or via LinkedIn

Laura McArthur - Consultant

Laura provides client support in a variety of areas including recruiting, assessment testing, employee engagement and surveys, employee retention and orientation, and employee relations.  She facilitates various training such as Best Practice Recruitment and the Foundations of Leadership programs.  Laura has also provided counsel to clients on administrative best practices for small businesses.

Laura studied Human Resources Management at Ryerson and Finance at the University of Toronto. She continues to regularly enhance her expertise with courses in web design and social media marketing. Prior to joining Brown Consulting Group, Laura worked in a number of progressively responsible positions in human resources for a national insurance company with over 6,700 employees and a major sporting conglomerate in finance. Laura also volunteers as a music teacher in her spare time.

Please contact Laura at (416) 694-6101 x 115 or via LinkedIn.

Mala Greenbaum - Consultant

Mala Greenbaum has more than 25 years of progressive experience in Human Resources with a deep and solid generalist background. Mala has focussed her expertise in the areas of talent management, and onboarding and performance with a special emphasis on implementing changes within an organization to increase employee engagement and profitability.

Mala provides a combination of strategic and operations focused consulting services to clients, with an eye to ensuring the client receives value by creating efficient and effective processes in a legislatively compliant framework. Services provided include recruitment, orientation and onboarding, performance management, compensation and benefits including disability management and employee relations in both union and non-union environments.

Prior to joining Brown Consulting Group, Mala held progressively senior HR positions in a range of companies including small privately-held business to large national firms. With both an ability to forecast and plan, as well approach challenges with a hands-on style, Mala’s corporate experience included the realignment of an organization’s talent process, creating a succession plan, developing a compensation plan and realigning a workforce with a major reduction in staff.

Mala acts as a true business partner, working collaboratively and creating accountability with her clients. Her industry experience has included banking, health care, insurance, investments, automotive and not-for-profit.

Mala graduated with honours from the University of Hartford, CT, holds a CHRL and is a member of the Human Resources Professional Association, Toronto Chapter.

Please contact Mala at (416) 694-6101 x 123 or via LinkedIn.

Lina Mastrocola - Consultant

Lina Mastrocola brings more than 25 years of solid HR experience to the Brown Consulting Group team. As a trusted HR business partner, Lina offers a full range of HR expertise and versatility from supporting business strategy, executing key initiatives to consulting and advising business leaders and employees on various work-related matters, with the overall goal of achieving a positive outcome of deliverables.

Lina offers experience in a full spectrum of HR services working both strategically and hands-on in delivering solutions and results. Her areas of focus include managing complex employee relations, performance management, talent management, change management, leadership development, training, compensation and benefits, policy and program development, communication and implementation.

Prior to joining Brown Consulting Group, she worked with national and global organizations including in the financial services and not-for-profit sectors. She has managed projects including the development of a performance management tool, payroll and HRIS integration, compensation design, benefits outsourcing, manager and employee self-service portals as well as workplace transformations and acquisitions. Most recently, she completed extensive work in the area of workplace culture and employee engagement.

Lina holds a BA in Sociology with a Certificate in Human Resources Management. She holds the Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL) designation and is in good standing with the Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA).

Please contact Lina at (416) 694-6101 x 118 or via LinkedIn.

Denise Burton Barrett - Consultant / Researcher

In addition to her consulting role, Denise Burton Barrett handles research requirements for the Brown Consulting Group and is often consulted on a variety of our client engagements as our resident expert in the field of privacy.

With her B.A. in Public Administration and an M.A. in Political Science, her Masters Thesis was on Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Privacy Legislation. She has also done on-air commentary relating to public policy and privacy issues for CBC Radio, CBC Morningside, CTV Canada A.M., City TV Breakfast Television, CJAD Radio in Montreal.

Since 2011 she has also been a member of the Consumers Council of Canada. In 2011 she was invited to participate with Advertising Standards Canada. She currently serves on two committees as a public representative: The National Consumer Response Council, which adjudicates complaints about advertising under the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards in collaboration with industry representatives; and the Children’s Advertising Clearance Committee, which ensures broadcast advertising to children complies with the Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children. Denise also does on-site confidential customer satisfaction studies and reports for corporate management groups to assist them in assessing customer service standards.

Prior to joining Brown Consulting Group, Denise specialized in research and training and worked in both the public and private sectors including the Solicitor’s General’s Office, the Ministry of Education, Elections Canada, Elections Ontario, William M. Mercer and United Press International. She is also a frequent editorial contributor to the Sun Life Financial finance and lifestyle website, brighterlife.ca.

Please contact Denise at (416) 694-6101 x 112 or via LinkedIn.

Rochelle Caderamanpulle - Coordinator

Rochelle performs a variety of roles at Brown Consulting ranging from recruiting, and research, and is our resident expert for AODA related matters.

 

Part of her role at Brown Consulting Group is assisting with administrative and social media related tasks.

Prior to joining Brown Consulting Group, Rochelle worked in several progressively responsible positions at HSBC Holdings in Asia, a publicly listed technology company based in Boston, MA, and a national insurance company here in Canada.

