Overlap was founded over a decade ago with a vision to build a very special kind of company. As we reflect on our ten-year journey, we are incredibly proud and grateful of the work and community we have built. For us, that promise has always started from within. In everything we do, we bring a hopeful, ‘better is possible’ sense of optimism and outlook.
Overlap is nothing in the world without the extraordinary team of people who share our mission to democratize design, and ultimately, make the world a better place. Overlappers are united by a common mission to share the power of design and a singular, unwavering focus to deliver exceptional value and impact for our clients and growing customer base.
We firmly believe that if you are solving a problem you are a designer. And Overlap is here for you every step of the way – whether through project support, design education programs, individual training and even Overlap Gear business products to support people in their everyday workflows.
Today, we are seeing a powerful movement as organisations around the world are increasingly embedding design as a core business strength and differentiator. This is a moment for design – and our team of designers, strategists, engagement specialists, educators and trainers are extremely well-positioned to partner with those leaders that are building a new form of capacity from within.
While we lean into this moment, we are making some big and exciting changes to support the growth that we are experiencing. In line with our passion for transformation, we are delighted at the opportunity to expand our executive team and officially introduce our new Chief Operations Officer, Jodi Shanoff.
Jodi joins Overlap’s executive team from Environics Research, where she was Vice President of Consultation and Engagement for several years. Today, Jodi continues to be driven to get involved with issues that are most pressing in our communities including social justice, environment, health, and wellbeing.
I couldn’t be more excited to join Overlap’s team of creative and motivated professionals. I look forward to all that I know I will learn from them, and to bringing my own voice and perspectives in service of building meaningful client experiences.
– Jodi Shanoff, Chief Operations Officer
Jodi brings 25 years of experience in Canadian Public Affairs, and a career built around understanding people, delving deep into contexts and opinions through traditional and emerging approaches to engagement. As COO at Overlap, Jodi will oversee the day-to-day operations across Overlap, ensuring growth across our business units and delivery models. This new role is all about driving excellence and consistency across our operations to support our planned growth.
With the expansion of Overlap’s executive team comes a shift in positions for our co-founders. Having always worked closely, most recently as co-CEOs, Brock Hart and Lisa Grogan have spent years coordinating their strengths to achieve company-wide goals. With this in mind, Lisa is staying on as Overlap’s CEO, and Brock is shifting into the role of Chief Design Officer (CDO), which is really the role he’s always played at Overlap.
Companies that are design-centred perform better. For us, this is an opportunity to lead by example and create a role that is aspirational with a focus on transformation of the business, our services and the experiences of our clients and customers. Overlap has design baked into our DNA, but the focus of this role means that we won’t be the shoemaker’s children any longer. Unlike the past, the CDO role isn’t focused on direct client service delivery—it’s about Overlap for Overlap.
Please join us in celebrating this positive shift in our business, including welcoming Jodi to Overlap. We had the pleasure of hosting Jodi on our podcast, The Problem Spaces last December—have a listen to her episode to get to know our new COO!
Overlap is proud to be Certified as a WEConnect International Women-Owned business, and to continue our work in breaking biases, boundaries and closing gender-gaps.
