We help people connect, learn and act – together.

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Facilitation

Instructional design

Strategic communications

Sage + Spark works with governments, philanthropies, multilateral organizations, civil society, and youth groups to design gatherings, communications, and resources that are relevant, accessible, and actionable.

We create the conditions for honest exchange, collective learning, and evidence-based action, from workshops and multi-stakeholder dialogues to youth-centred resources and behaviour change campaigns.

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The Sage

We bring deep experience in strategic communication, facilitation, and learning design across global and local contexts.

Our work is grounded in evidence, systems thinking, and social and behaviour change approaches. We’ve partnered with governments, multilaterals, philanthropies, civil society, and youth groups to help diverse actors make sense of complexity, align around shared goals, and move from insight to action.

The Spark

We design for engagement with intention.

Drawing on participatory methods, experiential learning, and creative facilitation, we create spaces where people can think differently, contribute meaningfully, and learn from one another — whether in a multi-stakeholder dialogue, a workshop, or a youth-centred resource.

The result isn’t “fun for fun’s sake,” but energy that leads somewhere: deeper understanding, stronger relationships, and outcomes that stick.

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Clients & collaborators

Turquoise "love frankie" logo on a black background
Pulitzer Center logo in dark blue on a white background
International Organization for Migration (IOM) logo with blue globe symbol and UN Migration text
PLAN International logo in white and blue
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) logo with bilingual English and French text, above the Government of Canada wordmark.
World Vision logo in black text with an orange curved accent and starburst symbol
Red stylized feather or flame shape on a black background
Red GIZ logo and the text Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on a white background
Council of Europe logo with a stylized white swoosh and yellow stars on a blue background
FHI 360 logo with orange and gray lettering and tagline "The Science of Improving Lives"
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung logo in blue with a globe icon
ASEAN logo with a yellow sheaf symbol on a red background inside a blue-and-white circular border
Heinrich Böll Stiftung logo with three green vertical bars and black text
RMIT University logo in black on a white background with a red icon
International Labour Organization logo with blue ILO emblem and text
Smiling woman with long brown hair wearing a white blazer over a black top

Mia Barrett

LinkedIn logo in gray on a white background

“For more than 20 years, I have led communications teams across Asia Pacific, Central America, the Middle East, and West and Central Africa for organizations including IFC, MTV EXIT, PwC, and the UN Migration Agency. My approach combines strategy, creativity, and game-based design to drive engagement, meaningful learning, and lasting change.”

Smiling woman with curly dark hair wearing a black shirt and bold geometric statement necklace

Lindsey Higgs

LinkedIn logo in gray on a white background

“From Bangkok to Dakar, Honiara to Baghdad, I design participatory spaces where people connect, learn, and navigate complex conversations toward action. My work draws on human-centred design, liberating structures, and creative practice shaped by 15+ years of global experience.”

  • Participants at the Team Europe Democracy Annual Network Meeting 2026 in Brussels

    Facilitating the Team Europe Democracy Annual Meeting

    Brussels, Belgium

    Sage + Spark worked closely with the TED Secretariat to design and then facilitate the 1.5 day event with over 100 attendees. We integrated interactive opportunities and new collaborative methods.

  • Two women from Ghana sitting together and looking at a piece of paper

    Turning project updates into social media that connects

    Online (Canada, Ghana, Kenya, Togo)

    Sage + Spark helped Parliamentary Centre staff turn complex gender-responsive policy work into clearer, more engaging content for different audiences. Through practical training and bilingual tools, 100% found the sessions useful and 83% reported stronger communication skills.

  • Colorful sticky notes covering a whiteboard in a brainstorming session

    Shaping a shared identity after a team merger

    Online

    Sage + Spark designed and facilitated a four-part integration process for a newly merged division. The process shifted mindsets, strengthened connections, surfaced 20+ areas of synergy, and helped the team begin shaping shared ways of working, a common narrative and a new identity.

  • Street art portrait of a woman painted on a weathered concrete wall beside a rusted blue metal structure

    Collaborating on priorities to uphold children's rights

    Online

    Sage + Spark supported the Council of Europe Consultation Group on the Children of Ukraine to add a co-creation exercise to their plenary session where 60 members from member States, international organizations, civil society and academia exchanged and articulated priorities.

  • Colorful handwritten workshop posters and brainstorming cards arranged on a patterned floor.

    Reimagining a global funders roundtable on democracy

    Stockholm, Sweden

    Working closely with the steering committee, Sage + Spark designed a two-day gathering for more than 40 funders that was anything but a typical conference. Creative, participatory formats sparked collaboration from the start. 92% said the interactive format supported meaningful exchange and learning.

  • Group of 11 people posing in front of a Welcome Support Through Sport presentation screen

    Designing with youth coaches, not just for them

    Toronto, Canada

    Together with the Coaching Association of Canada, we brought youth coaches together in Toronto to co-design a practical resource for recognizing and responding to teen dating violence, gender-based violence and microaggressions. Through facilitated activities and real-world scenarios, coaches helped shape the direction of the content, language and tools.

  • Plan International "Time to Act!" toolkit cover featuring diverse young activists, including a student, tablet user, and two youth holding a phone and paper, promoting an end to child, early, and forced marriages and unions in Asia-Pacific.

    A toolkit for and by youth activists in Asia Pacific

    Online

    Sage + Spark worked with Plan International Asia Pacific and a regional group of youth campaigners to guide a participatory process to create a toolkit o help end child, early and forced marriages and unions.