Rochelle has a Master’s in Business Administration, with a specialization in Employee Relations, and is currently working toward her CHRL designation. She has a passion for baking, reading, and zero waste/minimalist living.

Please contact Rochelle at (416) 694-6101 x 117 or via LinkedIn.

 

Client List

Some of the clients we have had the privilege of working with are found below:

Our Testimonials

“We hired Lynn and her firm of HR professionals to assist in evaluating and improving our HR processes and procedures. It all started with a comprehensive diagnostic assessing where we were at relative to our size and growth strategy. The document that we received was a “report card” on everything from recruiting to the pervasive culture in the company. The report included sections on policies, compensation, benefits etc. and was great value while being constructive and helpful in establishing our near term HR priorities. On an ad hoc basis, we have also turned to Brown Consulting for help with compensation analysis and recruiting HR professionals. They can serve as interim HR department or as trusted advisors in the HR function.”

Graham Badun, Chief Executive Officer, AlarmForce Industries Inc.
AlarmForce Industries Inc.

“I have used the services of Brown Consulting Group in several organizations and found the delivery of interim management, M&A integration and policy review services to be of the highest standard while meeting deadlines and budgets. Brown fills a unique niche in the HR consulting world.”

Nickey Alexiou, Vice President, Human Resources
Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario

“We have engaged the Brown Consulting Group to assist us with a number of assignments over the years including, interim management, compensation projects, recruitment, downsizing and merger/acquisition transition support. We have found them to be extremely professional and responsive to our requirements. Their significant employee relations knowledge has been an asset to ING during the periods we have required additional support, I would recommend them without reservation.”

Denise Thompson, Vice President, Human Resources, Corporate Shared Services, Intact Financial Corporation
ING Canada

“For the past few years we have outsourced our HR function to the Brown Consulting Group. This has been very cost-effective and beneficial for many aspects of our business, including hiring, performance management and terminations. They have consistently brought a higher level of knowledge, experience and professionalism in human resources that we would not have otherwise been able to access.”

Mark Canes, President, Blue Link Associate Limited
Blue Link Associates Limited

“The work of this group is highly professional, competent and experienced in a wide range of areas, as well as being responsive to needs and timetables…I highly recommend their consulting services without reservation.”

Anne Shirley Sutherland, Former General Secretary for Human Resources
United Church of Canada

“I appreciated the professionalism you brought to the issues and the situation. The one thing that stands out for me was your ability to help me frame any decision I needed to make, not in terms of the current issue, but focusing on the outcome. You helped me move beyond the emotional issues and to make some decisions that were good for me and my family.”

Complainant in a Harassment Allegation

“Our company found itself faced with a nasty situation that was only looking to get nastier and spiral out of control.
Lynn did not hesitate to put herself in the middle of this and was available whenever she was needed. Several details of the situation might have been missed if not for her thorough and professional interviewing of the witnesses.
Lynn’s experience proved invaluable to successfully resolving the situation. I would not hesitate to recommend her to any company in a similar situation.”

Eric Prydatok, Human Resources Manager
Satin Finish Hardwood Flooring

I would like to express my appreciation for your assistance and guidance in helping us achieve a dramatic turnaround in work culture within a short period of time for our non-profit organization. We were fortunate to have an organization like yours to support our efforts into also putting a solid framework going forward. Please feel free to forward any potential new clients to my attention for profession or personal references.

Johanne Gauthier, Operations Manager, AGAPÉ Centre
AGAPÉ Centre

Roots of Empathy has worked with Brown Consulting Group for many years, relying on their knowledge of the best Human Resource practices to ensure our organizational structure and policies support our Mission. They find solutions that are right for our not- for- profit reality and are proactive in informing us about new developments and practices that may affect our business.

Lee Robock Director, Finance and Administration, Roots of Empathy
Roots of Empathy

We have been working with Lynn for over three years now and it’s always been a pleasure. Lynn’s calm demeanour and insightful advice has always been extremely helpful to our business. She is extremely thorough in her approach and her inquisitiveness leads us to sound decision making. We wish Lynn all the best for future endeavours and highly recommend working with her.

Shivi Bhardwaj, HR Generalist, Trajectory
Trajectory

Lynn is an outstanding advocate for her clients.  She is professional, kind and always up-to-date on industry news. I have known Lynn for many years and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Brown Consulting Group’s HR services.

Brian Shifman, Executive Director, Vaughan Chamber of Commerce
Vaughan Chamber of Commerce

Our firm has been working with Brown Consulting Group since 2016.  Lynn Brown was essential in bringing our firm into compliance with the new HR legislation.  We also used Lynn to review and rewrite most of our internal documents and process around our employee practices.  This has resulted in much clearer process for our employees and much less exposure to any risk for the company.  I continue to use Lynn as a go-to consultant for day to day questions around policy and best practices.  Lynn is quick to respond with timely and accurate information and is not only super professional, but a pleasure to work with.  I highly recommend Lynn and her firm.

Brian Gay VP, Finance and Operations, DesignAgency
DesignAgency